“I am so grateful for the blessing of being bilingual and bicultural.”

Nancy Castillo McKinnis describes her work as “gold mining” – finding budding projects and supporting them with community and Foundation resources. As a bilingual/bicultural field coordinator, she will support community building in Jackson County, the Latino/a/x population throughout the state and is on the Foundation’s Latinx Woven team.

Based in Talent, Nancy was born in Mexico and grew up in Southern Oregon. A Ford Opportunity Scholar, she graduated from Southern Oregon University with a degree in psychology and sociology in 2012. Nancy has extensive experience in community building in the social services, health care and education fields, with a passion for serving underrepresented communities and is empowered by a deep and broad knowledge of the Latino/a/x community.

“I look forward to working with smaller communities and meeting them where they are in their language and in their location,” she says. “Alongside community, I want to highlight what is already working, promote resources, support self-identified goals, celebrate successes, and learn from best practice strategies to elevate the communities we are blessed to serve.”

When she is not checking in with her extensive network of neighbors and colleagues, Nancy loves to spend time with her family and friends exploring nature and enjoying delicious food.