Business Details
39 Years
experience
Western States Center: Building Movements for Justice & Democracy
Since 1987, Western States Center has dedicated itself to creating a world where all individuals can live free from bigotry and fear. Our work focuses on building movements, developing leaders, shifting culture, and defending democracy through grassroots organizing and civic engagement. We prioritize gender justice, racial equity, and tribal sovereignty while equipping marginalized communities with tools for collective action.Our national impact includes concrete policy changes and establishing regional models to counter anti-democratic extremism. Through leadership training, cultural initiatives, and rapid response interventions, we empower communities to protect inclusive democracy across the Pacific Northwest, Mountain States, and beyond.
Services
Building Movements
Developing Leaders
Shifting Culture
Defending Democracy
Leadership Training
Organizational Support
Cultural Workshops
Rapid Response
Policy Advocacy
Community Organizing
Details
- Year established: 1987
Highlights and features
- We have over 35 years of experience in social justice movement-building
- Our work combines grassroots organizing with cultural strategy frameworks
- We provide actionable tools for combating authoritarian extremism
- Our regional anti-democracy models influence national strategies
- We offer comprehensive leadership development programs for activists
Services
Building Movements
We strengthen marginalized communities' organizing capacity through training programs and resource distribution. Our frameworks emphasize racial justice, gender equity, and tribal sovereignty while providing practical tools for grassroots activism. This work creates sustainable networks that drive institutional change across multiple sectors.
Developing Leaders
Our leadership programs combine skill-building workshops with organizational capacity support. Participants gain strategic planning tools, anti-oppression frameworks, and movement sustainability techniques. The curriculum prepares social justice leaders to effectively navigate contemporary challenges in democratic engagement and community empowerment.
Shifting Culture
We convene artists and cultural workers to create narrative change through creative expression. Our culture lab initiatives use art, music, and storytelling to challenge extremist ideologies and promote inclusive values across traditional and digital platforms.
Defending Democracy
Our rapid response teams provide real-time support against political violence and authoritarian threats. We develop institutional protocols for hate incident mitigation and maintain monitoring systems tracking anti-democratic activity nationwide for community protection.
Policy Advocacy
We implement evidence-based strategies for policy reform through coalition-building and grassroots mobilization. Our approach combines community testimony collection with legislative strategy development to achieve concrete institutional improvements in equity and justice frameworks.
People
Amy Herzfeld-Copple
Executive Director
Amy leads strategic direction while maintaining focus on organizational sustainability and movement impact. With decades of experience in social justice leadership, she oversees program development and national anti-extremism initiatives.
Todd Addams
Deputy Director
Todd manages operational strategy and organizational effectiveness. He coordinates cross-program initiatives while ensuring alignment with movement-building priorities and institutional accountability frameworks.
Lindsay Schubiner
Director of Programs
Lindsay oversees program design and implementation across all initiative areas. She develops curriculum for leadership training while guiding strategic direction for cultural and democratic defense programs.
Kim Warnick
Culture Lab Director
Kim leads cultural strategy initiatives using creative approaches to combat extremism. She develops artistic programming that advances inclusive narratives through multimedia platforms and community engagement projects.
Jedidiah Chavez
Director of Development
Jedidiah manages funding strategies and donor relations. He ensures financial sustainability while aligning resource development with organizational mission and movement-building objectives.
Questions
What is Western States Center's primary mission?
We work to create a world where everyone can live free from bigotry and fear through movement-building, leadership development, and anti-extremism work.
Which geographic areas do you serve?
While based in Portland, Oregon, our programs operate nationwide with particular focus on the Pacific Northwest and Mountain States regions.
How can individuals get involved?
We offer leadership training programs, cultural initiatives, and organizing tools for community members seeking to advance democratic values and combat extremism.
What anti-democracy threats do you address?
Our work confronts white nationalism, political violence, disinformation campaigns, and institutional barriers to equitable participation in democratic processes.
How does your organization measure impact?
We track policy changes, institutional reforms, and movement capacity growth through coalition partnerships and community-led accountability frameworks.
