who we are

Suma is a frontline-led nonprofit in Portland, Oregon, USA. We are in solidarity with a growing chorus of frontline voices speaking truth to public and private technology institutions:

  • “our communities are left out of a larger data-rich society not just by poverty, but by an extractive tech sector that fails to center us as early adopters/key beneficiaries and by systemic failures to make technology investments in community.”
  • “where are the racial justice and antipoverty innovations from this sector that talks a good game about innovation?“
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In response, we came together to create a frontline organization that incorporates technology as the basis of its economic, racial, and environmental justice programming.

Click on the icons below to learn more.

our history
our people
our stories
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Suma's story begins with another Portland-based nonprofit, Verde. Since 2005, Verde and its partners have reinterpreted sustainability as an antipoverty strategy and built a frontline community-led environmental movement in Portland. Over time, they encountered more and more technology issues while organizing to bring environmental benefits to frontline communities -- the green divide was becoming a digital divide. In response, Verde started its suma program in 2019 and spun it off into an independent nonprofit in 2020. Click on the photo to learn more about Verde.

Suma is committed to frontline organizational leadership.

Our board of directors is made up of talented and knowledgeable individuals from across Portland’s frontline communities:

Alyshia Alohalani Macaysa-Feracota | Health equity strategist and community organizer.
Damien Hall | Land use attorney, active in affordable housing and renewable energy.
Edgar Navas | Founder and CEO of CLIQA, Inc.
Gabriela Rodriguez Beron | Software engineer, currently with The Tor Project.



Suma welcomes the opportunity to share stories highlighting our work and other frontline voices imagining an inclusive technology present and future. Click the slideshow photos to see more.

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We're building the suma platform to connect you with new customers at reduced customer acquisition costs and to increase participation in your community discount programs. Stay tuned to this site for more information, and join our mailing list to get platform updates.