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Tamara Henderson has been an activist and advocate for racial justice, equity, and college access since 2000. She is an enrolled member of the Laguna Pueblo tribe. Most of her initial work was in the areas of student organizing, advocacy, and activism. Tamara worked for the Oregon Student Association (OSA) from 2006 – 2010, where she spent her final three years as the Executive Director. The Oregon Student Association is a student run organization, focusing on increasing access and affordability to an equitable post-secondary education for all Oregonians; much of their work is done through training and mobilizing students to run direct action campaigns, build electoral power, and lobby the legislature around issues of access to post-secondary education. She then went on to coordinate college access services to the Native American community as the College and Career Coordinator for the Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA). Tamara was involved in the Oregon College Access Network from 2010 until 2015 where she served as both Vice President and President.
She has also worked with Title VII (now Title VI), Indian Education. Tamara was the Director of Youth and Education Services at NAYA before coming on as the Chief Operating Officer where she oversees Operations including HR, IT, Community Reception and the NAYA Kitchen along with some department directors. She has served the organization for over thirteen years. She currently serves on the Oregon Student Foundation board and is the president of the Oregon Indian Education Association; Tamara also chairs the American Indian/Alaskan Native Advisory Committee for the Oregon Department of Education’s Office of Indian Education. She has also joined the Coalition of Communities of Color Board of Directors in 2021 and in 2023 became the Vice Chair of the board. Tamara has a passion for social justice and organizing in community to build power and equity.
Tamara attended Southern Oregon University where she got her start in the field of college access through her work as a student leader; she chaired the OSA Board of Directors as the Southern Oregon University Student Body President from 2001-2002 and held the Vice Chair position for the United States Student Association’s People of Native American Descent Caucus that same year. Tamara has a degree in Communication Studies and earned a Certificate in Conflict Resolution from Southern Oregon University. Even today, she continues to work at Southern Oregon University’s Konaway Nika Tillicum pre-college program for Native American Youth, most recently as Assistant Director of the program.