Onesha Cochran | Emma Elsner| Alex Elswick

O’Nesha Cochran Dumas is an Afro-Indigenous member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe with an Associate of Applied Science and Bachelor of Social Work that she obtained after spending 15 years in prison. O’Nesha helped launch the first Queer Resource Center at Portland Community College, was the first Certified Recovery Mentor at Oregon Health and Sciences University on the IMPACT Medical Team, became a Peer Trainer for the Mental Health Addiction and Certification Board of Oregon, and Managed the Diane Wade House, a 38-bed re-entry program for Afrocentric women.

Alex Elswick, PhD, currently serves at the University of Kentucky as an Assistant Professor and Extension Specialist for substance use prevention and recovery. Dr. Elswick is also the co-founder of the first and largest recovery community organization in Kentucky, Voices of Hope.  Dr. Elswick’s knowledge and experience with addiction are multifaceted. He is a tireless advocate for people with substance use disorders and has lobbied before local, state, and federal governments for legislation that supports recovery. Dr. Elswick earned his bachelor’s degree from Centre College, and his master’s and doctoral degrees at the University of Kentucky. Previously, he trained as a marriage and family therapist & as a recovery coach. Most importantly, Dr. Elswick is himself a person in long-term recovery.

Emma Elsner is the Hepatitis C and Harm Reduction project lead at the Lummi Tribal Health Center on the Lummi Nation reservation in Bellingham, Washington. She is a graduate from Western Washington University with a BA in Sociology. She has worked at the Lummi Tribal Health Center for 2.5 years working towards the micro-elimination of Hepatis C from the community, which goes hand in hand with running the Primary Integrated Care Syringe Service program through a harm reduction lens. She hopes to pursue a career as a Physician Assistant working in rural medicine and is committed to expanding care to the medically underserved.