Meet our BIPOC Mental Health Summit Speakers

Martin Lockett, MS, CADC II

Lines for Life, Director of Equity & Cultural Engagement

As Director of Cultural Engagement, Martin leads a team of outreach coordinators into communities of color where their mission is to destigmatize mental health, substance abuse and suicide, build skills, and offer culturally responsive resources.   Martin is a certified trainer in Mental Health First Aid, QPR, H.E.A.T 4 Youth, and Be Sensitive, Be Brave. His trainings are geared toward teaching community members who interact with, serve, and work with BIPOC individuals how to recognize signs and symptoms of mental health and suicidal challenges, appropriately respond, and how to refer for professional/cultural support.

Panel: Community Healing Panel

Faviola Robles Saenz, PhD

Community Psychologist, Seguir Adelante Research Group

Dr. Faviola Robles Saenz is a community psychologist and a recent graduate of Portland State University’s Applied Psychology PhD program. Inspired by her background as the daughter of Mexican immigrants, her research centers the psychological well-being of Latino immigrant families living in the U.S. She draws on Chicana feminist and critical perspectives, as well as Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and Participatory Action Research (PAR) methods, to better understand how Latinos’ everyday environments shape their well-being. Through her work, she seeks to illuminate the oppressive structures that affect Latino families while also honoring and uplifting Latinos’ strengths, resistance, and cultural wealth. Her goal is to help inform policies, practices, and programs that support the mental health and improve the quality of life for Latino immigrant communities residing in the U.S.

Workshop: Sanando Collective Trauma through Our Activismo & Cultura

Join us to explore the history and research behind migration, anti-immigrant sentiment, and collective trauma experienced by Latino immigrants. Together, we will also dive into the rich history of our activismo and cultura, learning how we can lean into these roots to find strength, resistance, and healing.

Roberto Osorio

Oregon Health Authority, Behavioral Health Division, Policy Analyst

I am a Policy Analyst with the Oregon Health Authority's Behavioral Health Division, where I support policy development and program implementation to expand equitable access to culturally and linguistically specific behavioral health services. I am one of the co-managers of the culturally and linguistically specific services enhanced payment program that supports behavioral health providers statewide and have nearly a decade of experience spanning behavioral health policy, legal services and child advocacy. As a first-generation college graduate from the University of California, Santa Cruz, I am passionate about building policies that improve health outcomes and promote equity.

Workshop: Sustaining the Frontline: Supporting Suicide Prevention Through Equity

Youth and adults in Oregon experience clear disparities in suicide deaths, especially in communities who face systemic barriers and historic marginalization. Culturally specific providers are often the first people these communities turn to for support. These providers bring lived experience, cultural knowledge, and trusted relationships — but they also carry heavy workload demands, chronic exposure to system level harm, and burnout.   This session shares how the Behavioral Health Equity & Community Partnerships team is shifting how we work with culturally specific partners. Instead of a transactional, paperwork heavy relationship, we are practicing radical listening and space holding — showing up without a preset agenda, learning directly from providers, and centering the needs of communities instead of system requirements. These practices are anti oppressive because they remove unnecessary burdens and make room for community leadership.   We also describe how this way of partnering helps sustain Oregon’s culturally specific workforce. When our providers feel heard, respected, and supported, they can continue delivering suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention services that save lives. This approach does not claim to be a “framework,” but it does build the foundation for one in the future.

Melody Li, LMFT

Founder of Inclusive Therapists and Mental Health Liberation

Melody Li is a mental health justice advocate, rooted in collective liberation and healing. They founded Inclusive Therapists and Mental Health Liberation to advance access to care grounded in racial, 2SLGTBTQIA+ and disability justice. In the Healing Justice ecosystem, Mel is reimagining ways to uplift and sustain movement organizers to co-create the world we need.

Panel: Community Healing Panel

Marie Mellberg, LPC

"Marie (pronounced like "Mary") Mellberg, is a trans-racial adoptee, Queer Woman of Color, and disabled person with a non-apparent disability, bringing lived experience and professional expertise in culturally responsive mental health. With a master’s in Clinical Rehabilitation Counseling, along with extensive teaching, supervision, and advocacy experience, she is dedicated to supporting marginalized communities and early-career clinicians through a strengths-based, relational approach. Committed to equity and deep understanding, she creates safe, collaborative spaces that honor diverse identities, address systemic injustices, and empower BIPOC therapists working with white clients in Portland’s unique sociocultural landscape."

Workshop: "Holding Both: Clinical Practice for BIPOC Therapists Working With White Clients in Portland, Oregon"

The workshop aims to help participants identify common clinical dynamics such as cultural taxation, racialized transference and countertransference, and expectations of racial labor when working with white clients. It emphasizes ethical, sustainable practice strategies, including boundary-setting and consultation practices aligned with the ACA Code of Ethics. The workshop also incorporates creative arts techniques to explore the relationship between personal/cultural identity and professional clinical identity.The training promotes reflection, community building, and self-care among BIPOC clinicians working in predominantly white settings. It includes practical tools such as self-assessment and artistic expression to support clinicians' ongoing resilience and cultural competence.

Youthline

Youthline is a peer to peer crisis hotline that is accessible through text, chat, and call. No problem is too big or too small to reach for support. We are hear to provide opportunities to support our communities and break down stigma within mental health. Join Devin Thongdy, Ron Sagun, Minh Nguyen from Youthline for their workshop, "We Belong in Mental Health."

Workshop: "We Belong in Mental Health"

BIPOC communities struggle to recognize that mental health is a detriment to public health and one self. Through generation, BIPOC communities have worked toward breaking away from cultural beliefs and stigma of mental health. The work to heal from what has been done in the past takes time and investment. Come learn and talk with youth who have invested in their time with Youthline from volunteering, outreaching, and giving back to the communities they are a part of.

‍Tickets are still available, join us at the BIPOC Mental Health Summit!

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