Cory Elia was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. They are an award winning multimedia journalist, editor, documentarian, podcaster, and artist. Their main focus is on politics, protests, and poverty with relation to the Portland Metro. Their video work has been used on national and international coverage of the George Floyd protests of 2020. They are also an alumni of both Portland State University and Oregon State University. They live in district 3 and work in district 4 for a non-profit as their Housing and Outreach Coordinator.