Yamini Rajan was born in Mumbai, India, in 2001. Shortly afterward, her family moved to Delhi, and then to Bangalore. Her father worked for Nike, and in 2012, he was transferred to Portland, Oregon, and the family immigrated to the United States. Yamini Rajan participated as a storyteller with ASHA International, A Source of Hope for All, a non-profit organization that promotes mental-health education.

Sarah Rikaz was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 1985. In 2006, she earned a degree in graphic design from the Institute of Business Management. In 2008, she and Rikaz Thaha were married; they later had two children. Rikaz Thaha moved to the United States shortly afterward, and in 2010, Sarah Rikaz joined him in Portland, Oregon. She became a freelance artist and illustrator of children's books by Portland authors.

Mayo Rae Roy, nee Rolph, was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1919. She began playing table tennis in tournaments in 1933 while still in high school. In 1942, she earned a bachelor's degree from Linfield College in McMinnville, Oregon. She was later a table tennis coach at Clackamas Community College. She married several times, and variously went by the names Mayo Rae Rolph, Mayo Rae-Rolph Barrett, Mayo Rae Roy, and Mayo Rae Miller. She died in 2005.

Van Dung Tran was born in Saigon, Vietnam, in 1957. Her father worked for the U.S. military during the Vietnam War, and later spent five years in a North Vietnamese prison camp. After the 1975 fall of Saigon, she and her family attempted several escapes. In 1985, they were finally able to emigrate to the United States. She first lived in Portland, Oregon. In 1987, she and Thuong Le were married; they later had two children. The couple moved to Stockton, California, where Le worked in his family's restaurant. In 1991, the couple opened Phở Lê, a Vietnamese restaurant in Camas, Washington, while they lived in Portland. They later opened locations in Portland and Vancouver.

Kai N. Lee was born in New York, New York, in 1945. In 1966, he earned a bachelor's degree from Columbia University, and in 1971, he earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University. He continued his studies at the University of California at Berkeley. From 1973 to 1990, he taught political science and environmental studies at the University of Washington. From 1983 to 1987, he represented Washington on the Northwest Power Planning Council, now known as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. From 1991 to 1998, he served as director of the Center for Environmental Studies at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts, and was interim director from 2001 to 2002. He also taught environmental studies at the college until 2007, when he became program officer for the Conservation and Science Program at the Packard Foundation.

Michael Gutwig was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1956. He was editor for the Parkrose High School newspaper, and studied journalism at Mount Hood Community College. In 1981, he became the sports editor for the Central Oregonian newspaper in Prineville. That same year, he and Lori Clark were married; they later had two children. In 1986, he joined the staff of the Northwest Labor Press. He retired at the end of 2021.

John Shurts was born in 1956. He earned a bachelor's degree in history from Colorado College, a law degree from Lewis & Clark College, and a Ph.D. in American history from the University of Oregon. He was an adjunct professor at several universities in Oregon, and served as general counsel for the Northwest Power Planning Council, now known as the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

Naskah Zada was born in Sangasar, Iraq, in 1974. The village was destroyed by the Iraqi Army in 1988, and its residents were relocated to a camp near Mosul. She attended the University of Sulaimani, in Sulaymaniyah, in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Her studies were interrupted when, in 1996, she and her family were evacuated by the U.S. military during Operation Pacific Haven. The next year, they settled in Portland, Oregon. She earned a degree from Portland State University. In 2007, she began working as television and radio producer and video editor at Voice of America in Washington, D.C. In 2018, she returned to Portland and began a YouTube show, called The Zada Show, focusing on news and culture in the Middle East.

Ellen Goldberg was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1949. She attended Barnard College in New York. In 1971, she came to Portland, Oregon, to teach at Jefferson High School. She was a co-founder of the Mountain Moving Cafe, a collective-run coffeehouse in Southeast Portland. She was later involved in the Women Center in Portland.

Gary Coleman (born circa 1951) was a founding member of the Portland Gay Men's Chorus.

Laurie Jo Lockert was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1952. She studied at Oregon State University. Around 1983, she earned a master's degree in psychology from Portland State University, and worked as a mental health counselor. She married Kathleen M. Roy, and they later had one child.

Larry Dale Smith was a history teacher in the Beaverton School District, and in the 1990s, he became chair of the Oregon chapter of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a national organization dedicated to making school safe for LGBTQ youth.

Irene Jean Lavorato was born in Portland, Oregon, in 1921. She attended Pacific Business College, then worked as a clinic clerk at the University of Oregon Medical School, now Oregon Health & Science University. In 1947, she left the hospital to be a clinic clerk and medical assistant at a private practice in Portland, and she worked there until she retired in 1985. She died in 2005.

Tim Smith was one of five children born to Lendon Howard Smith (1921-2001), a nationally recognized pediatrician, author, and television personality known as "The Children's Doctor," and to Julie Starheim, who had worked as a nurse. Smith and his siblings grew up in Portland, Oregon.
Smith became interested in filmmaking in 1967 and began making films seriously in 1968. Most of Smith's short films were filmed using a hand spring wound Bolex H16 paired with an assortment of lenses. Smith's films typically satirize a type of film, commercial, or joke. The majority of his works were filmed in Portland, Oregon, and they frequently feature several of his family members, including his father. Matt Groening was an occasional collaborator with Smith and acted in one of the films.
In 1981, Smith's film "Infernal Voyage," which he considers to be his best film, placed sixth at the 1981 Ann Arbor Film Festival and in the top 10 at the Sinking Creek Independent Film Festival.