About OCJ

Oregon Consumer Justice is a non-profit organization committed to ensuring that all people in Oregon experience a safe and fair marketplace. We advance the rights of consumers through advocacy, research, education, and engagement. We work to bring consumer justice into balance for all Oregonians.

OCJ Story

A Cy Pres award distributes unclaimed class action settlement money to a charitable organization and is how OCJ came to be.

In March 2015, Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed her first bill into law. Prior to House Bill 2700, companies that lost class action lawsuits were allowed to keep unclaimed settlement money as their own. Bill 2700 changed that in mandating unclaimed funds be used to the benefit of consumers, not the corporations that harmed them.

The law was applied for the first time in 2019 in class action lawsuit Scharfstein v. BP West Coast Products LLC. Judge Jerome LaBarre directed that unclaimed funds from the class action lawsuit be used to establish a consumer advocacy non-profit organization. Three board members were named to lead its design.

Board of Directors

Henry Kantor

Chair

Founding Board Member

Meet Henry

Justin Baxter

Secretary

Founding Board Member

Meet Justin

Emily Reiman

Treasurer

Founding Board Member

Meet Emily

Jenny Pool Radway

Board Member

Katrina Holland

Board Member

Sayer Jones

Finance Committee Chair

Board Member

Sybil Hebb

Board Member

Se-ah-dom Edmo

Board Member

Staff

Robin Wang

Interim Executive Director

Lester Thompson

Interim Chief Financial Officer

Janet Byrd

Interim Policy and Community Strategist

Chris Coughlin

Policy and Legislative Lead

Joséluis Jiménez Maldonado

Community Mobilization Manager

ReJeana Orr

Executive Assistant and Administrator

Financials

2020 Form 990

Henry Kantor

Chair and Founding Board Member

A trial judge in Multnomah County for over 22 years, Henry Kantor graduated cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania, earned his JD from Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College, and has been a member of the Oregon State Bar since 1979. Prior to taking judicial office, his practice focused on trial and appellate law in Oregon’s state and federal courts, emphasizing complex consumer cases, commercial litigation, and class actions. Henry was appointed to the court in 1994 and was elected and re-elected by the voters to four terms of office, retiring in 2017. He then worked two years as Special Counsel to the Oregon Attorney General. Henry continues to serve the public as a senior judge.

Justin Baxter

Secretary and Founding Board Member

A trial attorney with Baxter & Baxter, LLP, Justin Baxter has shared his clients’ stories with state and federal juries in credit reporting, fair debt collection, mortgage, and privacy cases. A member of the Oregon State Bar since 1999, Justin received his JD from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis & Clark College. In addition to OCJ, he sits on the Board of Directors for the National Association of Consumer Advocates. He is the past Chair of the Oregon State Bar Consumer Law Section and the past Chair of the Oregon Trial Lawyers Association’s Consumer Protection Section.

Emily Reiman

Treasurer and Founding Board Member

Emily Reiman is the CEO of two affiliated non-profits: DevNW (a CDC focused on developing affordable housing, creating financial opportunity for low-income families, and building equitable, thriving neighborhoods/communities) and Community LendingWorks (a CDFI that provides safe, affordable consumer and micro/small business loans for people typically un or underserved by the financial mainstream). The organizations serve much of Western Oregon, with offices in Springfield, Corvallis, Salem, and Oregon City. Prior to her work in community economic development, Emily spent ten years working with at-risk youth, mostly centered around the foster care system. She attended Mt. Holyoke College in Massachusetts, but is otherwise a lifelong Oregonian.

Katrina Holland

Board Member

Katrina is a visionary and believes Oregon can be a place where all who live here can exist and THRIVE. She serves as Executive Director of JOIN, a homeless service agency dedicated to supporting community members secure permanent housing and attain stability. Katrina is deeply engaged in volunteer efforts to empower community members to make Oregon equitable for all. Many housing and community initiatives in Portland and Oregon have her thumbprint, including the nation’s first Preference Policy aimed at returning the Black community to their historic roots in North and Northeast Portland; Portland’s Relocation Assistance policy aimed at compensating renters’ who have been unjustly removed from their home; the nation’s first Statewide Rent Control policy; Portland Metro’s Supportive Housing Services measure that will help end Portland's homeless crisis; Oregon’s COVID-focused Eviction Moratorium and Landlord Compensation Fund. She serves as Co-Chair of the Board of Here Together, and a member of the A Home For Everyone Coordinating Board in Multnomah County. Katrina has her Bachelor’s Degree from Portland State University in Community Development: Housing & Economic Development with an emphasis on Race, Policy, and Communications.

Sayer Jones

Sayer Jones is a business consultant working with institutions structuring and measuring the impacts of their investments. Prior to his current work, he led the regional impact investing practice at Meyer Memorial Trust on the program related investment and mission related investment portfolios for 12 years, deploying over $50 million. Sayer has chaired city and state boards focused on impact investing and managing public portfolios for impact. He has led investors in workshops to align social values with financial and cultural returns, and has experience as an entrepreneur, representing asset owners, and managing fund managers and consultants. Sayer is the co-chair of the Oregon Growth board, the Treasurer of APANO Communities United Fund and is on the board of Indian Lands Capital Company.