Staff List

David Ayala-Zamora was born in El Salvador. His desire to achieve peace, justice and democracy in his homeland brought him from a Christian youth church leadership position to being an audacious labor organizer during the US-backed Salvadoran Civil War in the 1980s. He was arrested by the El Salvador government, and jailed and tortured.

He arrived in the United State in 1990.  Since then, he has committed himself to organizing and working on immigrant issues.  His experience includes working for the Northwest Immigrant Rights Project as a paralegal, talking to immigrants and employers across Washington, Oregon and Idaho about employement-based discrimination; helping to organize CASA Latina, a Seatle center for day laborers; and being one of the founders of the Comite Pro Amnestia y Justicia Social, which sought to bring more attention to immigration issues, including beginning the May 1st march in Seattle. Most recently, he has spent many years working for SEIU Local 6 in Seattle and Local 49 and 503 in Portland, helping to organize several successful campaigns in the private sector, most recently Service Master on Swan Island, Oregon. 

David tells organizers he leads that "The organizer's job is to help people discover the power they have when they work together." In this context, he has helped hundreds of janitors, immigrants, and U.S. Citizens take risks in order to achieve common goals as members of society. He has three kids who keep him young.

Charlie received his Masters in International Affairs from Columbia University in 2007, which included studying at Beijing University, and has a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University. He was a legislative aide for Seattle City Councilmember Judy Nicastro and has worked with NGOs in the Seattle area including the Children’s Alliance. Most recently, he worked with Human Rights in China, an international NGO based in New York City that works to institutionalize human rights protections and expand civil society in mainland China.

Rebekah graduated from Pomona College with a BA in Religious Studies, and from the University of Chicago with an MA in Divinity. She also taught in South Los Angeles as a Teach for America corps member, earning an additional MA in Elementary Education. She has been with OneAmerica since the spring of 2008.

Matthew has a B.A. in English from the University of Chicago and an MSc in Gender and International Relations from Bristol University in the UK. After working as an ESL teacher in south India and Chicago, he returned to university to focus on international development and its connections with gender relations. He has worked at UNESCO’s Division for Gender Equality, the UN International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, the UN Association of the Dominican Republic and various international development- and gender-focused NGOs.

Matthew grew up in Germany and has worked and traveled in more than 30 countries. Besides his development work, he has also been a ski instructor and glacier guide in Alaska, and enjoys deep powder skiing and ice climbing. He speaks excellent Spanish and French and is (slowly) learning flamenco guitar.

Julie comes to OneAmerica with twenty years of not-for-profit finance experience. Previously, she worked with the Coalition of Essential Schools Northwest and the Seattle Children's Theatre. Julie has a Master's from the University of Washington and a Bachelor's from the University of Oregon, both in Education. She has two grown daughters, one a teacher, the other a librarian.  She is a native of Seattle.

Sarah came to OneAmerica after working as an intern and consultant at the Migration Policy Institute's National Center on Immigrant Integration Policy. She graduated from George Mason University (GMU) with a Masters in Anthropology in 2008. Her thesis research centered on the relationship between local institutions and immigrants and how these relationships change under duress. While at GMU, Sarah was the graduate research assistant at the Mason Project on Immigration, project director for the Barriers to Ethnic Entrepreneurship study, and an interviewer for Virginia's Changing Communities study in Prince William County, VA. She received a BA in Community Development from the University of Kentucky.

Kelly graduated from Seattle University in 2010 with a BA in International Studies. During her time there she studied abroad in Managua, Nicaragua and led and a student immersion trip focused on immigration in Washington State. She joined the OneAmerica staff in February and is proud to work for an immigrant rights organization which, besides doing great work, gives her an answer to people’s endless questions of what she will do with her degree. Outside of work she enjoys running, cycling, flash mobbing, and volunteering with youth at her church.

Rahwa has been organizing, educating and working towards the empowerment of East African youth since she was a youth herself.  Through organizational and personal relationships she was able to connect the issues and struggle that she and her East African community faced with larger social, economic and political issues and movements as well as national and international policy.  She also learned about the importance of art and artists in educating, communicating and moving issues that she cared about forward.  

Rahwa has led, taken part in and supported numerous campaigns, actions and grassroots efforts to end poverty, eliminate racism and sexism, end violence in all its forms and to empower marginalized individuals and communities, especially youth, women, people of color, GLBT, refugees and immigrants.  She has done this through short and long term volunteer positions, paid work at several non-profits and community organizations and most recently as the co-founder of Hidmo, a restaurant and community space in the Central District of Seattle that became a hub of art and activism.  For her work through Hidmo, Rahwa was awarded Seattle University Alber’s School of Business’ first annual Red Winged Leadership Award in 2010.  

Currently, Rahwa serves on the Board of The Vera Project, an all-ages music and arts center in Seattle and on the Steering Committee of HidmoNEXT.  She continues to work with East African youth through Mercer Middle School’s  East African Club and the Eritrean Youth Dance Group of Seattle.  In the past she has served on the Board of the Refugee Federation Service Center of Seattle, the YWCA National Student Council and the YWCA of the USA.  She has also served on the organizing committees of the Washington State Refugee and Immigrant Conference (2009), the Eritrean Sports Federation in North America’s Annual Sports Tournament (1996 & 2006) and the Eritrean Western States Cultural Festival (2006).   

Rahwa is fluent in English and Tigrinya (speaking, writing, reading).

Maha joined OneAmerica after being a language instructor at University of Washington, Middlebury College and Seattle University. She graduated from the University of Washington with a Masters in Arts in Near Eastern Languages and Civilization with her research focusing on cross-cultural communication between the United States and the Middle East. Her research included interviewing a broad sample of population from actors to politicians to local community members.  She also earned a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Near Eastern Languages and Civilization. She works extensively with various immigrant groups in the community and tutors and mentors youth of all ages within immigrant communities by organizing counseling and tutoring opportunities. She respects and recognizes the need of OneAmerica and is committed to help in its fight for social, racial and economic justice.

Kamil graduated from the University of Washington with a double-degree in Slavic Languages & Literature and International Studies: Human Rights. He was able to study in Sweden, Crete and Serbia while earning his degrees and his primary academic focus was on refugee issues, primarily in the Balkans, Caucasus and Burma.

Throughout college Kamil volunteered for the International Rescue Committee in Seattle and joined the organization as an AmeriCorps VISTA after graduation. He taught a seminar on refugee issues at the University of Washington and currently also works at Jewish Family Service supporting a variety of programs, including their Refugee and Immigrant Service Centers.

Kamil is extremely passionate about refugee and immigrant rights. He is the first member of his family born in the United States and was profoundly affected and influenced by his family's experience in Poland during both WWII and the era of Communism. This passion and family history have directed him to help others seeking a better life and he is proud to be doing so through OneAmerica's Washington New Americans program. Outside of work Kamil enjoys traveling, learning new languages, hiking and mushroom hunting.

Ever since she can remember, Jazmin has always believed in equal opportunity and fairness. Hence, it was no surprise that when OneAmerica came to her home town in March 2010 speaking of democracy and justice, she was first in line to sign up as a volunteer. Empowered to take action by the organization, she readily took to her first task, and with the help of other extraordinary community members, successfully mobilized over 300 men, women, and children and eight buses to head to the April 10th comprehensive immigration reformm rally in Seattle!

Truly inspired, her volunteer work continued throughout the 2010 calendar year with positive results. However, after six months of marches, rallies, vigils, and meetings with local legislative leaders, Jazmin came to the realization that she could no longer invest only part of her time towards shaping policy and social change. So in October 2010, she officially joined OneAmerica in a new position as Eastern Washington Organizer.

Determined to fight for positive change and equality, Jazmin hopes to one day celebrate the passage of comprehensive immigration reform and have the opportunity to witness our beloved nation truly become ONE AMERICA.