Commissioner Lakayana Yotoma Drury (He/Him/His) is a s social entrepreneur, educator, community advocate, writer, poet, and filmmaker. He is the founder and executive director of Word is Bond, a nonprofit leadership incubator for young Black men based out of Portland, OR which he formed in 2017. At his core, Lakayana is a storyteller who harnesses the power of community engagement and various mediums of art, including poetry, music, drawing and painting, photography, and film to uplift hidden stories and inspire others to collective action.

Lakayana was raised in Madison, Wisconsin by his hardworking mother and is the eldest of three children. He experienced adversity at an early age, as a young Black man navigating the education system and the absence strong male role models. He overcame those challenges and graduated from the University of Wisconsin Stout and went on to pursue a career as an elementary and high school teacher.

Lakayana is of Sudanese and Irish ancestry. His lived experience drives his passion for culturally-grounded education, mentorship, community development and economic investment, and reimagining community safety.

Lakayana’s leadership commitments include serving on the Local Public Safety Coordinating Committee (LPSCC) Executive Committee, the Center for Black Student Excellence (CBSE) Guiding Coalition with Portland Public Schools. In 2023, Lakayana was appointed to the Oregon Commission on Black Affairs for a three-year term.

Lakayana was named Portland Business Journal’s Class of 2021, Forty Under 40, was recognized as Executives of the Year in 2022, received the 2023 Community Leader of the Year at the 38th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tribute by the World Arts Foundation, and produced his first film, The Black Stars, in 2024

Lakayana is a visionary leader who believes in building a world based on compassion for all people, where every individual has the resources they need to thrive. He believes in dismantling systems of oppression and replacing them with ecosystems that nurture the innate empathy of humanity.

Email: lakayana@mywordisbond.org

Board CHAIr

Andrew Campbell (He/Him/His) is a Portland local who was raised in the now gentrified areas of North and Northeast Portland. He attended Boise Eliot Elementary, Harriet Tubman Middle School, and Benson Polytechnic High School. After high school, Andrew moved to the American South to pursue college, earning his Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology and Sociology from Tuskegee University, Master’s of Science in Sports Psychology from the University of Tennessee. He has been blessed to have had the opportunity to explore the Black experience outside of Portland and continues to apply what he learned for the betterment of his hometown and community. 

Andrew's professional background is in physiological training, social sciences, and psychological sciences with ten years of experience. He uses a holistic approach in promoting mental and physical health. He currently works for Multnomah County as a Mentor & Development Specialist. Andrew also serves on the Black Male Achievement Steering Committee and is involved with local transportation and neighborhood committees. He is passionate about creating healthier environments in Black/Brown communities to influence positive human behavior and culture cohesion.  In turn, he hopes individuals can feel safe and relaxed to think and feel more positively and peacefully. During his free time, he enjoys outdoor activities, sports, exercising, and hanging with family and friends.

Treasurer

Simona Taylor (She/Her/Hers) As a Wisconsin native, Simona attended UIU and obtained her Bachelor of Arts in Human Services and later went on to pursue her Master of Business Administration, Organization Leadership from GCU.  Among her large number of siblings, she is the first to graduate college and assured her parents not to be the last. As a change agent, she is accustomed to challenging the status quo and driving paradigm shifts that encourage policies and practices that promote diversity and inclusion. 

Simona has been fortunate to collect many experiences in her professional career that have challenged, stretched, and strengthened her fabric as a career professional, and continues to strive for more. She is passionate about changing the trajectory of black and brown youths through insightful dialogue around financial literacy, trade, and skill development.

 “Learning is enjoyable and learning effectively pays dividends that aids in the wealth of knowledge.” 

While her experience conveys a series of transferable skills, achieved goals, strong execution and willingness to learn, grow and remain adaptable as a live long learner, she is first a woman of color that wants to see other people of color succeed and break barriers.

Secretary

Scott Korb (He/Him/His) is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and earned master’s degrees in Theology from Union Seminary and in Literature from Columbia University. His books include The Faith Between Us (2007), a collection of personal essays presented as a conversation with Jewish writer Peter Bebergal; Life in Year One (2010), a popular history of first-century Palestine; and Light Without Fire (2013), an intimate portrait of the first year at America’s first Muslim college. He is associate editor of The Harriet Jacobs Family Papers (2008), which was awarded the American Historical Association’s 2009 J. Franklin Jameson Prize. He also edited a collection of essays with Robert Bolger about David Foster Wallace and philosophy, Gesturing Toward Reality (2014).

Scott is a former director of the First-Year Writing Program and Eugene Lang College, at the New School. He joined the Pacific University MFA faculty in the summer of 2013 and was named the director of that program in May 2020. He lives with his family in Portland, Oregon.

MEMBER AT-LARGE

Max Decker (He/Him/His) is a senior at Lincoln High School and a third-year Word is Bond ambassador. Born and raised in the Seattle area, Max moved to Portland in the summer of 2019 where he attended West Sylvan Middle School for a short while before the pandemic began. Stuck in predominantly white spaces for most of his life, Max was inspired to join Word is Bond after they spoke to the Brothers of Color club at Lincoln.

Max has an avid passion for journalism. Max reports for The Cardinal Times, acts as their Managing Digital Editor, and has been published in The Oregonian, among other accomplishments. Max plans on attending college to study journalism after he graduates from high school in the summer of 2023.

MEMBER AT-LARGE

James Euscher (He/Him/His) grew up in Beaverton, Oregon surrounded by athletics, graduating from Aloha High School, then was able to pursue the opportunity to play football at the University of Oregon. He majored in Social Sciences, particularly sociology and psychology. Unfortunately, his football career came to a halt after a series of injuries and he made the decision to medically retire and finish his degree in three years at the U of O. In 2015, James earned the opportunity to begin his career at the Lake Oswego Police Department as a Community Service Officer, promoted a short time later in 2016 to Police Officer. During his rookie year, he was selected by his peers as Officer of the Year.

While navigating a career in law enforcement James became a Field Training Officer and assisted with training new Officers. This allowed him to learn much more as a Police Officer as he was overseeing people who were new to the profession. James was later chosen by LOPD to attend a meeting for Word is Bond.  He had the privilege to participate in the program for the first time in 2019 where he began building relationships with fellow Officers and young males in the Black community.

The experiences James had at Word is Bond made him realize he wanted to make an impact on the younger community in Lake Oswego, so he applied to become the second School Resource Officer. He was chosen for the position and has been helping students from 1st through 12th grade since the beginning of the 2019 school year. This position has taught him there is much more to law enforcement; it is truly being a reasonable person and using discretion to help not only students, but the youth, parents and staff members in the community where he works, to better themselves.

MEMBER AT-LARGE

Sydney Holmes (she/her/hers) Born in Saigon, Vietnam, Sydney and her family immigrated to the United States in the summer of 1999. During her formative years, Sydney was raised by a single mother who worked tirelessly—while attending night classes at the local community college—to provide a roof over her head, food on the table, and the opportunities that she otherwise would not have enjoyed in her birth country. Sydney’s powerhouse mom, and later her incredible stepfather, instilled in her a drive to succeed, a hunger to give back, and the fire-in-the-belly needed to face any obstacle. This led her to pursue a Bachelor of Science from the University of Texas at Austin and, most recently, a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Oregon School of Law.

As a bilingual Vietnamese American woman, Sydney’s cultural heritage continues to inspire and inform her appetite for systemic change. With a background in both the public and private sectors—particularly with pop artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, and large organizations—Sydney brings to each professional endeavor her keen analytical skills, sense of humor, and the moxie required of a fierce and principled advocate.

In her spare time, she can be found exploring the Columbia River Gorge, satisfying her cravings at hole-in-the-wall restaurants, connecting with friends, and cheering for/lamenting over her college sports teams.

MEMBER AT-LARGE

Jahad Hudson Jr (He/Him/His) is a Freshman at Wiley College and a third-year Word is Bond ambassador. Jahad was Born and raised in Portland, Oregon. He attended Central Catholic High School from 2019-2023. Stuck doing nothing for the summer, Jahad was highly encouraged to join. In the years of being a part of Word is Bond, he was featured in The Oregonian, Koin 6, and is now on the board for Word Is Bond. He has used this leadership internship to achieve his goals and evolve to be his best self.

Jahad has a passion for fashion and clothing. He founded a clothing brand called Hidden Truths. Hidden Truths empowers individuals to express themselves while unveiling untold stories from history and introducing new figures. After graduating college, Jahad plans on pursuing a career in real estate and expanding his clothing brand.