The Oregon Community Foundation

As wildfire season gets underway across the West, the lessons of the devastating blazes of 2020 continue to reverberate in rural Oregon. The Community Rebuilding Fund was a collaboration of OCF, The Ford Family Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust and the American Red Crosss. It raised $10.8 million for community-led efforts to make fire-devastated areas stronger over the long term and more resilient to disasters. OCF donors stepped up to give generously. Those dollars have now been fully distributed. Yet, the fund’s impact lives on: In local nonprofits more equipped to help their neighbors. In funders that act faster and work together more effectively to help communities after disasters. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/gEvZUY8N

How can Latino/x communities move beyond resilience and into a phase of community development where people can thrive? That was the opening question of a two-day summit in Lincoln City, organized by the Latino Partnership Program of Oregon Community Foundation. The focus of the conference was wealth building in Latino/x communities. Participants shared knowledge, resources and advocacy to help create a generational change in the economics of Latino/x families. Conexiones was an opportunity for Latino/x organizers, community members and leaders, business owners, educators, and grant makers from around Oregon to talk about how to grow long-term financial assets for their communities. Drawing on their cultural capital and values, they are working to remove barriers to homeownership, entrepreneurship and workforce development, education, and capital. The gathering was organized around the theme of Adelante! (forward): Comunidad, Prosperidad, Poder (community, prosperity, power). Keynote Speaker Yosimar Reyes inspired the audience with a performance of his poetry and a powerful telling of his immigration story. Lisa Mensah, OCF President and CEO, sat down for a discussion with Noel Andrés Poyo, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Community Economic Development at the U.S. Treasury, about federal efforts to increase entrepreneurship, access to capital and small business support for Latino/x communities across the country. Emcees Stephen Green and Cinthia Manuel, MBA kept the summit moving in an upbeat and thoughtful way. Other speakers included Damaris Pereda,, Maribel De León, Andres Lopez, Ph.D., Reyna Lopez, Juan Barraza, Nicole Davison León, Marcelino Alvarez, Herbert Smith, Ashley Espinoza, Jonath Colon, Maria Ramos Underwood, Ruby Ramirez, MPP, MSW, Aldo Medina Martinez, Yesenia Gallardo Avila, Tony DeFalco, Michael Reyes Andrillon, Teresa Alonso Leon MPA, Jorge Alvarado, Ernesto Fonseca, PhD. Special thanks to Rocio Perez, Emilly Prado and Jennifer Grimes for organizing Conexiones and to Marcy Bradley for her leadership at OCF.

Two new grant opportunities open today at OCF! They are the 2024 Fall Cycle of the Community Grants Program and the Arts and Culture Rebuilding Program. Find out more at oregoncf.org/grants

OCF President and CEO Lisa Mensah was on the national stage this week as a member of the Advisory Council for @GoldmanSachs One Million Black Women, a $10 billion investment strategy designed to drive economic growth for Black women. They gathered with entrepreneurs and leaders from around the country to discuss what’s working for Black women and celebrate the graduation of the fifth cohort of One Million Black Women: Black in Business, an education program designed to drive growth for entrepreneurs. #OMBWBlackinBiz

At OCF, summer officially launches with the arrival of our 2024 interns from The Script (formerly Emerging Leaders). Please join us in welcoming Jaaron Penn-Harris and Inle Gonzalez! Jaaron is a recent graduate from Portland State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and International Development. He has a deep-rooted passion for community engagement and social justice, demonstrated through his involvement with nonprofit organizations and initiatives including Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO), Metropolitan Family Service (MFS), and Oregon Student Association (OSA). Inle is a first-generation college student going into her final year of undergrad at Portland State University. She is double majoring in Social Work and Chicanx Latinx Studies with a minor in Child Youth and Family Studies. Inle has a history of working and serving the Latino/x community in both Mexico and Portland.

OCF invites nonprofit organizations supporting entrepreneurs in Oregon, with particular emphasis on women, people of color, and rural business owners in under-resourced communities to apply for the Thriving Entrepreneurs Grant Program. The grant applications opened on June 3 and are due on July 12. Join us for an open office hour on Wednesday, June 12, at 10 a.m. with your questions about the program and submitting a competitive application. Join the office hour via https://lnkd.in/gThUXvab

Oregon Community Foundation was honored today to host a roundtable discussion with Project Turnkey community partners as they provided input to Oregon Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (center). She is sponsoring a bill to take this Oregon-grown innovation nationwide. On the right is Maria Caballero Rubio (Maria C.), Executive Director of Centro Cultural de Washington County, which operates one of 32 locally owned Project Turnkey sites across Oregon. On the left is Megan Loeb, OCF Senior Project Manager for Economic Vitality and Housing. Project Turnkey was a smart and effective initiative to use funding from the State of Oregon to upgrade underused buildings like old hotels. The result was a 30% jump in temporary shelter space. 

The newly released 2023 Annual Report showcases the full breadth of OCF’s impact in all 36 counties of Oregon. In 2023, rich partnerships and collaborations — among donors, nonprofits, volunteers and community leaders across the state — resulted in far greater impact than anyone could have achieved by working alone. Oregonians offer many perspectives, and we find common ground in the power of collaboration to inspire kindness, community, and improve lives. Read stories of generosity and impact at oregoncf.org/ar2023

We do not live single issue lives. That is one of the key points of a new research report from Oregon Community Foundation. The 2024 Tracking Oregon’s Progress Report shows a state at a crossroads, where communities grapple with social and economic strains while also identifying opportunities to make progress on key measurements. Insights into our progress appear in the complex intersections of health, education, economy, the natural and built environment, housing, social connection and belonging. Our research elevates these intersections so that we can better understand the strains we face and our opportunities to move forward. Kimberlee Salmond, Director of Research and Learning at Oregon Community Foundation: “This report is designed to give OCF community partners a baseline context to explore solutions to the challenges we face. The goal is to link local expertise on how to improve community well-being with the latest research, compiled all in one place.”

Please share with your networks! OCF invites nonprofit organizations supporting entrepreneurs in Oregon, with particular emphasis on women, people of color, and rural business owners in under-resourced communities to apply for the Thriving Entrepreneurs Grant Program. The grant applications open on June 3 and are due on July 12. Join us for open office hours on Tuesday, May 28 at 3 p.m. with your questions about the program and submitting a competitive application. Learn more at https://lnkd.in/gmU8grSb