I began my Philanthropy Northwest Momentum Fellowship with Meyer Memorial Trust in September 2015 when the Healthy Environment portfolio was newly formed. Two years later, I am at the end of my fellowship. In work experience terms, this was a short time. In grant period terms, this was a long time. As I transition, I have been asked to provide my outgoing thoughts. In homage to my work at a foundation, I am providing my reflections in a very philanthropic final report format.

Marcelo Bonta

11/1/2017

Final Fellowship Report

File #HE 914152111617

1. Were your goals achieved?

When I started my fellowship, I was really excited about achieving the following personal goals:

1. Contributing to the creation of an effective environmental giving program with equity at its core, and

2. Gaining a deeper understanding and awareness of the obstacles that are preventing environmental programs/foundations from effectively advancing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and to discover solutions.

Yes, my goals were achieved.

To the first goal, I believe Meyer’s Healthy Environment portfolio is advancing DEI effectively and, in fact, has emerged as a leading foundation program at the nexus of equity and environmental protection. The program still has much room to grow, but it has many elements that other private foundation programs across the country should replicate. For example, Meyer’s program supports environmental justice, DEI capacity building, general operating support, multi-year grants and diverse collaborations. It pays organizations for their advice and time and requires a commitment to DEI, equity outcome(s) and growth over time. It also has non-grantmaking activities to support in partnership with the movement of Healthy Environment grantees, such as a DEI capacity building workshop.

Regarding the second goal, I discovered that white privilege, trustees that “don’t get it,” and foundations (and philanthropy as a whole) steeped (and stuck) in dominant culture norms and systems are the top issues preventing environmental philanthropic institutions from advancing on DEI. Some solutions to address these challenges that I experienced at Meyer are to add diverse staff and trustees who have equity skills and experience. Also, including ongoing equity training to support personal growth and transformation helps enormously. At Meyer, we started with racial and LGBTQ equity training. Meyer has also been committed to improving and changing internal and programmatic systems.

2. Describe the most important way you contributed toward Meyer’s Healthy Environment portfolio’s vision of “nurturing a resilient natural environment, while supporting the well-being of Oregon’s diverse cultures and communities.”

Helping develop the Healthy Environment portfolio and its broader programmatic work has been one of the most fun and stimulating parts of the fellowship. With a small team, I co-created Meyer’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Spectrum Tool to help organizations assess the state of their DEI efforts. I also helped to influence creation of the Willamette River Initiative’s DEI goal to guide the program and its grantees toward DEI efficacy. Drawing from my experience at the Center for Diversity and the Environment, I supported and recommended the allocation of funds toward DEI capacity building, especially staff and board training and organizational strategy development. Meyer sees these investments as ways to deliver “more bang” for its bucks.

Although I really enjoyed the co-creation of and contribution to these achievements, the most invigorating experience has been as one of three team members discussing, analyzing and making important decisions and funding recommendations, while grounding our process in equity. I felt our small team had a healthy, inclusive approach to listening to understand, learning from each other, truly seeing each other, and making decisions on consensus. This is the work, the essence of DEI — often beautifully messy and especially uncomfortable. We created an inclusive environment where I could bring my full self.

3. Did you encounter any opportunities or challenges with your experience that impacted your ability to achieve your goals? If yes, briefly describe the opportunities or challenges you experienced and how you responded to them.

As the first cohort (aka the guinea pigs!) of a new fellowship coinciding with implementing a new strategy at Meyer, inconsistencies and missteps were expected. More important is the response and commitment to ironing out the kinks, listening to understand and improving, which Philanthropy Northwest and Meyer have been doing.

It’s been my experience that these organizations are committed to listening to groups and communities they serve and to do their best to respond accordingly. This approach is a key skill in DEI work. The first step is the commitment to respond (i.e., authentic intent). The next step and ongoing work is how you respond effectively so that the community you serve continues to benefit and receive higher value over time (i.e., tending to impact). Equity work is never a perfect process, but your commitment can be perfected.

Additionally, two aspects of my experience made all the difference: (1) working at a foundation that is walking its talk on equity and (2) having a cohort of fellows to lean on for support. To be honest, I don’t believe I would have stayed the full two years if I was not placed at Meyer and not part of the Momentum Fellowship. I am in a time and place in my career where I yearn to bring my authentic self to everything I do. A core piece of who I am and what I bring to the table is my equity lens. I need to work at a place that is not only open to my lens and deep passion for equity but can respond accordingly. Meyer has provided that space for me, for which I am extremely grateful. In addition, we are at a time and place in society where communities facing disparities suffer the consequences from every delay or excuse we give ourselves to not do DEI work. There are deep, impactful negative consequences when we do not act. These communities do not have the luxury of time. Over the past two decades, I have been fortunate to gain an incredible amount of experience and wisdom in the equity realm. I need an atmosphere where I can push myself and make a difference on a daily basis. Meyer has been the right organization at the right time for me.

As for the fellowship, participating with a cohort of people who have similar life experiences and entering the foundation world as newbies together has been life-giving for me in so many ways. The relationships have provided me the support and courage to stand on my two feet when there were times that I just wanted to curl up in the corner in the fetal position. I have made friendships that will last throughout my career.

4. Have there been any significant changes in your organization that impacted you during your fellowship?

I joined Meyer as the foundation was experiencing significant changes. Meyer was transparent with me regarding the unpredictability and growing pains that are inherent with change work. This is the type of atmosphere I prefer and in which I thrive. In the past two years, Meyer has hired more than a dozen new staff and added four of six trustees. Currently, we are experiencing a CEO transition, and three new fellows have joined.

The impact of these changes has all been positive and is part of the transformation process for groups that are truly committed to DEI. These changes were expected and have impacted me in a good way.

5. How will this experience affect you and your work moving forward? What are your next steps?

This experience has helped me hone my equity lens in relation to foundations. Experiencing first-hand the challenges and opportunities of change work has been invaluable as I transition to consulting with and coaching other foundations in this process.

As for my next steps, I will be joining The Raben Group as a principal, building out their DEI consulting arm. I will continue to focus on the environmental movement, including supporting environmental foundations in their overall DEI capacity building and as a program officer consultant. Also, I am starting a blog in the new year to support groups and change agents that seek guidance on the “how to”of DEI work.

My career mission remains the same: to create a just, equitable, diverse and inclusive environmental movement. Meyer Memorial Trust’s Healthy Environment portfolio and Philanthropy Northwest’s Momentum Fellowship are two such programs that our advancing that mission, and I feel honored to participate in the launch and growth of both. I especially feel privileged to work at a foundation at the beginning stages of creating an environmental program with equity at its foundation, which I foresee as becoming more commonplace as our society and the environmental movement shifts, adapts and evolves to meet the needs of our increasingly diverse society, which will ultimately lead to the successful protection of our planet.

Maraming Salamat Po (“thank you very much”),  Philanthropy Northwest!

Maraming Salamat Po, Meyer Memorial Trust!

— Marcelo

After juggling the work — and the occasional jar of spice — Marcelo Bonta reflects on his two year environment fellowship at Meyer

The Housing Opportunities portfolio recently hosted a panel presentation and discussion among three nonprofit partners of Meyer’s Affordable Housing Initiative (AHI) work on manufactured housing and our trustees to provide awareness and context for why Meyer works in this space.

The hour-long presentation was a compilation of people’s stories, pictures and data focused on the manufactured housing repair and replacement work these organizations do to help preserve some of Oregon’s most “naturally occurring” affordable housing, housing that doesn’t require government subsidies to retain its affordability.

The presentation, informative as well as emotional, caused me to reflect on what is being done beyond Meyer's effort to support manufactured housing replacement both locally and nationally.

There’s no dispute that manufactured housing has an important role in the affordable housing market in Oregon, accounting for nearly 8.2 percent of the overall housing stock. In some counties — especially rural counties — it is a much larger percentage of the housing stock. Manufactured housing offers more low-income rural individuals the opportunity to buy an affordable home.   

However, many more could be served with access to manufactured homeownership, yet are unable due to  specific barriers. The lack of access to fair and competitive financing (conventional mortgages) and lending policies that don’t lend themselves to manufactured housing present clear barriers, as do state manufactured housing titling policies.

Titling of manufactured homes is based on state law and thus varies from state to state. Some manufactured homes are titled as real property by default and offer a definite advantage for owners, while others are titled as chattel or personal property. Oregon uses both titling descriptions, and depending on where a home is located or placed, the property description (fee owned property), and the date a home was manufactured, they can be titled as either conventional or chattel. There are notable disadvantages of chattel titling and associated financing:

• Shorter loan terms – on average 20 years;

• Higher interest rates;

• Fewer rights when in default;

• Limited pool of lenders/reduced opportunities to shop for competitive loans; and

• Chattel mortgage lenders do not provide ample opportunities for manufactured homebuyers to comparison shop for best loans prior to purchasing the home, whereas conventional lenders do

Manufactured homes titled as chattel offer an owner little if any benefits associated with homeownership, specifically the ability to earn equity, even though anecdotal evidence proves many manufactured homes are in essence real property and just as permanent as traditional homes once they are placed on private land and the axles are removed. Today the practice of titling manufactured homes as chattel is being challenged, and financial institutions are shifting toward encouraging financing of manufactured homes with conventional mortgages.

Another “roundabout” way to increase conventional financing for manufactured housing lies in the finance industry’s willingness to increase the pool of lenders who originate chattel mortgages. The increase of chattel mortgages increases the number of folks who can buy a manufactured home. With new lending policies supporting conversions of chattel loans to conventional mortgages, the number of manufactured homes financed with conventional mortgages increases.

As more lenders originate chattel loans, more individuals have access to these products. A demonstrative change in finance practices provides occasions for chattel mortgages to convert to conventional mortgages for manufactured homes set on foundations or slabs. The Oregon Housing and Community Services Department has committed to making its single-family financing program available to manufactured homes affixed on “acceptable foundations.” The push for more commitment to serve rural communities in this space is evident on a national level as well.

The agency that oversees the nation’s large federal mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has urged both to meet their obligations or their “duty to serve” three underserved markets: manufactured housing, affordable housing preservation and rural housing. The new law, aptly titled Duty to Serve, has been in place since January 2017 and requires Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to create plans that develop a secondary market for mortgages that serve very low-, low- and moderate-income families. Each has proposed Underserved Markets Plans, plans that describe activities they will undertake from 2018 to 2020 to meet their obligations in each market. This is a huge win for rural manufactured housing and could not have been accomplished without the support of many key players.

Yet, there’s more work to do.

Duty to Serve only serves manufactured homeowners with homes titled as real property, and therefore Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will invest only in states that title manufactured homes as such. There’s an effort through the Uniform Manufactured Housing Act to standardize titling of manufactured homes to real property nationally. Oregon is well on its way to reforming its titling laws, which will increase investments in manufactured homes for the many Oregonians who need an affordable and safe place to call home.

In addition to financing/titling barriers, high poverty rates and lower incomes endemic to rural Oregon exacerbate issues surrounding manufactured homeownership. In 2015, Oregon’s rural median incomes were around 20 percent lower than the national average and its urban counterparts while poverty rates in rural Oregon were higher than those in Oregon metropolitan areas. Both poverty and income issues alone are enough to impact an individual’s ability to access affordable homeownership. Antiquated financing and titling policies makes the quest nearly unimaginable for many rural Oregonians.

An article published in The Atlantic magazine in 2015 caught my attention. It was titled “Rural America's Silent Housing Crisis.” But what kept me reading wasn’t the title, it was the last six resounding words of the subtitle: ”Accounting for only 20 percent of the population, residents of more isolated areas struggle to find a safe, affordable place to live — and to make anyone else care.”

— Sharon Wade Ellis

I am excited to join Meyer, an organization that I view as an influential leader in integrating diversity, equity and inclusion into Oregon’s environmental movement. My previous experience was working on the ground, “in the trenches,” so to speak. I’m looking forward to learning more about the nonprofits we support — and how to make an impact as a funder.

I hope to grapple with some of the complicated issues around environmentalism, privilege and systemic discrimination and talk about how to address them. I am especially sensitive to issues of rural communities, given my work organizing rural and Native communities most impacted by industrial agriculture. I’m also curious about how our diversity, equity and inclusion work can lift up groups we support and increase their impact in the diverse communities they serve.

As one of the 10 Philanthropy Northwest Momentum Fellows, I am humbled and amazed at the depth and variety of experience of my fellow fellows. This second cohort of fellows all happen to be female, and all are women of color. Just looking at us, one wouldn’t necessarily know that. Questions like “Who looks white? Who is white? What kinds of privilege does that offer? How does this show up in philanthropy?” are part of the conversations we need to be having as we learn about our new work in this sector.

Since joining Meyer in September, I have hit the ground running. I appreciate the kind guidance of my Healthy Environment colleagues and the wealth of opportunities available through Meyer and Philanthropy Northwest, including a Skills for New Practitioners training in Anchorage in early November. I also appreciate the expertise and counsel of my predecessor, Marcelo Bonta, whose time at Meyer overlapped with mine for about two months.

I am already grateful for the opportunities and access of the fellowship. I attended a conference a few weeks ago that was of personal interest, Animal Grantmakers, where I met old colleagues and made new connections. I hope to continue the conversation throughout my tenure at Meyer about how the issues of climate change, food systems, pollution and environmental justice intersect and how I can be part of making a difference on these and other issues in my new role at Meyer.

— Denise

Denise Luk, back, third from the left, poses with the 2017 cohort of Philanthropy Northwest Momentum Fellows.

How did two years pass so quickly?!

That’s the question we keep asking ourselves as the first cohort of Philanthropy Northwest Momentum Fellows completes their placement at Meyer. In their time with us, Sharon Wade Ellis, Katherine Porras and Marcelo Bonta have brought much to Meyer: great ideas, passion for the mission, sharp thinking, curiosity and a willingness to roll up their sleeves and do the work.

We each wanted to mention a few individual highlights ...

From Theresa

Sharon joined the Housing Opportunities team as we were busy with several Affordable Housing Initiative grant opportunities. She conducted due diligence on two housing grants in her first weeks, which was good learning for her and a tremendous relief to the team. Beyond that, she has contributed to discussion and planning around several of our new procedures and conducted research that helped shape our thinking and strategy around rural manufactured housing. Equally important is Sharon’s commitment to and enthusiasm for Meyer’s mission to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in the organization and with our nonprofit partners. She has modeled our values there and raised equity concerns effectively in her work at Meyer. Her interest in social justice work clearly came through in some of her blog postings on Meyer’s website, including reflections about what she has experienced and learned about diversity, equity and inclusion — or the lack thereof. I am confident she will bring her developed equity lens to her next position and help inform the equity conversation there.

From Jill

Marcelo’s two years with the Healthy Environment team could not have been timed better. During the first year, a big focus of our work was developing the portfolio framework, our goals and outcomes. He brought sharp analysis and solid experience from his previous nonprofit work in the environmental movement. He was a key thought-partner in creating the framework that now guides our work. Outside the Healthy Environment Team, he worked as part of a cross-department team to develop Meyer’s DEI Spectrum Tool and consider equity in organizational communications, and he contributed to the ongoing development of Meyer’s equity work. In addition, he helped the Healthy Environment Team learn how to hit pause on tackling the to-do list and to also consider how were were feeling about our work as well as our collaborative approach to doing it. No doubt he will continue to do great work in his new role with The Raben Group, where he will be a principal focusing on building out their DEI consulting arm, with an emphasis on the environment. This sounds like a perfect next step for him given his passion for this work and his deep expertise. 

From Rukayiah

Kat joined Meyer’s investment team in time to help us audit and formulate a process for monitoring all our investment manager fees. She saved Meyer a lot of money! She became the go-to person for manager questions and worked closely with me to get the necessary answers. She also became an investment manager contract expert and reviewed all our current and new contracts to make sure the terms are favorable. She helped us plan and execute our 2016 Roundtable, which is a conference for all our investment managers, including international, to meet and discuss pertinent issues around our investments. She has also done a review of our main investment policy documents to ensure consistency of language and message. She dove into Meyer’s equity activities, including helping to plan equi-teas where we inform and discuss current issues. I am excited to see where her talents take her next and know she will be valuable to any team. 

We are grateful for the many contributions Sharon, Kat and Marcelo made to Meyer in their two short years as Momentum Fellows. They all are incredibly talented and will no doubt continue to do great work. Although we are sad to see them leave, we are excited about their next steps.

— Theresa, Jill and Rukaiyah

We'll miss you, Katherine, Sharon and Marcelo!

After 12 years of working with homeless and low-income families in the Pacific Northwest, I am excited to join the Housing Opportunities portfolio team as the Philanthropy Northwest Momentum Fellow. The fellowship, developed by Philanthropy Northwest, is designed to prepare professionals from underrepresented communities for successful careers in the philanthropic sector. Over the next two years, I will be collaborating with and learning from my portfolio teammates through every aspect of the grantmaking process, and I look forward to meeting with many of the grantees and community partners along the way.

I am also excited to bring my experience and perspective as a direct service provider. I have managed a wide array of programs for low-income and homeless families and individuals. I began my career as a counselor at a shelter for homeless and refugee youths. Most recently, I managed several site-based and scattered-site transitional housing and rent assistance programs, established a resource center for the homeless community in Southwest Portland, and oversaw the conversion of a 20-year housing program from transitional to permanent supportive housing. I have also developed trainings on housing market navigation and landlord/tenant rights, collaborated with community agencies to provide Rent Well education, and advocated for low-income renters in both private market and governmental settings.

The challenges that low-income and homeless families face in Portland’s housing market have left an indelible mark on me, and I look forward to giving a voice to that experience as we work toward more equitable housing together.  

When I’m not working, I volunteer with the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) and various community art projects in Portland. I also love to travel, read, watch hummingbirds in my backyard, hike, forage for mushrooms, explore the Oregon outdoors and bake when I can. So please share your favorite recipes or hiking spots when you see me!

— Lauren

“Philanthropy is so white.”

These are words you’ll hear every time members of the sector gather. I heard that sentiment recently at Philanthropy Northwest’s annual conference in Vancouver, Wash., and again this week at the Cambridge Associates Impact Investing Forum in Denver, Colo. Our communications director, Kimberly A.C. Wilson, recently heard newcomers utter the phrase at ComNet17, a conference for communications folks working in the independent sector. An article that ran last year in Nonprofit Quarterly reflects the state of philanthropy today, with members of racial and ethnic minorities making up only 16 percent of foundation CEOs and 24 percent of  full-time grantmaker employees.

Homogeneity is a perennial nugget in philanthropy, still true after much discussion and effort to diversify.

But it should not be the case.

A few years ago, I joined CEOs from a handful of foundations and Philanthropy Northwest to create a fellowship program to bring greater diversity into philanthropy by opening the doors of philanthropy to members of communities long underrepresented in its staff and leadership, particularly communities of color, for successful careers in the philanthropic sector. The Momentum Fellowship program was our strategy to create meaningful professional experiences and pathways for people from historically marginalized populations to enter into the field.

In late 2015, the first cohort of two-year Philanthropy Northwest Momentum Fellows dispersed to six foundations in the Northwest: Marguerite Casey Foundation and Pride Foundation of Washington; The Oregon Community Foundation, Northwest Health Foundation and Meyer in Oregon, and Rasmuson Foundation in Alaska.

That inaugural class of nine mostly focused on the grantmaking side of philanthropy but also included an investment fellow. Each received professional development and networking opportunities, including peer-learning retreats, networking, professional coaching and trainings offered through Philanthropy Northwest and their host foundations. In return, host foundations got the chance to learn from and alongside thoughtful emerging leaders, dedicated to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in philanthropy.

Meyer’s initial three Momentum Fellows, Sharon Wade-Ellis, Marcelo Bonta and Katherine Porras, each shared fresh perspective, thoughtful approaches to their focus areas and an extensive range of personal and professional experiences. Their contributions — and questions — have been invaluable to our efforts to become a more just and equitable organization and employer working to eliminate barriers to populations that have experienced the greatest disparities.

The first class of Momentum Fellows recently wrapped up their work here and across the Northwest. Five are working full-time in philanthropy. Most of the others are pursuing other opportunities to remain in the sector. Even as their fellowships ended, their fellow-ship — as peers and colleagues — continues.

The second class of fellows, 11 in all, arrived last month at seven Northwest foundations: Rasmuson Foundation in Anchorage; Whatcom Community Foundation in Bellingham; Meyer, The Collins Foundation and the Women's Foundation of Oregon in Portland; Marguerite Casey Foundation in Seattle; and Empire Health Foundation in Spokane.

This time around, the fellows have been placed organization-wide: from grant and grantmaking operations and research and evaluation, to communications and community engagement.

The idea, in the beginning as now, is to expose newcomers to philanthropy, and those looking for growth in the field, to opportunities inside the sector that over time will lead to greater representation of racial and ethnic minorities in foundations and more broadly within the independent sector.

So please, join me in welcoming Meyer’s new fellows: Mijounga Chang, Lauren Waudé and Denise Luk to Meyer. We are lucky to have them!

— Doug

 

In October, Meyer was awarded the 2017 Governors Gold Awards for the foundation's equity work in Oregon.

The following is the edited transcript of Meyer's CEO Doug Stamm's remarks. You can listen along here:  

---

On behalf of Meyer staff and trustees thank you to our Governors for this recognition and congratulations to this year’s Gold Award recipients.

It is an honor to stand here with you all. But more than an honor, being here is immensely important to me for the opportunity to speak with a room full of influential Oregonians.

Our state faces a number of divisions, urban-rural, class, sexual orientation, disability and race, to name a few. The past five years Meyer has set out on an equity journey to develop a deeper understanding of these challenges.

Tonight, I will spend my time focusing on some key learnings from our racial equity work in the hope that you’ll leave this evening committed to taking some of the same steps we have.

First step in working towards racial equity: Forget Portlandia!

Oregon is not a white state now, and it will be even less so in the near future. When we talk about quality of life in Oregon let’s recognize that it looks very different depending on the color of your skin.

Next is History.

Face the facts, Oregon has one of the most racist histories of any state in the union, but I bet none of us were taught that in school.

There is no sanitizing what happened to indigenous people in Oregon. Or to Japanese Oregonians who were interned, or to African Americans, who were first excluded from living in Oregon under our state constitution, then redlined into neighborhoods in Portland they were later forced out of by gentrification.

We’ve long been a haven for white supremacists and hate groups, starting with over 35,000 KKK in the 1920’s, the largest contingent west of the Mississippi.

Oregon’s true history underscores the persistent inequities that divide us. You see its results today in deep disparities drawn along lines of race. And knowing that — our whole history — helps us to face those cultural and structural barriers to equity head on.

Knowing our past leads us to the next step: Getting used to discomfort.

A core concept in racial equity training is the idea that ambiguity and non-closure are part of the learning.

We need to move beyond “Portland Nice” and the comfort of our myopic view of pseudo-progressiveness. And embrace what for many white people are challenging conversations around race and oppression.

If, when we hear reports of football players joining a silent protest against our history of racism, it feels more comfortable to see their bent knees as an attack on our flag, or on America… that's a good moment to pause.

And step back into the tension we might feel about how police brutality and killings occurs against black and brown people at rates far higher than anyone else.

Sit with that.
 

That discomfort brings us to the place where we can make a difference: Action.

Do something about it. Use your privilege for good. Call it out for what it is.

Like me, many in this room were born into and come from a place of privilege that helped us get into college, get our first job, put a down payment on a house or help our children advance in their careers.

What if we instead use our privilege to actively call out and take on the structures and systems in our state that perpetuate racism and oppression?

I believe we make Oregon a better place by asking ourselves that question until it is second nature to use our privilege for those without privilege.

That is the definition of being a white ally and an extension of the lesson about discomfort.

Oregon doesn’t have Confederate statues standing outside our state house in Salem, or the Southern Cross in our state flag.

What we do have, and it is no less shameful, is the Number One ranking for reported hate crimes. You’ve heard of some of them: the brutal stabbings on the MAX line in May; telephone threats to shoot crowds at a multicultural festival in June; racist graffiti spray painted on the walls of four elementary schools over the past few weeks. All perpetuate notions of white supremacy in our state.

That should be upsetting to each of us. So what will you do with that discomfort? I urge you to an be an active white ally, a co-conspirator if you will, for equity.

You were handed a card as you came in. It has a few next steps to becoming an ally, practical ones, including a simple test, called the American Dream Score, designed to help us better understand privilege.

Take the test and then learn, reflect and show up by using your power, your privilege, in meaningful ways that move us closer to a better, more just Oregon for all.

Thank you!

 

— Doug Stamm delivered these remarks at the 2017 Governors' Gold Awards benefiting Special Olympics Oregon

 

Meyer Memorial Trust CEO Doug Stamm delivering his remarks during the 2017 Governor's Gold Awards

The intersection of business, community and philanthropy was the central theme at the Portland Business Alliance's annual Business Leadership Evening, which honored Mitch Hornecker with the 2018 William S. Naito Outstanding Service Award to recognize his impact in our community.  

Traditionally, the PBA makes a donation to an organization of the honoree's choosing. This year, Mitch selected New Avenues for Youth, a nonprofit he founded to raise up at-risk local youth and get them off of the street:

“Also featured last night was keynote speaker Michelle DePass, president and CEO of Meyer Memorial Trust. Both Hornecker and DePass emphasized the importance of philanthropic support to addressing critical issues, like homelessness. 

'We need a bold, new plan,' said Hornecker. 'We need to scale up. This is the defining crisis of our time.'

'Philanthropy spends so much time fixing problems our system of wealth has created in the first place,"'said DePass. 'Today, we can and we should be about identifying all of the systemic sources contributing to our problem and shock the system to prevent them from happening again and again.'" 

​You can find more about the event here.

— Kimberly

"We need a bold, new plan," Hornecker told the audience at the Portland Business Alliance's annual Business Leadership Evening. "We need to scale up. This is the defining crisis of our time." Photo: Chad Baker Photography

Culture change. That was the topic of a recent feature in the Oregon Business magazine, where reporter Allan Brettman interviewed eight business and civic leaders, including Meyer board chair, Charles Wilhoite.

Charles spoke about how Meyer's CEO search process reflected our culture:

“Meyer is about the most transparent organization I’ve ever been affiliated with because employees participate in just about everything,” says Wilhoite, the board chairman who was head of the search committee to find a replacement for Doug Stamm, who announced last April he would be departing this year after serving 15 years as chief executive.

Wilhoite and the board decided the CEO search would mimic the trust’s participatory culture. That meant telling employees they would have a direct role in selecting the new chief.

“We put it out there that we’re going to go through a search process. We want your feedback regarding attributes and characteristics and traits you want to see in the next CEO, and not all companies do that.”

You can find more from Charles here.

“Meyer is about the most transparent organization I’ve ever been affiliated with because employees participate in just about everything,” says Charles Wilhoite, the board chairman who was head of the search committee to find a replacement for Doug Stamm.

Michelle J. DePass will take over as Meyer Memorial Trust's new president and chief executive officer on April 30. When she leaves The New School, where she has served as director of the Tishman Center for five years, a trio will step into her shoes.

The New School reports on the selection of three co-directors:
 

The three associate directors of the The New School’s Tishman Environment and Design Center will be promoted to co-director this spring when its current director steps down at the end of April.

Associate Directors Ana Baptista, Timo Rissanen and Brian McGrath will transition into the Center’s leadership position when current director Michelle DePass takes a new job as CEO of the Oregon-based nonprofit Meyer Memorial Trust.

“All three of us, me, Timo, and Brian, are really passionate about the environment and social justice,” Baptista said. “We all do it in different disciplines. Timo’s in fashion and Brian’s in design and urbanism, and I’m doing it more in the policy and advocacy world.”

A search is underway for a replacement for Michelle in another of her roles at The New School: Dean of the Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy. Additionally, Michelle serves as Tishman Professor of Environmental Policy and Management.

To learn more about the changes afoot at The New School, click here.

Work carries on in The Making Center at The New School.