About this event

Through a partnership with Metro we are able to add this special session to the annual series.

Moderators

Cliff Jones, Senior Consultant, Nonprofit Association of Oregon

Clifford Higgins, Civil Rights Program Manager & Communications Supervisor, Oregon Metro

Panel

Ben Duncan, Chief Diversity & Equity Officer, Director of the Office of Diversity & Equity, Multnomah County

Carl Talton, Executive Chair, Portland Family of Funds, United Fund Advisors & Northwest Community Capital Fund

Julia Meier, Director, Coalition of Communities of Color

Marc Jolin, Initiative Director, A Home for Everyone, Former Executive Director, JOIN

An equity lens or assessment can be simply described as practical tools to help to ensure the policies, programs, services and decisions of an organization or agency result in socially equitable outcomes for everyone they serve. But the reality of developing and using these tools is much more complex.

Blending experience and candid advice from public and nonprofit leaders who have developed and used an equity lens or assessment, this panel presentation and discussion explores how these tools can help you get people talking, encourage creative approaches, navigate resistance and setbacks, and nourish change inside your organization.

Join a panel of organizational leaders who are working with these tools to explore:

• Why organizations are using equity lenses
• The variety of equity lens focuses and applications (e.g., public health, racial justice, environmental justice, community investment, community health and nature, other)
• How organizations are getting buy-in from leadership to apply these tools
• Strategies to develop and apply equity lenses and assessments
• What happens when conflicting priorities arise
• Lessons learned and best practices

About the Presenters

Cliff Jones is a human rights activist with over 30 years’ experience in social services, community education, and human rights advocacy. He has experience as a frontline staff, supervisor, project manager, and executive director. He is co-founder of Tools for Diversity, a comprehensive curriculum led by a multi-cultural team that addresses problems caused by discrimination and prejudice and supports building culturally competent organizations. Cliff has served on the Boards of McKenzie River Gathering Foundation, Funding Exchange Foundation, Oregon Minority AIDS Coalition, Multnomah Legal Service Workers Union, and Peer Counseling Community. He has been a trainer for the Black Leadership and Community Development Institute and is a recipient of Nordstrom’s Cultural Diversity Community Service Award.

Clifford Higgins is the Civil Rights program manager and communications supervisor for Metro’s planning department. His work focuses on bringing new voices to planning for the future of the Portland metropolitan area and understanding how Metro’s work effects underrepresented populations. He is a Siletz tribal member (Fisher-Brown Chetco) and approaches his equity and inclusion work from a multiracial intersectional perspective.

Ben Duncan is a founding board member of OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon that focuses on organizing low income and people of color to build power for Environmental Justice and Civil Rights in the community. His work focuses on the relationships between the social, economic, and environmental conditions, and racial and ethnic disparities. Ben is co-chair of Region X Health Equity Council through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, and serves as chair of the Oregon Governor’s Environmental Justice Task Force. Ben lives in Southeast Portland with his wife Katherine, currently completing her dissertation in Education from Stanford, and their son Rudy who keeps both of them busy!

Carl Talton is a former vice president of government affairs, community and economic development at Portland General Electric, and has served as a board member for the Northwest Health Foundation, Concordia University Foundation, Albina Head Start, N/NE Economic Development Alliance, the Institute for Portland Metropolitan Studies at Portland State University, the Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs and the Neighborhood Partnership Fund, and served on the Oregon Economic and Community Development Department Commission. Talton is a past member of the Portland Development Commission. He was born and raised in the Portland area and resides with his family in Northeast Portland where he has lived since early childhood.

Julia Meier, Director, Coalition of Communities of Color came to the CCC from practicing law at Alaska Legal Services Corporation. Prior to legal services, Julia worked at the Alaska Native Justice Center where she oversaw and facilitated projects engaged in the establishment and implementation of restorative justice models. Julia graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Oregon and earned a Juris Doctorate from Harvard Law School in 2005. Julia has been the acting director since 2009.

Marc Jolin directs the community-wide ending homelessness initiative, A Home for Everyone, on behalf of Multnomah County, Portland, Gresham, and Home Forward. For eight years he served as the Executive Director of JOIN, assisting homeless individuals and families to return to permanent housing. Prior to that he was the staff attorney for the Homeless Law Project at the Oregon Law Center. He serves on the Oregon ACLU’S Lawyers Committee, the Board of the Lowenstein Trust, and he is co-chair of the state Family Services Review Commission. Marc has a master’s degree in urban sociology and a law degree from the University of Chicago.

About the Network

Most nonprofit leaders want to create inclusive work environments, address social and economic disparities, and engage diverse communities in their programing, yet the path to achieve greater equity is not always clear, and the work can be isolating. Equity and Inclusion Leaders Network brings nonprofit leaders together to share best practices, connect among peers, and engage in deeper learning with thought leaders and practitioners in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Become a Season Pass Holder

We encourage organizations and individuals to attend the entire series by purchasing a season pass. Season pass holders save up to $95 off of the individual session registration fees and are pre-registered for all five network sessions.

To purchase a pro-rated season pass, e-mail us at [email protected] or call us at (503)239-4001 ext. 123.