Steve Knutson

Steve Knutson currently works as the Monitoring Coordinator at Guardian Partners, a nonprofit that aims to prevent abuse of protected persons. In this role, he manages a volunteer program that conducts wellness assessments and provides oversight of guardianship cases involving seniors and people living with disabilities. He inherited a program that was on hiatus due to COVID-19 and revamped the program’s framework to implement it into a virtual world. Steve has worked in nonprofits throughout his career, serving in a variety of roles and communities. He has a strong background in project management, volunteer coordination, and community outreach and organizing. Previously, Steve ran a trauma-based tattoo removal clinic in Portland for the nonprofit Outside In, working to facilitate reentry for previously incarcerated folks and to provide a means for people to remove physical manifestations and reminders of past traumas. He also served two AmeriCorps terms focused on combatting educational inequities and the environmental impact of the development of Silicon Valley in The Berkshires and San Jose respectively. Additionally, he served as a Sustainable Agriculture Peace Corps Volunteer in Paraguay, and helped lead political campaigns centered around Iranian-American voter mobilization in Orange County, and the student anti-gun movement. Steve is passionate about continuing to advocate for the communities he has previously worked with, and amplifying their voices and concerns. He plans to center these communities’ experiences in the next period of his career as he pursues a master's degree in public policy next fall. Steve hopes to dedicate his efforts to addressing systemic issues exacerbating income inequality; and is keen to focus on the intersections of housing/houselessness, criminal justice, and education. In his free time, Steve enjoys inspirational spurts of engrossing reading followed by shameful lulls, cooking overly-complicated meals, eating said meals, and relaxing with his partner Michelle.