Salomé’s love of politics started early — her parents were both political. She studied political science at Willamette University and worked her way through college. Her very first job in politics was working in the Secretary of State’s office under Governor Kate Brown. She was just 19 years old when she took on a summer project with PolitiCorps, an intensive training program to groom future leaders for careers in public service. She was the youngest person ever to go through the program. She took a job with the Senate Majority Office and became known as a universal staffer — when someone went on sabbatical, vacation, got sick, or just overwhelmed, she’d step in. She was on the Board of Directors for Unite Oregon and was a lobbyist for many of the grassroots organizations that didn’t have a full-time lobbyist on staff. Salomé was the head lobbyist for Oregon’s End Profiling Act of 2015. It was a huge deal — in previous legislative sessions, lawmakers weren’t successful in pushing bills aimed at ending profiling. She’s also a co-founder of the Black Resilience Fund — an emergency fund for Black Portlanders who need help paying their bills or finding services. She is also a founder of the Black Millennial Movement and serves as a commissioner for the Portland Charter Review Commission.
Having worked pretty much every job in politics possible, Salomé is well-versed in organizing people, managing budgets, and providing other invaluable skills to nonprofits. She currently is the community engagement manager for Espousal Strategies LLC based in Portland, Oregon.
You can often find her in the company of her mighty service animal, Hercules! She’s also a huge comic book nerd and enjoys playing the accordion in her downtime.
