Meet the Team

Fernando Peña CADCII, QMHAII

Executive Director

  • Fernando is a first generation Dominican- American born and raised in NYC. He made Oregon his home in 2010 and soon after began working in the substance use disorder recovery field. He believes, in the words of Fred Hampton, that “If you walk through life and don't help anybody, you haven't had much of a life”.

Roberto Paredes

Director of Client Support Services

  • I consider myself as a person in long-term recovery, I have been sober since 2016. My title at El Jardín de Recuperacion is Associate Program Director and I started at El Jardín (formally known as NW Instituto Latino) as a Harm Reduction Supervisor. I am grateful that I can help our community in an indirect way find their recovery process. I believe that everyone deserves a second chance in life to be a better person and make healthier choices. I once heard in a self-help meeting that the opposite of addiction is connection, and here at El Jardín we make those connections. I look forward to making future connections with our clients, staff, and community.

Yesenia Tanchyk

Director of Operations

  • Yesenia has worked in the recovery field for over a decade. First in an administrative role at a local non profit and then moved to direct services as a recovery mentor and later as a alcohol and drug counselor. As a daughter of Mexican Immigrants, her love for helping the Latino community is rooted in the culture she grew up in. Yesenia believes in fighting the good fight.

Dawn Michael

Director of Human Resources

  • Dawn is a strong woman in long-term recovery, a survivor, a mother, and a role model. She has used her lived experiences to challenge the legal system and uses her lived experience in recovery and her training as an HR professional to empower her community.

Sunny Briscoe, MPA

Director of Finance and Policy

  • Sunny uses her perspective as a first generation Salvadoran-American, her education, and work experience to strengthen underrepresented communities. In addition to Social Justice, she is also passionate about Environmental Stewardship, both steeped in the belief of making the world a better place for her children.

Board of Directors

Mercedes Elizalde MA

Chairwoman

  • Mercedes Elizalde was born and raised in Hayward California, a small city in the San Francisco Bay Area. She moved to Seattle, WA in the fall of 2010 and then to Portland, OR in the summer of 2018. She is passionate about social justice, equal opportunity, and compassion throughout her personal and professional endeavors. Mercedes began working when she was 14 years old as a peer educator and summer camp counselor. She brings a unique set of perspectives and knowledge to her work, as she has direct service experience as a social worker and program coordinator, legislative assistant to an elected official, and community activist. Mercedes was the first in her family to attend college and now she has a bachelor's degree in Psychology with a concentration in Women's and Gender Studies, and a master's degree in Nonprofit Leadership. She is currently Director of Public Policy at Central City Concern, a large multidisciplinary direct service organization. In this role, Mercedes is able to combine her passion for direct service, community involvement, and addressing the root causes of social problems through public policy.

Orlando Rivera CADC-II, NCAC-I, CHTC-II, CPT-I

Committee Chair

  • Orlando Rivera has more than 15 years of experience in academia and 25 years in the nonprofit sector. He invests his time and energy into making a difference in the Portland recovery community at large, and, in addition, works toward providing accessibility to treatment and education focused on culturally specific treatment and recovery support for the Latinx community.

    Rivera was born and raised in East LA. He moved to Portland in 2015. His managerial experience in LA included Wesley Health Care Clinic, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, USC-LAC MCA Program and The Gay and Lesbian Center. In Portland he quickly integrated into the recovery community as well as the behavioral health sector. He enlisted his clinical acumen and counseling skills in the field of substance use working Cascadia Healthcare, Allied Health Belmont and Madrona Recovery. At Cascadia Healthcare he administered and led the development of an internship program for Master level therapists working toward their CADC-I. At Allied Health he began the “names not numbers” approach for all clients and worked with Spanish speaking clients. Since 2021 Rivera has been a Full-Time faculty member in the Addiction Counseling Department at Portland Community College (PCC). Outside of his professional realm, Rivera is an active volunteer in the recovery community, providing mentoring for new counselors as well as support to the Oregon AA Intergroup Board.

    In terms of credentialing, Rivera holds the following: CADC-II, NCAC-I, CHTC-II, CPT-I and a State Certified Secondary Educator (California). He is frequently sought out for his knowledge of Co-Occurring- Medical, Mental Health, and Substance Use Disorders as well as Psychopharmacology and Trauma Informed Therapeutic Counseling Techniques. Working in concert with his colleagues in The Addictions Counseling Department, Rivera has been involved in advancing the curriculum to include a nine-month Spanish language Addiction Counseling Certificate to begin in Fall – 2024.

Edward Smith

Regional Administrator

  • Edward Smith, Regional Administrator of Oxford House Oregon, California and South Dakota. Ed began working for Oxford House in 2004. His career began working with the Recovery Association Project as a worker for Oxford Houses in Oregon. At the beginning of his career, there were just over 100 houses serving 10 counties in Oregon. There are currently more than 200 Oxford Houses, serving 16 counties throughout Oregon. Ed worked with Recovery Association Project to train volunteers to be leaders and voices for those in recovery. In 2018, he accepted a job with Bridges to Change as a housing director working with each of the programs to facilitate housing options for the most needy clients. Ed helped open housing for the Latino community by partnering with Bridges to Change and Central City Concern in 2018.

    After two years with Bridges To Change, he decided to return to Oxford House to work as a Regional Manager, overseeing three states. The organization gives anyone who wants the opportunity to have a safe place to work on their recovery and a place they can call home.