Funded Projects

2022

Confluence Field School

CONFLUENCE

Confluence seeks to connect people with the histories, traditions, cultures and relevant places of Native People living in the Columbia River system. Among many other endeavors, Confluence offers Field School, designed to provide teachers and managers of public lands throughout Oregon with authentic experiences, information and first hand accounts and teachings from tribal elders and artists to inform their curricula and stewardship and appreciation of the cultures, lands, waters, resources and life ways of Columbia Basin Tribes. Now with assistance from Emily’s Fund, the Field School is adding Voices of the River project to reach museum curators, managers and directors, who in turn are able to share the insights they receive from the Confluence Field School with visitors to their institutions.

My Voice Music EDI Support

MY VOICE MUSIC

Seeking to ignite self-discovery through music, My Voice Music provides youth with a platform to amplify their voices on their own terms. In addition to programs for youth in residential and juvenile justice programs, MVM is opening a new youth music center in East Portland. This 3,500 sq ft space, slated to open in the coming year, will bring brand new state of the art recording, lesson, and hang out spaces for historically under-served kids. With an Emily’s Fund grant, the 12-person staff and 11-member board will participate in an Equity Diversity and Inclusion workshop in March 2023.

The Sounds of Afrolitical

PORTLAND PLAYHOUSE

PPH has become the neighborhood arts center for Portland’s historically Black, rapidly gentrifying King neighborhood, producing plays and events that reflect the area’s diversity in its many expressions. A primary goal is to create events that facilitate community repair. This grant is helping to fund discussions (2 for general audiences & 4 for BIPOC) following performances of The Sounds of Afrolitical Movement, a newly devised, multimedia performance that re-centers Black voices and stories of resistance throughout the Afro-Caribbean diaspora after Portland’s high profile protests in the summer of 2020.

EJC PRESENTS

EASTSIDE JEWISH COMMONS

Heritage Events

LOVE IS KING

Love is King aims to eliminate fear and establish safety for Black, Indigenous, and all people of color with a reimagined outdoor environment focused on participation, representation and inspiration. The Emily’s Fund grant will sponsor Heritage Events organized by Love is King in Portland’s Forest Park. Heritage Events are outdoor experiences capturing history, storytelling, and culture. They are centered around calendar holidays allowing Love is King to highlight the celebration of different peoples and create a bias-free environment for everyone to feel safe, comfortable, and welcomed in the outdoors.

Critical Programming for Marginalized Portlanders

RAHAB’S SISTERS

Rahab’s Sisters serves Portland residents living at the nexus of housing, mental health, and substance use disorder. They build community through a program of “Radical Hospitality” that includes empathetic mental and physical health care, provision of needed supplies in a welcoming and friendly environment created by paid staff and many volunteers that include people from the communities served. Rahab’s Sisters will use their renewed grant from Emily’s Fund for program staffing, contracted mental health counselors, and critical survival supplies.

The Evolve Experience

RED DOOR PROJECT

With assistance from Emily’s Fund, The Red Door Project seeks to broaden their “Evolve Experience” theater workshop program previously focused on Police and African-American citizens to engage a wider array of individuals and organizations in dialogue on race, justice, and polarization. Current goals include expanding staff from 6 to 9, adding two day in-person as well as on demand virtual workshops, and commissioned monologues on film.

Writing Across Racial Differences

WRITE AROUND PORTLAND

Write Around Portland uses writing as a tool to build a respectful inclusive community. They bring together people otherwise separated by ability, race, ethnicity, geographic and social boundaries to write, share stories and promote learning about and respecting the “other”. The current grant from Emily’s Fund is helping to grow Write Around Portland’s BIPOC facilitator team, continue antiracist facilitation trainings, and welcome new participants.

Gorge Accessibility Project

FRIENDS OF THE COLUMBIA GORGE

Friends of the Columbia Gorge initiated the Gorge Accessibility Project to establish inclusive gathering spaces and improve accessibility and connectivity at two recent natural area land acquisitions. This project is unique because, instead of trying to retroactively make adjustments to existing infrastructures, Friends committed to shaping them, from day one, with an emphasis on spaces that all people can use and feel welcome to the greatest extent possible. Emily’s Funding is being used to retain a Spanish translator and support Steering Committee input to pre-construction planning and design.

2021

This year we asked our grantees to describe their own projects. Here are their words.

Black United Fund General Support

Black United Fund of Oregon

Black United Fund assists in the social and economic development of Oregon’s low-income communities, while contributing to the broader understanding of culturally diverse groups. Emily’s Fund has made a three-year pledge to Black United Fund in keeping with our desire to support the betterment of BIPOC Portlanders and our realization that Black United Fund is uniquely capable to identify the best investments in that community.

Confluence Field School

Confluence

Confluence seeks to connect people with the histories, traditions, cultures and relevant places of Native People living in the Columbia River system. Among many other endeavors, Confluence offers Field School, designed to provide teachers throughout Oregon with authentic experiences, information and first hand accounts and teachings from tribal people that inform their students’ curriculum and learning. Emily’s Fund supports a virtual version of Confluence Field School, resulting in tremendously increasing the numbers of people served. It also facilitates the inclusion of public lands and conservation managers who, like teachers, require an excellent education and appreciation of the cultures, lands, waters, resources and life ways of Columbia Basin Tribes.

Community Engagement

Eastside Jewish Commons

Eastside Jewish Commons provides shared gathering space in NE Portland for educational, social, cultural and religious programs and services available for use by diverse Jewish organizations based throughout the Greater Portland Metropolitan Area. The grant from Emily’s Fund promotes cooperation and understanding between all Jewish groups within Portland while providing outstanding facilities and opportunities for learning and cultural and religious growth to Jewish residents of NE Portland.

The Common Table of Oregon

Ecumenical Ministries

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon is engaged in “Reckoning with Racism,” supporting local cohorts of groups and individuals throughout Oregon from racially, ethically, politically diverse groups and individuals to study, discuss and bring to light, the impacts of racism in Oregon. The grant from Emily’s fund supports these statewide cohorts and their leadership.

Indigenous Culture Day

Friends of Tryon Creek

Friends of Tryon Creek strives to inspire and educate members of every community to identify or discover its connection through the lands of Tryon Creek State Natural Area. The grant from Emily’s Fund supports Indigenous Culture Days, an event with on-going opportunities for visitors that educates visitors about the Native People of Tryon Creek and the region, through demonstrations of Native carving, native plant harvest and preparation, land management, technology and culture.

Filmmaking for Homeless and Marginalized Youth

Outside the Frame

Outside the Frame trains homeless and otherwise marginalized youth to be directors of their own films and their lives. They reach across class and racial divides and dramatically shift public conversation about poverty, housing and the inherent worth of all people. Emily’s Fund is supporting, “From the Streets to the Symphony,” a unique and creative collaboration between youth experiencing homelessness and the Portland Symphony that will create a multi-media presentation (music composition, performance, film) to be performed by the Portland Symphony during the 2022-23 season.

Pop-Up Afro-topia

portland playhouse

Portland Playhouse celebrates the complexity of the human experience, using theater to elevate the power of story and voice to build a more just world. Portland Playhouse celebrates joy and community repair. In light of the fact that 50% of the Black community of their King Neighborhood was displaced by gentrification, it is an artistic and creative hub in the community. Emily’s Fund is supporting “Pop-up Afro-topia,” a temporary exhibit and event space that reflects and celebrates Portland’s African American Community of the past, alongside of visions of a positive future. Afro-topia will be constructed in cooperation with Albina Vision Trust on land that will have a 7-story affordable housing community, along with a community center for Black families. The pop-up event will include Portland Playhouse’s production of “Bella: An American Tall Tale.

Program Director

Rahab’s Sisters

Rahab’s Sisters provides multiple supports to homeless, poor and marginalized people. They build community through a program of “Radical Hospitality” that includes empathetic mental and physical health care, provision of needed supplies in a welcoming and friendly environment created by paid staff and many volunteers that include people from the communities served. The grant from Emily’s Fund supports expansion and training of the Rahab’s Sisters’ volunteers.

The Evolve Experience

Red Door Project

The Red Door Project uses impactful professional theater presentations, followed by dialogue and action, to work toward celebrating and respecting cultural, ethnic, economic and other societal differences. The “Evolve Experience,” is a non-polarizing program centered around stories from police and African American citizens describing their life experiences with race and policing so as to stimulate conversation about how to bridge this seemingly intractable divide. The grant from Emily’s Fund helps to make the Evolve Experience available via Zoom, making it a part of the training of police officers at the Oregon Police Academy and more broadly. It also supports a robust evaluation of outcomes of the Evolve Experience.

Unaffiliated Jewish Leadership Incubator

TischPDX

TischPDX operates the “Unaffiliated Jewish Leadership Incubator,” a project with a mission to bolster the voices of young and marginalized Jewish leaders in Portland, Oregon, We outreach specifically to LGBTQ2IA+ Jews, Jews of Color and Jews who grew up outside of Jewish community. A core component of our UJLI J is our monthly four-hour learning sessions, our “tisch.” Because our curriculum is focused on recognizing our individual identities, systemic oppression and positionality, our gatherings attempt to provide space for deeper conversation and self awareness about a variety of topics.

PILOT Program

Unite Oregon

Led by Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC), immigrants, refugees, rural communities and people experiencing poverty, Unite Oregon is a statewide racial and social justice nonprofit working to eliminate systemic inequities and fight for a more just and equitable society for immigrants, refugees, Black, Indigenous, People of Color (IR-BIPOC), rural communities, and low-income Oregonians. Today, we are the only intercultural movement building nonprofit in Oregon with four chapters in both northern and southern (rural) Oregon serving 22,000+ members/supporters and working successfully to organize communities across the urban-rural divide. This grant supports critical interpretation and translation services for immigrants, refugees, and BIPOC community members participating in Unite Oregon's flagship PILOT program. PILOT trains 20-25 emerging immigrant, refugee, & BIPOC leaders in Portland each year through a free and culturally responsive curriculum focused on leadership development, civic engagement, and community organizing; all delivered in a popular education model.

Writing Across Racial Differences

Write Around Portland

Write Around Portland uses writing as a tool to build respectful inclusive community. They bring together people otherwise separated by ability, race, ethnicity, geographic and social boundaries to write, share stories and promote learning about and respecting the “other”. The grant from Emily’s Fund supports the convening of a BIPOC Facilitator Learning Circle and other anti-racism work of Write Around Portland.

2020

Confluence Field School

Confluence

Emily's Fund helped transform Confluence’s successful "Field School for Educators” to a virtual format. Field School is a unique, transformative experience that presents teachers with an Oregon Native perspective of history and culture. In pre-Covid times, the Field School transported groups of educators to significant Native sites throughout the Columbia River Watershed, to learn from tribal elders, traditional native people and native educators. This online version of Field School can reach even more teachers.

Confronting Hate Summit

Jewish Federation of Greater Portland

Emily's Fund supported this series of webinars with Federation’s partner organizations, discussing Oregon's history of intolerance and hate. Individual webinars are focused on Black, Indigenous, Asian-American, Jewish, immigrant and LGBTQ people who have historically—and continually—been the targets of discrimination and hatred in Oregon. The series will culminate in a half day virtual summit on Confronting Hate in Oregon on May 26, 2021 .

This Town

Hand2mouth Theatre

Hand2Mouth Theatre productions empower ethnic and immigrant organizations to tell their stories to the community at large. Emily's Fund helped Hand2Mouth adapt its live theater productions to an online format, making their meaningful and creative work available to a broader audience, while also responding to the pandemic limitations on live performance.

Insight to Wellbeing

The Insight Alliance

The Insight Alliance project brings together diverse inmates and people recently released from prison for 10-week structured groups in a respectful and supportive atmosphere focused on cognitive psychology, self-examination, and understanding of the "other", leading to improved mental health and lower recidivism.

Climate Action Education

Ecology in Classrooms and Outdoors

Ecology in Classrooms and Outdoors (ECO) received funding to offer innovative, online climate education and to empower teenagers from diverse backgrounds and their teachers to understand climate change science and seek solutions to this issue that effects everyone, every species.

Equity in Environmental Education

Portland Audubon

Emily’s Fund supported Portland Audubon to enhance its ongoing relationship with Hacienda Community Development Corporation, with the goal of honest collaboration to engage more Hispanic youth in the outdoors, nature and all the learning and positive outcomes of an outdoor life, including career opportunities with Portland Audubon and others.

Writing for Social Change

Write Around Portland

Write About Portland moved to adapt their programming for remote options, to build community supports for isolated populations and to share the stories of impacted communities with the broader public.

Immigrants and Refugees for Black Liberation

Unite Oregon

Unite Oregon received funding to develop strategies and programs to engage African Americans and immigrants from diverse countries in dialogue, for the purpose of learning about the "other," mutual understanding, and mutual respect.

Evolve 2.0

Red Door Project

Red Door Project received funding to adapt its thought-provoking theatrical dialogues between Black community members and police into a digital format, that responds to the needs of participants presented by the pandemic to accommodate audiences, near and far, including many law-enforcement agencies and all graduates of Oregon Police Academy.

Empowering Voices of Our Community

Rebel Wise

Rebel Wise provides virtual workshops using hip-hop to engage students in an experience of community connection, providing open dialogue on themes such as : transformation through struggle with identity, addiction, violence and finding a spiritual path rooted in creativity and ancient principles.

General Support for Black United Fund

Black United Fund of Oregon

Black United Fund of Oregon received a two-year grant to assist with on-going expenses related to its mission-driven work in support of the Black community, especially during the pandemic.

Paradox Desire Path

The Curiosity Paradox

The Curiosity Paradox will conduct conversations with intersecting Disabled, Deaf, Queer, Trans, Black, Indigenous, POC, immigrant and refugee identities who have a creative approach to access. These conversations will inspire a series of artistic learning materials. The program will culminate with a public event for dialogue and distribution of these materials.

Joy Comes in the Mourning

Portland Playhouse

Portland Playhouse’s project is a series of events designed for PPH’s diverse neighbors to acknowledge and release grief together through conversations and mourning traditions of many cultures and through a celebration of their diverse community.

General Support for Brown Hope

Brown Hope

Brown Hope's mission is connecting Black, Brown and Indigenous people for collective healing and mutual aid. At the time of funding, its Black Resilience Fund had provided immediate emergency financial relief for housing, nutrition, utility bills and other pressing financial needs to 6,500 Black, Brown and Indigenous Portlanders, also providing emotional support related to the pandemic and ongoing racial discrimination and injustice.

Emergency Support related to COVID-19

Emily’s Fund provided general support to: Meals on Wheels People, Sisters of the Road, Jewish Federation of Portland, Oregon Food Bank and Portland Homeless Family Solutions.

2019

Writing for Social Change: Arts in Affordable Housing

Write Around Portland

Write Around Portland developed their project as a response to the ongoing challenges the city is facing around affordable housing. They will hold 10-week creative writing workshops with residents of affordable housing buildings. The writers’ work will be published and they will read their work at free community readings.

Abrahamic Thanksgiving

Westminster Presbyterian Church

In 2016, Westminster's congregation felt an urgency to do something positive to counter acts of religious intolerance. What resulted was their first Abrahamic Thanksgiving. The annual event features a service with messages by a Rabbi, an Imam and a Pastor, followed by a catered dinner.

Cottage Grove Community Conversations

Rural Organizing Project

Like many small towns in rural Oregon, Cottage Grove struggles to create and maintain a positive, inclusive local culture. This grant funds a year-long community conversation about how best to design and use a new building donated to ROP by a local family foundation. The project was developed in partnership with concerned community members in response to neo-Nazi activity in Cottage Grove.

“This Land” Curriculum Development

Oregon Humanities

With support from Emily’s Fund Oregon Humanities will produce discussion guides for facilitation trainings across the state conducted by OH and by community partners to increase the visibility, influence, and use of OH media in public programs. The programs will start community conversations about deep-seated issues addressed in OH’s This Land digital media project.

The Heart of Facilitation Training

My Voice Music

Emily’s Fund provided funding for My Voice Music to send teaching artists and youth from MVM’s student leadership program to a training series that provides tools for teachers and leaders to run transformational programs for youth. MVM’s primary goal is to strengthen its teaching team, equipping them with the confidence and critical awareness needed to facilitate meaningful dialogue with the diverse groups of youth they serve.

Anti-Bias Education Community Workshops

Hawthorne Family Playschool

Research shows that children form biases by age five. Hawthorne Family Playschool’s free community workshops are designed to empower parents and teachers of young children and help fill the gap in accessible early childhood anti-bias education by presenting two workshops open to the Playschool community and the general public

The ...Ism Project

MediaRites

The ...Ism Project was created as an artistic spark for dialogue in response to increasing community divisions. “The –Ism Project” is an original new theatrical production and touring program with community workshops and discussions, composed of monologues exploring intersections of race with gender, orientation, and nationality. The show premiered at Portland State University in Jan.-Feb 2019 and then traveled across the state.

Jewish/Latino Dialogue Series

Latino Network

Emily’s Fund supported a six-session dialogue series focused on community building, conversation starters and intercultural exchange and connections. By helping to build understanding and connection between the two communities, the Jewish/Latino Dialogue Series, conducted in collaboration with the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland will help combat the rise of bigotry and hate in the greater Portland area.

Volunteer Program

Rahab’s Sisters

Rahab’s Sisters creates community through radical hospitality with those marginalized by poverty, houselessness, sex work, violence or substance use. Designed and led by their counselors, “Rahab’s 101” teaches volunteers skills for supporting guests, educates about secondary trauma, and emphasizes the importance of self-care to avoid burnout. Growing numbers challenge Rahab’s Sisters’ ability to maintain deep relationships with guests, and with support from Emily’s Fund they are increasing their volunteer recruitment and expanding their training program.

Portland through a Latinx Lens Project

Southeast Uplift Neighborhood Program

This project brings folks from diverse backgrounds together to learn about the intricacies of being Latinx in Portland, as well as to engage, connect and empower Latinx folks in their community. Other project goals are to encourage the engagement and connection of Latinx people and the broader community in meaningful conversations, and to celebrate and frame the culture and heritage of Latin Americans.

The Mentoring Collaborative

Family of Friends Mentoring Program

Family of Friends is leading a collaborative of high-impact, youth-mentoring organizations in the Portland Metro region. The collaborative originated from a desire between disparate mentoring groups to come together and affect change through dialogue, maximizing their collective expertise and avoiding the pitfalls of service duplication and competition. The groups are founded by leaders from different cultures and perspectives. Through this collaboration the organizations are exploring how their missions align, and how they can be allies in providing youth with caring, culturally relevant adult relationships.

Columbia River Road Trips: Elevating Indigenous Voices

Confluence

Confluence began in 2002 in response to the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial as an effort to connect people with the Native American perspective on that story. Tribal leaders from Oregon and Washington invited the celebrated artist Maya Lin to create artworks along the Columbia River system to help elevate their perspectives nationally and internationally. Confluence Road Trips are story-driven journeys for educators, designed to elevate Indigenous voices in a collective understanding of the Columbia River system. Participants come away with a richer understanding of sovereignty, cultural resilience and reciprocity.

Community Chai & Dialogue

African Youth and Community Organization

AYCO strengthens cultural identity within the East African community, strengthening the capacity of individuals to contribute to their fullest potential and to be hopeful for the future. With support from Emily’s Fund, AYCO will host monthly Chai & Dialogue Meetings to bring diverse communities together over Somali chai tea, a ritual of welcome and a gesture of friendship. The Meetings are an opportunity for Somalis and allies to build trust across cultural and religious differences through culturally-specific activities and facilitated dialogue.

Portland Spirit Led Justice Alliance

As the Spirit Moves Us

Since 2017, the Spirit Led alliance has activated over 500 individuals and 12 faith based coalitions around Climate Change, Worker Rights, dozens of successful legislative campaigns, keeping police out of courtrooms to protect immigrants from being detained and so much more. Their organizational members include Jewish, Buddhist, Musilim and Christian spiritual leaders. The Alliance has also taken a lead on advocating for police accountability, particularly at White Nationalists rallies. Support from Emily’s Fund will help maintain and expand the Alliance’s work in greater Portland.

Gather:Make:Shelter Academy

Gather:Make:Shelter

Gather:Make:Shelter is a citywide creative collaboration founded by artist Dana Lynn Louis to create a new model of engagement and connection, bringing diverse economic populations together through artmaking. Houseless artists collaborate with ceramic artists to create unique artwork. Houseless artists are provided food and participation fees at workshops and class meetings.

The Jewish Project

Morgan Street Theater

Morgan Street Theater brings people together through storytelling and a shared culinary experience, constructing a space for conversation. The ultimate goal of The Jewish Project is to humanize and foster empathy for the Jewish experience, disarming anti-Semitism and strengthening the fabric of our community. Emily’s Fund’s support will help Morgan Street Theater to bring The Jewish Project to 5 Oregon communities—Silverton, Salem, Corvallis, Bend and Ashland.

United in Spirit

Dialogues Unlimited and Jewish Federation of Greater Portland

United in Spirit is a series of events intended to strengthen ties between the local African-American and Jewish communities. The Day of Remembrance is dedicated to memory of victims of lynching in our country; the Civil Rights Mission will bring Jews and African-Americans together on a trip to important Civil Rights sites in the Southern states; a multi-week Black-Jewish Dialogue will continue the conversation and work toward collaboration to combat hate, bigotry and anti-Semitism. This project grew out of the African-American and Jewish Dialogue Group, started by Emily over 10 years ago.

2018

Conversation Project

Oregon Humanities

The Conversation Project brings Oregonians together to talk—across differences of opinion, belief, and background—about important issues and ideas.

Capacity Building Support

race talks

Race Talks is widely known and respected as the premier, African American led, forum in Portland for the discussion of race. Current demand is more than the organization can meet; the monthly program is at capacity; and the number of facilitators inadequate. Emily's Fund supported Race Talk's ongoing capacity building work which includes training facilitators, hiring staff and incorporating as a 501(c)3.

Dialogue and Education with Film

outside the frame

Outside the Frame's outreach program changes the way homeless and marginalized youth see and are seen through film.

Mobilization and Rapid Response to Racism

ecumenical ministries of oregon

This project builds connections between faith communities in different geographic areas of Oregon, developing the critical skills and resources to spark proactive responses to hate-speech and intolerant acts and words.

Brave Space

Bag&baggage productions

Brave Space is a unique equity and inclusion program that seeks to create greater understanding, empathy, and connection between Hillsboro's predominately white, straight community and the diverse residents of Hillsboro who fall outside those definitions.

Willesden Read

Regional arts and Culture Council

On the 80th anniversary of the Kindertransport, which saved 10,000 children who fled Nazi persecution, RACC, in collaboration with several area partners including OJMCHE and Portland Public Schools, taught 10,000 students about the Holocaust, the importance of standing up against bigotry and hatred, and the transformative power of music.

Joint Convening

we are all america

On June 25-27 in Estes Park, CO, We Are All America held a joint convening with their sister organizations from across the country. Emily's Fund helped to underwrite the travel expenses of the Oregon delegation which included members from Unite Oregon and CAUSA.

As The Spirit Moves Us

portland spirit LEd justice alliance

Born out of the lived experiences of Portland-area faith leaders following the 2016 election, Portland Spirit Led Justice Alliance seeks to maximize the impact of twelve Portland faith based coalitions through strategic coordination, finding new opportunities for religious leadership to participate in justice work, and prioritizing healing, renewal and inspiration through spiritual practice.

We Are All Oregon

unite ORegon

Through this project Unite Oregon will build and expand the We Are Oregon coalition into a state-wide table, secure stop-gap funding for three resettlement agencies (Catholic Charities, Lutheran Community Services Northwest and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon) for two years, and identify and develop 20-25 prominent and emerging refugee, immigrant and faith leaders/advocates to effectively combat restrictive anti-refugee/immigrant sentiment and policies at the state and local levels.

Common Ground Network

Friends of Outdoor School

Rockwood Speaks

Rockwood CDC

Rockwood Speaks has engaged more than 2,000 adults in facilitated conversations in many languages. Findings are carefully translated and documented, and the resulting reports have had a positive impact on policy decisions in government, faith communities, education, policing, business and philanthropic circles. Rockwood Speakswill continue to connect neighbors to their leaders, and also to connect hungry families to the food systems that support them.

Mulugeta Seraw: Remember, Learn, Change

Urban League of Portland

On November 13, the Urban League brought together diverse people to remember, talk about, and learn from the the life and death of Mulugeta Seraw, an Ethiopian immigrant who was murdered in front of his Portland home 30 years ago. The event kicked off actions led by the Urban League to bring the community together to honor diversity and inclusion and to speak out against racism, bigotry and hate.

Client Advisory Board

Oregon Food Bank

One facet of their Equity Initiative, Oregon Food Bank's Client Advisory Board engages diverse groups of people with lived experience of hunger and food security to inform OFB's hunger relief strategy.

Addressing Homelessness

Vision Action Network

Together with Project Homeless Connect, VAN hosted a dialogue between leaders of diverse faith communities and local government to explore collaborative and innovative solutions to address the growing problem of homelessness in Washington County.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative

Girls Inc. of the Pacific Northwest

Girls Inc's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Initiative seeks to analyze Girls Inc's current programs, policies, structures and practices through an equity lens. This analysis will be followed by strategy development and execution that will help Girls Inc operationalize their DEI work.

2017

Mobilization and Rapid Response to Racism, Intolerance and Hate in Oregon Communities

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon

Working with their interfaith partners, EMO will launch a two-year network building program to help congregations mobilize and respond to intolerance through understanding and compassion. The project will build connections between faith communities in different geographic areas of Oregon, help develop and nurture the critical skills and resources to spark proactive responses to hate-speech and intolerant acts and words. It will assist faith organizations in focused conversations on "what we are for," rather than "what we are against" to help communities provide a progressive vision of what they want to create in their community.

Beginning Farmers of Color Apprenticeship Program

Oregon Food Bank

The goal of this project is to develop the capacity of beginning farmers to build skills in agricultural food production, and to develop their small business acumen through an agricultural training and mentoring program for 10 participants as well as drop in-training for many others. In addition, it will facilitate the relationships necessary to secure financing and land for agricultural businesses. Participants will connect with individual farmers through conversations and farm visits.

Talking Across Difference

Rural Organizing Project

The Rural Organizing Project will launch a program of People’s Movement Assemblies (PMAs), which are built around an agenda of personal sharing and dialogue. Oregon’s rural communities have, in many ways, been divided by “difference.” This project provides forums for supportive discussions that see past that difference and allow communities to come together. The PMAs will take place in rural Oregon communities where militia groups are active. They will be attended by immigrant community members, service providers, those who work in schools, women’s crisis workers and more.

Conversation Project 2017-2018

Oregon Humanities

The Conversation Project brings Oregonians together to talk—across differences of opinion, belief, and background—about important issues and ideas. Local nonprofits request conversation programs on topics relevant to their communities, and OH provides facilitators to guide inclusive discussions. Demand for these conversations is higher than ever. OH plans to hold 175 Conversation Project programs in the next year.

Equity and Inclusion Work for the Washington County Nonprofit Network

Vision Action Network

VAN will convene Executive Directors and Board chairs of Washington County nonprofits for facilitated workshops, providing leaders a space to reflect on their commitment to equity. Goals are to clarify expectations of Executive Directors as leaders around equity, to develop a framework to talk about and model equity with others, to help organizations start to move toward equity, and to learn from and support fellow leaders doing equity work.

Funding for Anti-Hate Lawn Signs

Unite Oregon

Emily worked with the Coalition Against Hate Crimes to respond immediately to hate crimes. This project has provided new signs that are distributed to Oregon organizations who get them out into neighborhoods where and when they are needed.

Rockwood Speaks!

Rockwood CDC

The Rockwood neighborhood of Gresham is Oregon’s poorest and most diverse community. Rockwood Speaks! opens dialogue among people of different faiths, cultures and socioeconomic backgrounds in Rockwood. Since they began the Rockwood Speaks! series three years ago, Rockwood CDC has engaged more than 700 adults in facilitated conversations about life in this community. Each conversation is culturally-specific. Rockwood Speaks! has been facilitated in English, Spanish, Somali, Tongan, Arabic, Russian, Dinkan and Chuuki.

Portland Art Museum Equity and Inclusion Work

Portland Art Museum

In 2016 the Portland Art Museum enlisted the Center for Equity and Inclusion to guide a cross-departmental team of staff and trustees through a year-long equity and inclusion training. Upon completion of the training, the Portland Art Museum will have an in-house equity team which focuses on deepening expertise in areas of equity and inclusion. The team will develop an equity plan which outlines strategies to integrate equitable practices, policies, and protocols throughout the Museum.

2016

Three-year Commitment to the Intergroup Seder

Jewish Federation of Greater Portland

Emily coordinated and led Portland's annual Intergroup Seder. Continuing her legacy, each year our Jewish community continues to host guests of diverse faith-based and ethnic communities, sharing the story of the Exodus from Egypt, the foundation of the Jewish people, our values, ethics and traditions. Emily's Fund has made a three-year commitment to funding the Intergroup Seder, working with the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland to invite everyone to the seder free of charge.

WeLead: Youth-Powered Conversations for Change

Oregon Humanities

Through a grant to Oregon Humanities, Emily's Fund is sponsoring WeLead: Youth-Powered Conversations for Change. WeLead trains high school students to plan, design and lead conversations on topics that matter most to their communities. The project is a partnership between Oregon Humanities and Catlin Gabel’s PLACE urban studies and leadership program based in North Portland.   Program outreach began in winter 2015, with the goal of recruiting students from a variety of Portland-area schools—including Catlin Gabel, Grant, Jefferson, Roosevelt, De La Salle North—and partner community organizations, including Urban League of Portland and Black United Fund.

2015

Strengthening Our Region Through Interfaith Action

Inter-religious Action Network of Washington County

In conjunction with Interfaith Council of Greater Portland and Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon, this event brought together representatives of Oregon congregations and organizations to discuss issues of common concern such as peace-making, access to mental health and disability support, and climate change. The most important discussion centered on what a statewide interfaith network could achieve as a group. Ongoing discussion continued following this inspirational and informative gathering.

Vancouver Interfaith Breakfast

Congregation Kol Ami

This gathering of spiritual leaders of many faiths was held at Congregation Kol Ami in Vancouver, where Emily chanted on many High Holy Days. Rev. Brooks Berndt spoke and a lively panel discussion followed.

Ray of Hope

Oregon Jewish Museum

Middle school students from Self-Enhancement Charter School and Portland Jewish Academy came together for a program focusing on the history of both African Americans and Jews in Oregon. Musicians Alika Hope and Ray Morant performed with the theme of Jewish biblical inspiration for African American gospel music, stimulating a discussion of the relationships between African American and Jewish histories and spirits.

Community Discussions on Race and Policing

Oregon Humanities

This series was held at various Multnomah County Libraries and was moderated by professors from Portland-area colleges and the staff of Oregon Humanities. The well-attended discussions were lively and informative and the participants were ethnically and socio-economically diverse.

2014

African American - Jewish Dialogue

Jewish Federation of Greater Portland

A series of dinner conversations moderated by Barbara O'Hare, a friend and prominent member of Portland's African American community. Many friendships and informal meetings, interactions and gatherings resulted from the dialogue.

Intergroup Seder 2014 and 2015

Oregon Area Jewish Committee 2014 and Jewish Federation of Greater Portland 2015

Portland's Jewish community hosts guests of diverse faith-based and ethnic communities, sharing the story of the Exodus from Egypt, the foundation of the Jewish people, our values, ethics and traditions. Matzo balls included!

Coalition of Color

Oregon PTA

The Coalition of Color seeks to recruit and engage more parents of color in the Oregon PTA and in their children's education. Our grant paid for outreach to parents of color for registration for the PTA's annual meeting. Donna Maxey, a leader in the PTA's efforts to recruit more parents of color, received our support to attend a national conference on the subject, bringing effective recruiting techniques and materials back to Oregon.