Staff

Evelyn J. Kocher
Interim Executive Director
Evelyn Kocher grew up in Beaverton and graduated from Oregon State University in 2018 with a degree in cultural anthropology and international studies and is currently based in Beaverton. She is fluent in Spanish, Portuguese, and Indonesian and is proficient in French, Italian, Guarani, and Mandarin Chinese. Her political and communications experience ranges from having spearheaded an OSU electoral organizing club in 2016 to working with Rep. Diego Hernandez during the 2018 legislative session. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, playing games with friends, refereeing soccer, and adding to her list of over thirty countries visited.
Pronouns: she/her
Phone: (503) 286-0477
Email: evelyn [AT] orstudents.org

Tosh Briquet
Organizing Director
Pronouns: they/them/theirs
Email: tosh [AT] orstudents.org

Maggie Gates
Legislative Director
Maggie is excited to join the OSA team as the Legislative Director. In 2019, she graduated from Gonzaga University with a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Women/Gender Studies. Her professional and community-based experience includes political advocacy, coalition building, leadership development, and community outreach. She previously worked for The Lands Council, an environmental nonprofit, where she developed an urban street tree program and advocated for pro-environment legislation in Eastern Washington. Most recently, she developed and won a campaign to strike an environmentally dangerous, pro-natural gas measure from Spokane’s ballot in 2021. She founded and led Spokane’s first youth climate justice organization, Sunrise Spokane, that fought for bolder policy changes at the city & state level. Maggie is passionate about encouraging young people to challenge oppressive systems and engage in politics. In her free time, you can find Maggie at dance class, strolling around Portland parks, or drinking obnoxiously expensive americanos.
Pronouns: she/her/hers
Email: maggie [AT] orstudents.org

Joseph Cruz
OSCC Field Organizer
Joseph grew up in Fontana, California and studied at both Chaffey Community College and University of California, Riverside, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in international relations. His non-profit work has focused on food relief for migrant workers and refugees. For fun, he likes to bake and play video games.
Pronouns: he/him/his
Email: joseph [AT] orstudents.org

Rick Williams
Equal Rights Organizer
Based in Eugene, Rick has lived in Oregon for the majority of their life after moving here as a child. They have a long history with student organizing beginning as the Vice President (and continuing on to serve as President) at their high school Gay Straight Alliance. While getting their degree in graphic design at Lane Community College, they started as the communications director for their Gender and Sexuality Alliance before serving as president for two years. At that time, they started organizing with OSA in fall of 2015, when they were asked to take over as the LCC’s OSERA board member. They became one of the OSA summer interns in 2016, then LCC’S Vote OR Vote class rap coordinator and an OSCC board member that year. In the following years, they switched between being an OSCC and OSERA board member, at one point sitting on the Board of Governors (BOG) as well. Outside of their experience as a student organizer, they have worked as a freelance educator, panelist, and event programmer. In their free time they like to hang out with their family watching TV, bake, and play video games.
Pronouns: they/them/theirs
Email: rick [AT] orstudents.org

Jerrel Brown
Lane Community College Campus Organizer
Jerrel grew up in Florence, Oregon and studied at both Lane Community College and the University of Oregon to earn himself a degree in environmental studies. During his studies, he served as an ASLCC senator, sat on OSA’s Board of Directors, and served as Unite The Vote’s Clipboarding Coordinator. Jerrel is a voracious consumer of LitRPG and enjoys spending his free time reading and playing games with friends.
Pronouns: he/him/his
Email: jerrel [AT] orstudents.org