We are saddened to share the news that Gerry Pratt – the last trustee named in Fred G. Meyer’s will establishing a charitable trust from his personal estate – died last week. He was 88.
The last living member, and longest serving, of Meyer Memorial Trust’s original trustees, Gerry passed away on Friday. Few details are available at this point in time, but his daughter, Barbara Blackhurst, says that his passing was peaceful.
Born in 1927, Gerry’s career carried him through years as an Oregonian reporter and foreign correspondent, as a contributor to the public radio program “All Things Considered,” as host of the television program “Town Hall,” and as a columnist for the Community Press, a Portland newspaper. He went on to work in leadership roles in Fred Meyer’s enterprise, including as head of the Fred Meyer Savings and Loan, and served as a Meyer trustee over three decades. He could be depended on to answer the question, “What would Fred Meyer do?”
A published author, Gerry once described the role of philanthropy this way:
“There is very little the Trust can do to shape society, but it can sometimes point the way by lighting up neglected corners of need. It’s so easy to fall into the trap of making only safe grants, but that really negates the purpose of a foundation. What we do is like a flashlight in a dark room. We can help find the light switch. We are successful when we do that, not by adding light to an already bright room.”
Those who knew Gerry recalled his enormous contribution to Fred Meyer’s legacy and his deep connection with his mentor, boss and friend of many years.
“Gerry was extremely close to Fred Meyer, so we have lost our strongest connection to our founder but we were fortunate to have his steady hand and influence over the Meyer Trust for so many years,” said Doug Stamm, Meyer’s chief executive officer.
A funeral mass will be held for Gerry at 11 a.m. on Monday, July 18, at St. Mary’s Cathedral, 1716 NW Davis Street, in Portland.
Q: Where did the idea for Equity Illustrated come from?
Darion: Equity Illustrated was created as our attempt to visually synthesize our understanding of equity and its complexities in a way that could be easily understood. Pretty much everyone in the nonprofit world has seen that image of three people standing on crates alongside a fenced baseball field. We — Meyer Memorial Trust and Northwest Health Foundation’s communications staff— saw it used a number of times at the 2015 Communications Network conference last fall and talked about how helpful it was in highlighting the differences between equity and equality. But the original image has problems. For one thing, it doesn’t address the systemic disparities that equity seeks to overturn. We decided that to dive deeper into the dialogue about equity in Oregon, we needed to start a conversation at home about what equity looks like in our communities — and find a way to help people understand exactly what we mean when we say “equity.”
Q: Why a design contest?
Laura: We could have gone so many different directions with this. We could have held an essay or video contest. We could have hired a designer to create an image illustrating equity and had much more control over the final product. But a design contest made the most sense to us for two reasons. Reason one: Humans interpret images in milliseconds and remember images much more readily than words. Images are also the easiest way to catch and keep people’s attention and spread information, whether on the Internet, in a presentation or in print. Reason two: Meyer Memorial Trust and Northwest Health Foundation look to communities to guide us in our work. We didn’t want to create an image to show people how we understand equity. We wanted community members to show us how they experience and understand equity, and we wanted Oregonians to talk to each other and help each other understand what equity means for Oregon.
Q: What was the response to the contest?
Darion: Robust! Our community partners helped us spread the word about Equity Illustrated to nearly 33,000 Oregonians across social media channels. We heard from folks who went old school, using emails, coffee dates and even phone calls (!) to promote the contest. But we also heard from, and were grateful for, people who passed along details about the contest via Facebook, Twitter, memes, videos, blogs, reshares and likes.
Q: Who benefits?
Laura: Through equity, we can improve life for all Oregonians. But it’s difficult to achieve equity when people don’t know what it means. With these images in hand, it will be easier for us and our community partners to explain equity to Oregon’s elected officials, to our peer grantmakers, business owners, teachers and school administrators, nonprofit staff and board members, health care workers and all Oregonians. When people understand what equity means, together we can move toward a more equitable Oregon!
Q: Who entered the contest and how were the winners chosen?
Darion: The response to Meyer and NWHF announcing the contest was huge. We saw excitement all over social media and through word of mouth.
Just over 40 youths and adults from across the state submitted entries to the contest. They ranged in age from 10 to 63. We drew together a panel of 11 volunteers from local nonprofits, social justice organizations, youth leadership groups and other foundations, as well as experts in design and art. The panel reflected Oregon’s diverse communities of color, sexual identity and disability, along with a range of age, socioeconomic backgrounds and privilege. They selected winners based on a rubric that considered design, understandability and impact, message and content, creativity, accuracy, and inclusiveness.
Q: What did you learn from the contest?
Laura: My own understanding of equity has become more complete. Before we ran this contest, I didn’t see any conceptual problems with the original equality vs. equity illustration.After researching and reading articles about equity, seeing illustrations from people all over Oregon, and hearing from all of the community members who judged the entries and chose our finalists, I understand that equity is more complex than boxes, a fence and baseball can represent. Furthermore, communities experience equity, and barriers to equity, in more ways than could ever be captured by a single image.
I also learned that equity is an issue Oregonians care about deeply and passionately.
Darion: Like Laura, I, too, feel greater clarity and a deepened understanding of equity. For me, one of the most valuable things I learned through this process is how beneficial actively listening and engaging can be, and I feel the listening portion is often overlooked. Being a part of an intentional process of community inclusion and engagement (both hallmarks of Meyer and Northwest Health) showed me how crucial it is to any organization doing equity work.
Q: What’s next?
Laura: That is a good question. First and foremost, we’ll be working to spread the winning images as far and wide as possible. These images were made to explain equity, and that’s what we’ll be using them for. We hope others will use them for that as well.
As far as the contest goes, and whether we’ll run it again, that’s something we haven’t talked about yet. To be determined.
Darion: Laura’s right! Our first mission is to get these images out to the community as tools for other foundations, nonprofits and community members, whether they’re just beginning their equity journeys or already engaged in conversations around equity. These images weren’t meant to be the end all of the conversation, only an entry point to help people dive a little bit deeper. I also hope that people who maybe thought they knew everything there was to know about equity are able to learn a little bit more.
Personally, I don’t think equity work is ever done.
You can learn more about the contest winners here and view the winning illustrations here.
