It’s my great pleasure and honor to be addressing you all for the first time as Executive Director of Neighborhood Partnerships (NP). I want to thank you all for the warm welcome, NP’s staff and Board for their support and help as I step into my new role. I feel excited and ready to get to work!
I feel extremely fortunate to be joining such an incredible team and an inspiring community of housing and economic justice advocates. I’m looking forward to continue building upon all of the incredible work that has helped create this powerful organization and movement.
I want to take the time to acknowledge and thank Janet Byrd, NP’s long time Executive Director for her leadership, vision and commitment to making Oregon a better state. One things I valued most about Janet was her ability to support, coach and mentor those of us around her. I appreciated her ability to share and give up power, and to truly trust in me, in order to help continue developing my leadership skills. Leaning into our racial equity work as an organization and sharing power is one example and lesson I will be taking with me as I begin my chapter as Executive Director.
As NP continues to lead with racial justice we believe that economic and housing justice requires new approaches toward the co-creation and transfer of power, resources and wealth. Achieving justice requires an end to the unequal treatment under current policies and practices that create these glaring housing and economic disparities as well as the narratives which perpetuate harm. We can’t continue to do business as usual. Our responses must be community centered as those impacted are closest to the solution. We are living in uncertain times but trusting in BIPOC leadership and communities is paramount.
I am excited in the potential of Neighborhood Partnerships and our collective ability to continue impacting systemic change, and invite you to join NP and our endeavors. Help us continue to change and shape new systems, and to build new approaches that will help advance our community’s overall wellbeing. Together we can create an Oregon where all of us have the sense of belonging, stability, and the resources that we need to work toward our dreams today, and for generations to come…creating opportunity for all Oregonians. I hope you will join us!