the Athena Group

Our Team

Partner

Irene Konev

Irene Konev (she/her/hers) has over 20 years of experience in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, including community organizing, outreach, public relations, facilitation and working with nonprofits and local governments.

irenek@athenaplace.com

Irene Konev (she/her/hers) has over 20 years of experience in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, including community organizing, outreach, public relations, facilitation and working with nonprofits and local governments. A caring and compassionate organizer, Irene works through an equity lens, providing linguistically and culturally relevant services focused on systematically marginalized communities. She is passionate about helping organizations identify opportunities to engage internal and external stakeholders in the pursuit of systemic change and inclusive excellence. It shows in her three City of Portland elected official commendations and awards for DEI work. Irene has a particular focus on stakeholder engagement and community relationship building, gathering the voices that are systematically excluded.

Over the last 13 years, Irene has built and maintained relationships with Portland Metro’s diverse community. Having lived and worked in northern Canada, Oregon and Washington, she embraces the responsibility of tailoring best practices or processes to the specific needs of an organization. Clients appreciate her partnership as they engage in authentic curiosity, listening to each other and finding solutions together.

Irene identifies as American–Slavic/Eastern European community with ancestry from both Ukraine and Russia. She lives in Clackamas County, Oregon. In her spare time, she enjoys serving on her elected position at the Clackamas Community College Board (incoming President 2022), yoga, swimming, reading and hiking in the beautiful Northwest.

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