Jaimie Gua (Colville) (pronounced call-ville) is an education systems strategist, community organizer, and storyteller with more than 20 years of experience across public education, philanthropy, and state/federal policy & advocacy.

Fifteen years ago, Jaimie moved from Seattle to Oklahoma for graduate school at the University of Oklahoma’s College of Education, and she quickly found people and communities she loved too much to leave. That journey continues to shape her belief that meaningful change grows from strong roots: local knowledge, cultural memory, trusted relationships, and the stories communities tell about themselves.

Jaimie partners with Tribal Nations, First Nations, Native Mexican, immigrant, faith, and rural communities to strengthen the systems that shape young people’s lives. She has led multimillion-dollar grant portfolios and cross-sector coalitions that expanded opportunity, influenced policy, and connected communities to new resources. For Jaimie, routes and roots are inseparable: the pathways that bring us to new places can also lead to deeper belonging, shared purpose, and collective action. She serves on the board of the Oklahoma Route 66 Association, writes creatively, gardens, plays ukulele, and is always energized by a conversation that begins, “What if we tried?”