Harnessing our unique skills to create change |
Effective DEI work requires both deep commitment and collaboration. The networks we choose to build and sustain are often the ones that lead us to a more rewarding opportunity or provide us with the resources we need to bring our visions to fruition. We invite you to read through our May newsletter and pick out a few upcoming events where you can give yourself the opportunity to meet and connect with others.
In this issue:
|
- Early bird tickets on sale now for NW Equity Summit
- The importance of speaking up at work
- New Equity Conversations episode: Healing racial trauma through art
- Say Hey! brings hundreds to downtown Portland
- Increasing access to mental health counseling through culturally responsive programs
- Featured jobs from our members
|
|
|
NW Equity Summit: Early bird tickets on sale now
Early bird discounted tickets for the NW Equity Summit are officially on sale through May 31. Register for Partners in Diversity’s second biennial NW Equity Summit: Be Unapologetically DEI and amplify your organization’s DEI impact.
Join us on September 26, 2023, at the Oregon Convention Center for a full-day summit that will bring together employees and managers at all levels from Pacific Northwest organizations and beyond, as well as diversity influencers, to be bold and uncompromising — in other words, unapologetic — when it comes to advancing and advocating for equity and inclusion. Learn from national DEI experts on topics related to championing diversity, equity and inclusion and participate in action-oriented sessions to help you operationalize your DEI plans and objectives. With community building at its core, this summit will be the perfect place to meet and collaborate with others who are working to create change within their organizations.
|
|
|
Equity Conversations: Healing racial trauma through art and design
Everyone is a designer – from artists who create masterpieces for the senses to lawmakers who develop policies that help people. In this episode of Equity Conversations, we talk to a Portland fashion designer who is using her art to heal racial trauma. We will also explore the concept of Black Quantum Futurism and how it can create new possibilities and futures for Black people.Click here for a transcript of the episode.
|
| |
|
The importance of finding and using your voice in the workplace
Finding our voice and fully expressing our needs can be challenging at work, where we may feel the need to suppress aspects of our identity to blend into workplace culture. The drawback to this strategy is that hiding parts of ourselves prevents us from effectively communicating what kind of support we’re needing from our workplace and robs us of our self-agency to shape workplace culture in a way that feels welcoming to all. To explore the topic further, we connected with journalist-turned-content strategist, Amy Wang, who shared a few words about her journey finding her voice in the workplace and in her profession:
Can you share a little bit about your personal journey finding your voice as a writer and as someone who often has thousands of people reading their words?
I grew up with parents who were devoted readers and had a carefully curated home library, so I was exposed early to literary classics in a range of voices and styles. That helped me become a writer. But during my childhood in the 1970s and ‘80s, we didn’t have the wealth of AAPI books that we do now. When I looked for books that I could relate to on a very personal level, I found the works of Black authors. Inspired by them, I started reading and writing personal essays in college. In the workplace I’ve rarely written in first person, but the voice I developed through studying the craft of personal essays has been crucial to my work.
To read the full interview, visit our website. Amy will moderate our upcoming Asian Pacific Islander community resource group event, Finding Our Voices in the Workplace, scheduled for May 25, 2023, from 5:00pm – 7:00pm at the World Trade Center Building 1. This event is open to all of those who identify as Asian or Pacific Islander and will feature a panel discussion, casual networking, and appetizers and beverages.
|
|
|
Say Hey! brings an evening of connection and community building to downtown Portland
Thank you to all of those who joined us at the Multnomah Athletic Club for our quarterly Say Hey! event. Hundreds of professionals of color gathered to welcome a new group of honorees and to make connections with other attendees and local organizations. Community-building is at the heart of Say Hey! and we hope the warmth and energy in the room was reinvigorating for all of you and you continue to build and strengthen your personal and professional communities. This is a quarterly event and if you missed your opportunity to join us last night, please keep an eye out for details regarding our summer Say Hey! event.
A special thank you to our event sponsors OnPoint Community Credit Union and Multnomah Athletic Club for their amazing support and commitment to creating a thriving, diverse, and welcoming community in which all people can work and live.
|
|
|
Upcoming Programs
May 9, 5:00 p.m. | Black Community Resource Group: Supporting Oregon's Small Black-Owned Businesses | World Trade Center Building 1
May 16, 8:00 a.m. | Breakfast for Champions: Inclusive Performance Management (Member Exclusive) | Zoom
May 25, 5:00 p.m. | Asian Pacific Islander Community Resource Group: Finding Your Voice at Work Panel Discussion | World Trade Center Building 1
|
|
|
It’s time to change the face of leadership in Portland. Apply to the upcoming Leadership Portland cohort and bring your advocacy skills to the community. Leadership Portland is a ten-month civic engagement program that seeks to broaden the perspectives of current business leaders. Participants engage in focused leadership days and get the opportunity to collaborate with other business leaders and local nonprofits to tackle key issues facing our region. Applications are due May 31. For full details and requirements, click here.
|
|
|
For a complete list of job openings at member organizations, please visit our Career Center.
|
|
|
Community Livability Grant (CLG) Program | Prosper Portland | Applications Due May 19
Business Growth Mentor and Analysis Program Opportunity | Washington State University Vancouver | July 11
|
|
|
Partners in Diversity provides an online space for nonprofits, public agencies and community-based organizations to share events and engagement opportunities that are relevant to communities of color. To view other community events or to post one, visit our Community Engagement page.
|
|
|
A special thanks to our new and renewing members for their continued commitment to DEI:
|
|
|
New Platinum Members
Oregon State University
Portland Timbers & Thorns FC
Motus Recruiting
New Silver Members
Blackbird Benefits Collective
Foureyes & Adpearance
Renewing Members
Albertina Kerr Centers
Apex Companies
barre3
Blackbird Benefits Collective
Bonneville Power Administration
CASA of Oregon
Ernst & Young (PeopleFirm)
Foureyes & Adpearance
Friends of the Children SW Washington
HIV Alliance
Janus Youth Programs Inc
Morrison Child & Family Services
Multnomah Group
Oregon Primary Care Association
Portland Art Museum
Portland Opera
SAIF Corporation
The Nature Conservancy in Oregon
The Portland Clinic
Tonkon Torp
Travel Oregon
Unitus Community Credit Union
|
|
|
Month of April: Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, Jewish American Heritage Month.
|
|
|
Increasing access to mental health counseling through culturally responsive programs
In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, we connected with Abe Vega, Bilingual Mental Health Counselor at Central City Concern’s Puentes program to discuss how culturally responsive mental health programs are working to address the disparities that exist in mental health care for communities of color.
Abe is one of few bilingual, male therapists providing counseling services to Latinx/Hispanic populations in Multnomah County. When entering his social work program at Boston College, he immediately noticed the field was predominantly run by white women and very few men. This experience, coupled with his awareness of the difficulties that exist for communities of color looking to access counseling services, provided him with a clear direction of where he wanted to apply his professional skills and eventually led him to Puentes.
Read more about Abe's experience and the Puentes program on our website.
|
|
|
Follow Partners in Diversity on social media to stay connected and get the latest news.
|
|
|
Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails. View this email online.
|
121 SW Salmon Street, Suite 1440 | Portland, OR 97204 US
|
|
|
This email was sent to . To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
|
| |
|
|