Staff

Beth Newkirk was born and raised in Ohio, but has lived in Minnesota for over 25 years. She has organized with the United Handicapped Federation, was the founding director of All Park’s Alliance for Change and served for four years as Campaign Director of what is now the Community Solutions Fund. She is a graduate of Middlebury College in Vermont and received her Masters in Mass Communication, with a focus on Mass Communication and Social Change. She is the founding, now Executive Director, of the Organizing Apprenticeship Project.
Email newkirk@oaproject.org

Salvador Miranda was born and raised in St. Paul, MN. He attended the University of MN, majoring in Chicano Studies, and later went to the law school at the U. Salvador was the second Chicano from St. Paul to attend that law school. He was a founding board member of the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless and has organized in faith communities with JMP, Interfaith Action, ISAIAH, and, on a national level, the Gamaliel Foundation. He organized with Latino Economic Development Corporation to help create the Mercado Central. Since 2000, Miranda has been the Associate Director with the Organizing Apprenticeship Project and since 2006, Miranda has been training community organizers and working with a team of trainers to lead racial justice trainings for leaders, organizers and organizations committed to advance racial equity in their work.
Email miranda@oaproject.org

Julia Freeman is the Senior Organizer for Racial Justice Organizing at the Organizing Apprenticeship Project (OAP). She has worked as a labor organizer for over 12 years, most recently as organizing director for SEIU Local 26. She has a long history of involvement and leadership in community organizing efforts. She is President of the board of the Community Stabilization Project. Julia has been at OAP for 4 years and leads the strategic convening initiative and Education Equity Organizing Collaborative.
Email freeman@oaproject.org

Vina Kay is the Director of Research and Policy at OAP.  She is a graduate of Carleton College and the University of Minnesota Law School.  She spent several years working at the Institute on Race and Poverty, first as Legal Fellow and then as Senior Researcher and Director of the Racial Justice and Regional Equity Project under john powell.  She is a writer of poetry and creative nonfiction, currently completing a collection of poems that tell the story of a trip her immigrant parents believed was their last back to their homeland of Thailand.  She is also a filmmaker working on a documentary called Building the Pink Tower, which focuses on reimagining schools and learning through the lens of Montessori education. Vina leads the racial equity research initiative.
Email kay@oaproject.org

Gwyneth Olson has been Operations Manager at OAP since 2004. She was born and raised in Minneapolis and is a graduate of Minneapolis’ South High. She has a background in theater with a focus on the theater of change.
Email olson@oaproject.org

Robert Hemphill is a Research, Communications, and Organizing Associate at OAP. Originally from Chicagoland, Robert attended Macalester College and graduated with a degree in Political Science. At OAP, he manages social media platforms and the organizing database, assists on research projects and media communications, and helps with event organizing.
Email hemphill@oaproject.org