During past Voices for Justice events, the Voice for Justice Award has recognized Oregon-based attorneys, advocates, allied professionals, and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to ensuring that our justice system honors victims’ voices.
This year, in honor of 20 years of victims’ rights advocacy, we are celebrating the culmination of rights work and those involved in it. We will be holding a moment of dedication during the evening’s festivities in honor of the collective work of these individuals, past and present, who have contributed to securing meaningful rights for victims.
Thank you to all who took time to celebrate our community through nominating an individual or organization for this year’s dedication!
To learn more about those who were recognized at this year’s Voices for Justice, click here.
Learn more about our past Voice for Justice Honorees:
2019 Voice for Justice Award Honoree
Marandas Sinlapasai, P.C. represents clients regarding general immigration law matters including humanitarian relief, victims’ rights, visas, citizenship issues, family base immigration, consular processing, deportation defense and appeals. Our attorneys focus on individuals who are survivors of domestic violence, serious crime, and human trafficking assisting and children who have been abused, abandoned and neglected.
The firm works in collaborative model of community lawyering, education, relationship building for those who may not understand the complexities of the mix status of individuals living in the United States. Often you will see the team working with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, foreign consulates, victims’ rights advocates and the community to assist survivors of crime and to protect their victims’ rights through the criminal, civil, and immigration systems.
2018 Voice for Justice Award Honoree
The 2018 Voice for Justice is Jackie Sandmeyer. As the Campus Coordinator with the Oregon Sexual Assault Task Force, they work with Oregon colleges and universities across the state and nationally, both public and private, to identify best practices and provide technical assistance and training to create safe spaces and advocate for trauma informed policies on campuses across Oregon. Their work with survivors has focused on college campuses, communities of color, and the LGBTQI community, with an emphasis on Transgender support services. As the Campus Coordinator, it’s these passions that motivate Jackie’s work with students and administrators.
2017 Voice for Justice Award Honorees
In 2017, we honored two individuals with the Voice for Justice Award. Oregon State Senator Sara Gelser, who represents the 8th District, has been instrumental in passing groundbreaking legislation expanding the statute of limitations for sexual assault and prioritizing rape kit testing. These laws increase victims’ access to justice and decrease the likelihood of repeat sexual assault offenders.
Gloria Needham is Director of the Hood River County Victims’ Assistance Program. She has assisted survivors of domestic and sexual abuse for over 25 years, which has included work at a shelter and 18 years with the Hood River County Victim Services Program. Gloria is a founding member of several victim focused organizations and projects. Gloria’s willingness to go above and beyond her job duties and her love of helping people is evident to everyone she works with, both survivors and coworkers.
2016 Voice for Justice Award Honoree
The 2016 Voice for Justice was Denise Pena. Denise is the Community Justice Manager of the Crime Victims Services Unit within Multnomah County’s Department of Community Justice. We were honored to recognize Denise for her outstanding efforts at ensuring that victims’ voices are heard and promoting systemic change to improve justice for all victims.
2015 Voice for Justice Award Honoree
The Inaugural Voice for Justice Award recipient was the Oregon Crime Victim Law Clinic. Founded in 2009 to meet the need for attorneys and advocates to educate victims about their rights in criminal proceedings and to assist them in seeking enforcement of those rights, OCVLC has served nearly 600 crime victims throughout Oregon.
