Yaisha Lavine
Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant and Family Navigator
Yai Lavine is a Portland native and Portland State Alum. She has spent the majority of her
career working in positions that allow her to give back to her community. She has worked for the
Multnomah County health department, then went on to work for Clark County Juvenile Courts, and from there, the Department of Human Services, now referred to as ODHS, to name a few.
These positions allowed her to work with youth or families in our community, many of whom
were considered to be from marginalized and high-risk areas. More recently, she worked for a
local non-profit organization where she was the program manager of adult re-entry services.
Managing this program allowed her to serve over 500 individuals who had been incarcerated,
and/or were on parole or probation, over the course of 6 years, working to get them industry-
recognized credentials post-training, as well as employed. The program also helped to connect
individuals to additional services such as mental health, treatment, and other supports to help
with barriers and challenges they may be facing.
As BPI’s Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultant and Family Navigator for the Preschool for All FCO program, she is excited to connect with her community in a new way and to be able to support educators, children, and parents. These roles will allow for relationship
building and support centered around culturally specific children, as well as children with
disabilities. She is passionate about working within these spaces to help close gaps that should
never have been there to begin with and to bring cultural awareness and create platforms for
those who previously have felt they had no voice or have not been heard.
