About Us

About Us

When Rachel Cazavilan, Left Coast Wellness, and colleagues founded their own private practices, they began noticing important cultural and systemic gaps within the professional mental health community in Lane County, Oregon. Those experiences led to ongoing conversations about how they could better use their own privilege and positions to support BIPOC clinicians in meaningful ways.

In 2023, the conversation expanded into a larger vision that centered around reducing harm and challenging the historic racial power dynamics that exist within the field. One of the guiding values from the beginning was making sure the work of creating change did not continue to fall on the shoulders of marginalized clinicians themselves. Through conversations with colleagues about accountability, allyship, and equity, Share the Chair was created with the goal of helping reduce financial barriers for BIPOC clinicians across Oregon.

From there, the team moved into action and began the process of incorporating as a nonprofit organization. During that time, there were also ongoing conversations about what it means to lead this work thoughtfully and responsibly as white-bodied women. Alongside the administrative work, they recruited collaborators and volunteers to help build the website, create donation pathways, design graphics, and bring the project to life.

In late 2025, Ritu Roy joined Share the Chair Foundation, bringing experience in health equity, nonprofit management, and both K–12 and higher education systems. Around the same time, leadership transitioned to add new Board Members Cameron Carew and Rachel Jensen from the Left Coast Wellness leadership team.

A huge thank you to Erin Frazier-Maskiell, Chris Sutton, and Emily Knott from Alive Holistic Counseling, Lexy Menjivar-Grueskin, Colin McStravick from Minimize Web Design, Kelly Perso Design, and Katy Pelroy for all the time, care, and work that helped get this passion project off the ground.