About Felicita
Felicita has lived on the same street in unincorporated Washington County for over 30 years. She grew up in Aloha and attended McKinley Elementary School, Holy Trinity, and then St. Mary’s Academy. As a kid, she played soccer at Rock Creek Powerlines Park, volunteered at the Aloha Library, and had her first job at 16 years old as a camp counselor at Cedar Hills Recreation Center.
In 2017, Felicita was elected to the Tualatin Hills Park & Recreation District’s Board of Directors. (THPRD is the largest parks special district in the state!) During her time on the THPRD Board, she has championed the district’s role in the affordable housing crisis, built relationships across jurisdictions, and secured state and federal dollars to the benefit of THPRD’s 270,000 constituents.
Felicita has worked for over 15 years in the nonprofit sector—first at Albertina Kerr, then Vision Action Network, then Virginia Garcia Memorial Health Center, and now Northwest Health Foundation. As Northwest Health Foundation’s Public Affairs Manager, she supports advocacy campaigns to change public policy, often in partnership and at the direction of community-based organizations. She also manages government relations and leads NWHF’s communications.
Felicita started the “Latino Social Hour + Learning Component” group in Washington County, which meets quarterly to network, discuss social justice issues, and share resources. Last year, she hosted her 25th gathering! The success of these gatherings also led her to organize elected happy hours for local elected officials across Washington County, which are an opportunity for brainstorming, sharing goals, and learning skills.
From 2016 through 2020, Felicita served on the Hillsboro Library Board. She has also served on several Metro committees, including the Community Placemaking Committee (2017-2018), Parks and Nature Stakeholder Committee (2018-2019), the Washington County Local Investment Team (served in 2019 for the 2020 Metro Transportation Bond), Metro’s Expo Advisory Committee (2024), and since 2020 has served on the Supportive Housing Services Regional Oversight Committee.
She has also been the recipient of several awards, including the Grassroots MVP Award from the National Association for Community Health Centers (2020); the Fregonese Urban Innovator Award, presented by Metro Council President L. Peterson (2019); and the Breaking Barriers Award from the American Association of University Women, Oregon Chapter (2020).
In her spare time, Felicita loves to dance, travel, and mentor the next generation of local electeds.
