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Meet the Oregon Board of Directors!

July 31, 2022 – 5 min read

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Meet the Oregon Board of Directors!

Our board is comprised of passionate volunteer leaders from across the state. Keep reading to meet our incredible board!

Angela Perry
Angela Perry

Angela Perry, Board Chair (she/her)

Tigard, OR

What year did you start on the Board?
2017

What is your heart connection to the cause?
I live with chronic suicidal ideations, am an attempt survivor and a loss survivor--Jim (1998), Ryan (1998), Milo (2014) and my aunt Jean (2017).

What AFSP leadership roles do you have?
Board Chair, Executive Committee (Chair), Volunteer Engagement Committee, Programs & Education Committee, Nominations & Leadership Committee, Community Engagement Committee (Chair), Public Policy & Advocacy Committee (Chair), Portland Walk Planning Team

What AFSP events do you look forward to every year?
Advocacy Day, participating in advocacy work has been pivotal in helping me find my voice and healing. Knowing how dark of a place it is to be actively suicidal and finding a way out I am now able to help work as a flashlight to help others to find their way!

Prison Walks, it is amazing to go into a place most people want to avoid and get to share your heart and hear them share theirs. The adults in custody I have met have been the most engaged, real, raw and cup filling to be able to share HOPE in places that do not usually have that.

What's something about you we may not know?
I love camping, finding heart rocks and traveling!

Maili Halverson - Oregon Board
Maili Halverson

Maili Halverson, Board Treasurer (she/her)

Vancouver, WA

What year did you start on the Board?
2018

Why is volunteering important to you?
After my brother died by suicide, I learned about AFSP and all the good work that they do which led me to becoming a volunteer. With suicide prevention, families will not feel the pain that I felt after losing my brother.

What AFSP leadership roles do you have?
Board Treasurer, Executive Committee, Nominations & Leadership Committee, Programs & Education Committee

What AFSP event do you look forward to every year?
International Survivor of Suicide Loss Day and the Portland Out of the Darkness Walk.

What's something about you we may not know?
I love collecting vintage vinyl records and thrift store shopping.

Samantha Zimlich - Oregon Board
Samantha Zimlich

Sam Havens, Board Secretary (she/her)

Cottage Grove, OR

What year did you start on the Board?
2019

Why do you volunteer?
I volunteer for friends and family that I've lost, but mostly I volunteer for myself and my own mental health.

What AFSP leadership roles do you have?
Eugene Walk Chair, Volunteer Engagement Committee Chair

What are you most looking forward to this year?
I look forward to going to as many Out of the Darkness walks I can possibly go to. The sense of community is the best.

What's something about you we may not know?
My husband and I have 5 cats and 2 dogs!

Photo of Megan Caldwell.

Megan Caldwell (she/her)

Lake Oswego, OR

Megan Caldwell is committed to helping save lives and stopping the stigma around mental health and suicide.  Megan found AFSP after losing her brother to suicide in 2013.  Since her first Out of Darkness walk in 2018, Megan began sharing her own story as a suicide loss survivor.  This has not only helped her heal, but has allowed her to have conversations and create awareness about the importance of mental health and the realness of suicide.

In addition to participating in several Portland Out of Darkness walks and state advocacy days, Megan ran the Boston Marathon with Team AFSP in 2022 where she raised over $20,000 for AFSP.  Megan’s current areas of interest are fundraising, building community connections and finding ways to best support our youth and young people’s mental health.

Megan joins the AFSP board as a mom of three school aged children, a small business owner and active community member who believes that having authentic conversations and sharing our own stories, although hard, allows us to connect and recognize we are not alone.

Joan Hoff
Joan Hoff

Joan Hoff (she/her)

Oregon City, OR

Joan spent over three decades working at the Dougy Center, which provides grief support to children, young adults, and their familes. She lost her husband Larry to suicide, and now serves as our Healing Conversations Coordinator, connecting survivors of suicide loss with trained volunteer who are themselves loss survivors. She also serves on AFSP's National Council for Loss and Healing .

Joan has over 40 years of experience in working with children and families and has served on a variety of local and national boards including the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention Survivor Council, Suicide Bereavement Support Group and the Willamette Falls Hospice Board of Directors. She helped to develop and is a National trainer for the AFSP Support Group for Children and Teens. She is a member of NOVA, National Office for Victims Assistance, American Association for Suicidology,  and National Alliance for Grieving Children. She conducts training nationally and internationally on issues related to program development; the impact of suicide, trauma and violent death on children, teens and their families; crisis response; and grief and loss issues for children and teens. 

Vuong Tran, Board Member

Vuong Tran (he/him)

Milwaukie, OR

What year did you start on the Board?
2022

Why do you volunteer?
I volunteer to raise awareness, and let people know that it's okay to talk about our mental health struggles and to support those who area struggling

What AFSP leadership roles do you have?
Volunteer Engagement Committee

What are you most looking forward to this year?
I've been so excited about all of the in-person events we've been having!

What's something about you we may not know?
I got myself a free sewing machine and taught myself to sew by learning off of Youtube!

Photo of Bianca Williams

Bianca Williams (she/her)

Coos Bay, OR

Bianca Williams is the Owner and Director of a women's business enterprise called the Love and Compassion Center, located in beautiful Coos Bay, OR. LCC provides the community with a christian resource center and mental health support . Bianca is married to her husband of 17 years, and has 3 children and one grandchild. Bianca holds certifications as a QMHA-1, Peer Wellness Specialist, Family Support Specialist, and Certified Recovery Mentor. Bianca is a fierce advocate for human life and suicide prevention.

Bianca's background includes over 20 years of work in the field, and several successful businesses. Her hobbies include volunteer work, cooking, beachcombing, spending time with her cats, and two demanding and adorable French Bulldogs. Bianca's passion is bringing additional support to faith-based communities by reducing stigma and increasing education and outreach.

Photo of Tara Criscuolo

Tara Criscuolo (she/her)

Portland, OR

Tara Criscuolo (she/her) is a brand marketer, mental health educator, and disordered eating speaker and writer based in Portland, Oregon. She’s recovered from an eating disorder and her healing journey spurred her passion for normalizing mental health, dismantling diet culture, and creating a world that's safe for everyone to show up as their authentic selves.

One month before she flew cross country to enter residential treatment for her eating disorder in May 2013, Tara’s friend and college varsity tennis teammate Paige died by suicide. This suicide loss, and her eating disorder recovery journey, fundamentally changed her values and who she was as a person. In 2016, she secured her first full-time marketing job, at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.

After four years of managing AFSP National’s branding, marketing materials, and online stores, Tara left New Jersey to follow her dream of moving to Portland – just two hours from where she went to residential treatment years earlier. While she no longer works full-time in the non-profit space, she spends her free time volunteering for NAMI Multnomah as a Mental Health Presenter, Project HEAL as the National Blog Manager, and AFSP Oregon as a Board Member; and compiling resources for those struggling with body image and/or an eating disorder. She also enjoys snuggling her dog Mazie, exploring the Pacific Northwest, roller skating, playing tennis, napping, and reading. Visit her website taracriscuolo.com to learn more.