Our Work

Our Communities, Our Voices

Using a popular education model, community members learn about government jurisdictions, governing structures across decision making bodies, and roles within these. Participants learn about pathways towards becoming involved in decision making bodies by developing an understanding of leadership bodies, including boards, committees, commissions, school boards, local city and county governments, and the State of Oregon legislature.

Our Parks, Our Future

The Our Parks, Our Future Coalition is a group of individuals and organizations working to imagine, fund, create and steward a vibrant system of parks, trails, recreation spaces, and natural areas in East Multnomah County inclusive of the people, activities, and programs that activate and enrich our parks and open space, while increasing the physical and mental health of our communities.

Housing Stability, Dignity, and Affordability

The residents of East Multnomah County need safe, stable, dignified, and affordable housing in the neighborhoods in which they live close to the services they need. We’ve been successful in supporting the approval of projects like Rockwood Village, co-created by Community Development Partners and Hacienda CDC, which also provides services such as financial literacy training, down payment assistance, jobs training, and child care to help lift community members from poverty into stable housing and jobs. We continue to work with the community to bring in more resources like these and improve tenant rights and protections.

Youth Voice Youth Vote (YV2)

In the Fall of 2020, we launched Youth Voice Youth Vote  to break down accessibility barriers and create opportunities for community building, learning, leadership and skill development, and civic engagement for Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) youth in East Multnomah County. We are continuing our authentic youth-led, multi-year program, to engage BIPOC youth ages 16-22. We partnered with Participatory Budgeting Oregon to incorporate participatory budgeting as a core tool to inform youth about the democratic process of how they can help allocate a portion of a public budget of a local jurisdiction through a binding decision or vote. 

Rising Fellows​

There is a need for increased community civic engagement in the local governments of East Multnomah County. Our Rising Fellows are building relationships and networks with community members, local organizations, and elected leaders and providing training, coordination support, and muscle to get work done together. These BIPOC fellows, in a paid work experience, are given skill-building opportunities and mentorship to become the future leaders of our community.

Our Board​

  • Huy Ong
  • Jim Labbe
  • Joseph Santos-Lyons