It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

O’Nesha Cochran-Dumas is an Afro-Indigenous Queer identifying woman in long term recovery. She is an enrolled tribal member of the Oglala Sioux, in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. She survived 23 years in active addiction and 15 years in prison.

She is a living testimony of what recovery CAN look like if dependence and reentry needs are accessible and attainable. She received her AAS in Alcohol and Drug Counseling from Portland Community College and her BSW from Portland State University.

Her Community advocacy includes opening/managing the first Queer Resource Center and largest organizer for Native Nations Coordinator in PCC, Program Manager Mutual Aid Program at Brown Hope; first Recovery Peer Mentor employed by the IMPACT Medical team located at Oregon Health and Science University. Managed and designed the curriculum of the “Diane Wade House''-a 38 bed, female identified, Afrocentric, housing program for person’s who were released from prison. Is an Expert Consultant for the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board regarding Substance Use Disorder and Peer Support using ECHO curricula.

She is currently the Senior Director of Outreach and Program Development at the Miracles Club, where she oversees their community outreach program to offer direct assistance via harm reduction and tangible basic needs for the houseless and actively using communities.

O’Nesha is experienced as an expert panelist sharing with medical health professionals nationally and locally on the topics of Implicit Bias, Cultural Agility, Harm reduction and Best Practices for Addiction Medicine as it pertains to Peer Recovery Coaching.

Onesha co-authored a peer reviewed article titled; “Recommendations for integrating peer mentors in hospital-based addiction care” She is a Peer Trainer for the MetroPlus Association of Addiction Peer Professionals and sits on the following boards and councils: Measure 110 Oversight and Accountability Council to Decriminalize Drug Addiction, the Oregon Food Bank Council and the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics Steering Committee.