Cashauna Hill, Fair Housing Attorney for the Oregon Law Center

Winter 2011 - Being in this job gives me the chance to help people with a wide variety of needs and issues, and I provide a range of services for my clients.

I am charged with coordinating and litigating housing discrimination cases for the Oregon Law Center. Another part of my job which I really love and enjoy is doing education and outreach to the community, to let people know about their rights as tenants, for example. I also do a lot of building and maintaining relationships with social services providers, and other partners who work with potential clients. read more

Charlene McGee, African Women's Coalition

Winter 2011 - The mission of the AWC is to mobilize, advocate and empower African women living in Oregon and Southwest Washington by providing a culturally supportive and nurturing environment that builds the capacity of the community to help itself and allows other members of the community to reach their highest potential through support, guidance and educational opportunities.

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Jesse Beason, Executive Director, Proud Ground

Spring 2010 - Proud Ground uses the community land trust model. This model was developed in the early 1960s by a group of African-American farmers in Alabama who wanted to avoid the practice of share-cropping. But they also knew they wanted something to pass on to the next generation, to ensure that farming stayed affordable. The land trust movement grew, and became focused on homeownership for people who are being priced out of the market.

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Summer 2010 - Equity is an issue that challenges just about every group, population and region in the world. We undermine our prosperity when we aren’t making sure that people have equitable access to equity – when they don’t have the education and the economic supports to develop themselves and ultimately give back to society. If there are certain groups of people that are underserved, they never get that opportunity to participate as fully as they might.

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Donita Fry, Portland Youth and Elders Council Organizer, Native American Youth and Family Center

Summer 2010 - We have four priority areas that we focus on around poverty reduction: employment, housing, community development and education. One of the needs we’ve identified is developing a gathering place for our community. In order to take measures to reduce poverty, we need to address the barriers that stand in the way of success. These barriers are due in part to the historical trauma that our people endured from past assimilation efforts, racism and oppression.

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Creating Leaders: "Adelante Chicas" Working with Latina Girls in Local School Districts

Spring 2010 - Adelante Chicas is designed as a holistic program: we take into consideration the needs of the community, which includes not just the youth, but their parents and the community at large. In terms of outcomes, we really want to continue to contribute to the development of the girls’ self-efficacy, academic engagement, community involvement and their cultural identity.

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Fall 2009 - "We realized that there are tons more people out there with items they want to donate, and even more families with a lot of need. There needed to be a service that connected together people and nonprofits.

DonorsResource.org is an online hub that brings people who have items to donate with nonprofits who are directly connected with people who need those items." more

Promoting Health Lifestyles: African American Outdoors Association

Fall 2009 -The thing I’m most proud of is that many of our participants are trying something new for the first time in their lives. Some have never hiked. They’ve never been in any kind of watercraft. They’ve never biked more than a few miles, and most haven’t been on a bike since they were kids. Because they’re able to go out with peers – people they’re comfortable with – they’re able to take some risks and push themselves physically. more

Diversity a Core Competence for Providence Health & Services

Winter 2009 - Our diversity efforts at Providence center around four core areas: managing a diverse workforce; community relations and community outreach; developing cultural competency; and contracting and purchasing.

Overarching all of those is working with organizational leaders and managers in aligning our diversity strategy with Providence Health and Services mission, vision and values. I also help leaders understand how a diversity focus aligns strategically with their business goals and objectives. more

Fall 2008 - "I am really proud of the movement toward using community-building as a model for promoting financial stability. Our investments in programs are truly shared with participants. For many programs we fund, participants are involved in program design, oversight and implementation. In health and human services work, there’s a fine line between being “prescriptive” in our approach, and allowing individuals the opportunity for self-determination. more

Asian Health and Service Center Celebrates 25th Anniversary

Fall 2008 - Since opening its doors to serve the Chinese immigrant community in 1983, the center has grown and evolved over the years to adapt to the changing needs throughout the region.

Today, the center provides health and wellness activities for seniors, runs a Mandarin immersion preschool, provides mental health supports, plus a plethora of other services and programs for the local Asian community. more

Fall 2008 - "Linking my own situation as a refugee, my profession as a psychiatrist, and my interest in the experience of acculturation led me to develop the idea for the Iraqi Society of Oregon. As more new people come to Portland, the city is making an effort to become more sensitive to the needs of new Portlanders. There is an honest desire from the larger community to reach out to new communities, especially refugees and immigrants. more

Black Parent Initiative Holds First Fundraiser

Fall 2008 - The Black Parent Initiative is a community-based organization committed to addressing the significant and longstanding educational and life challenges facing black families in the Portland area.

Using innovative partnerships, BPI is creating and enhancing systems to provide stronger supports for Black parents hence improving the odds of success for Black children in their journey to access a quality, world-class education. more

Fall 2008 - Sunshine Dixon, community organizer for the Urban League of Portland, organized the "Exercise Your Vote" event that drew more than 80 participants to Concordia University on Oct. 11.

The event featured performers from local churches, schools and community groups. Volunteers from the Oregon BUS Project. more

Summer 2008 - "I’m a family physician. I found that there are lots of problems among Asians that aren’t being taken care of. In the early 1980s, assistance for immigrants — especially women, the elderly, and those with mental-health issues — was practically nonexistent."

Twenty-five years ago, Dr. Erik Szeto, a family physician, laid the groundwork for the establishment of the Asian Health and Service Center (AHSC) in Portland.

What began as a social service center for Chinese immigrants and ethnic Chinese has expanded its scope to offer health and wellness services and resources for diverse Asian communities in multiple locations. more

Spring 2008 - The Black United Fund of Oregon is a philanthropic and community development institution committed to the social and economic empowerment of Oregon's low-income communities.

"While the Black United Fund continues our fund-raising in the workplace, we also want to encourage individuals to create funds to benefit the community. Ultimately, we want to be a quasi-foundation for people of color. We’re looking for partners who may want to serve communities of color, using our infrastructure. We want to continue to be a thriving and sustainable pillar in this community," says Adrienne Livingston, executive director. more

Big Brothers, Big Sisters Connects Children with Mentors, Positive Role Models

Spring 2008 - Pamela Weatherspoon is spearheading the effort to recruit more African-American men to mentor children who need positive role models in their lives. She serves as the African American Mentoring Programs Director, Big Brothers Big Sisters Columbia Northwest, and has been instrumental in raising awareness about the need for more mentors in the Black community. read more

Spring 2008 - Brent A. Stewart Sr. led the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette over the last four years. He is credited for revitalizing the organization's fund-raising capacity and credibility in the community.

Starting April 1, he will take on the reins as CEO and President of the United Way of Greater Kansas City.With his reputation as a change agent throughout the United Way system, Brent bested 70+ candidates for the coveted position. He brings more than 20 years' experience in leading United Ways through transitions. read more

Winter 2008 - "We provide services in a place where people feel comfortable. We recognize and embrace that culture is important. Too often services are designed around how to help people become mainstream or how to assimilate. We’re not interested in that. We’ve had 300 years of being forced to assimilate and it has not been successful. The more we teach kids about who they are, why their culture is important and why they should proud of who they are, the stronger they are in every area of their life." read more

Summer 2007 - "Our agency promotes wealth creation in terms of providing homeownership for all, including people of color. We also provide financial literacy within communities of color: to get people to understand the importance of creating wealth within their own communities. We serve all different communities and make sure that we provide culturally competent services." read more

Africa House brings much-needed services to growing immigrant community

Summer 2007 - "It’s really important to advocate for your own community. My experience as a student was different from the way many Africans were coming into the country. People who come to this country as refugees are not here by their own choice. They are thrown out of their country for political reasons. They end up in a refugee camps." read more

Pictured: Karifa received the Multnomah County Health Department's Public Health Hero Award in 2004.

Spring 2007 - With her experience in health systems administration, Vanetta Abdellatif is at the helm of creating lasting and sustainable change in delivering care to communities of color and underserved segments in Multnomah County.

As the Director of Integrated Clinical Services at the Multnomah County Health Department, Vanetta oversees medical, dental, school-based health centers, as well as ancillary services such as radiology, laboratory, WIC and more. read more

RN Leads ¡Salud! Services to Serve Ag Workers in Wine Industry

Spring 2007 - Leda Garside, RN, is leading an innovative program that addresses the health care needs of agricultural workers in Oregon’s burgeoning wine industry. Marking her 10 th year as manager of Tuality Healthcare’s ¡Salud! Services – a program that educates workers on preventive care and provides support and advocacy for accessing health care – Garside is focused on continuing to improve health care access for agricultural workers. read more

Maria Loredo Shares Her Journey from Working at Migrant Camps to CFO

Winter 2007 - "As health care workers, there are still a lot of things for us to do. Health care isn’t available to everyone in Oregon who needs it: from children to pregnant women. There are a lot of people who are uninsured. There are a lot of people who don’t have access to basic health care. There isn’t enough health education available." read more