Announcing the Civic Health Cohort

Just one look at the 2021 Oregon State Legislature roster showcases a younger, more diverse legislative body than ever before. And for the first time in our state’s history, the Oregon House of Representatives is 50% male identifying and 50% female identifying. Equality here we come, yes? We know better than that... 

A century and a half of limited representation on all elected bodies throughout the region has contributed to health, economic and education disparities that harm all of us, and BIPOC communities most of all. To help end these disparities, school boards, city councils and state legislatures should reflect the breadth of diversity and lived experience our region has to offer. The overwhelming majority do not, and most never have. 

Beyond reflective elected bodies, the ability for all community members to take part in policymaking from the ballot box to the legislative chamber is also fundamental to ending disparities and improving the health of our region. But too few of us have the resources or know-how to participate. We need the tools to support strong, enduring civic engagement in all our communities so we can participate in elections and shape policies for a quality life and good health." Our initiative Civic Health aims to change this reality by:

• Boldly resourcing and supporting 501(c)(4) organizations 

• Building independent political power and infrastructure using Integrated Voter Engagement (IVE)

• Developing a common understanding and approaches to building power

• Connecting urban and rural communities across Oregon and Southwest Washington

• Appointing leaders, electing candidates and moving important policies

The long-term goals of this initiative are: 

• BIPOC communities with the skills, infrastructure and mindset to elect bold leaders and pass transformative policies

• Leaders and talent rooted in, and supportive of, BIPOC communities

• A vibrant democratic culture that values, centers and supports BIPOC people

We are proud to share the 13 organizations chosen to be part of the Civic Health Initiative’s Cohort Program.

From Jen Matheson, NWHF’s Director of Programs:

“Each organization is unique in their experience and context, but all are connected by a commitment to be accountable to their communities, a desire to build a movement across identities and geographies while integrating shared social justice and political frameworks; and a readiness to act in bold and new ways. They will build power in their community to make policy changes and elect leaders, and contribute capacity and resources to electoral organizing for the next  four years, and hopefully beyond.”

Learn more about each of our grantees, in their own words: 

APANO Statewide (Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon) 

APANO unites Asians and Pacific Islanders to build power, develop leaders, and advance equity. We envision a just world where APIs and communities who share our aspirations and struggles have the power, resources, and voice to determine their own futures, and where we work in solidarity to drive political, social, economic, and cultural change. By building power for API communities and working in solidarity with Black, Indigenous, and other communities of color, we advance the health, wellness, and safety of all of us.

The Ebony Collective Coalition 

The Ebony Collective CDC recognizes that, historically, systems and policies have disenfranchised low income youth, Black, indigenous and other communities of color. Often, we have seen Black people not having a seat at the table or not trusting a process would be equitable, so they opt out because they don’t feel that their voice or vote matter. It is our mission and vision as a Black organization to change this narrative. 

Imagine Black (formerly PAALF Action Fund) 

Imagine Black is a Black-led organization, by and for the Black community. Black liberation is, and always has been, the work of the collective. For too long, Black Oregonians have only been able to participate in civic engagement from a 501(c)(3) lens. To our knowledge we are one of the few Oregon Black-led 501(c)(4) organizations that engage directly in wielding Black Power through implementing an integrated voter engagement model. We know that we must increase our Black voter power collectively to defend democracy and build a new world where people of African descent can thrive. 

Latinx Power Table, made up of three organizations: PCUN (lead), CAUSA and Latino Network Action Fund 

The purpose of the Latinx Power Table, a collaborative including PCUN, Causa, and Latino Network Action Fund, is to encourage strong civic engagement within the Latino community that builds collective statewide political power for Oregon Latinx BIPOC communities by building and advancing civic programs through a collaborative conversation with state leaders, in order to shape policies that ensure good health and quality of life for all. We have a proven track record of working together in the field, campaigns, leading electoral reforms and voting rights, and winning for BIPOC communities. Our collaborative is composed of organizations that have been deeply involved in promoting worker and immigrant rights, health equity organizing, movement building, and advocating for 40+ years through mass mobilization, education, and persuasion. Centralizing Latinx political power will make us stronger and ensure we work together. Our organizations are excited to try new and proven strategies to make BIPOC communities stronger as a whole and power players in the political landscape. 

NAYA Action Fund

The Native American Youth and Family Center (NAYA) has worked diligently at crafting, building, and implementing a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization: the NAYA Action Fund. Our goal is to continue building political, electoral, and community capacity while building leaders through civic health and engagement. Our goal is to continue building leaders, providing opportunity to weigh in on candidates, and increase our ability to build electoral power. Creating a 501(c)(4) creates momentum, endurance, and knowledge to implement a thriving electoral powerhouse among the American Indian/Alaska Native community. 

OneAmerica Votes 

We build political power led by impacted community members through training and leadership development, power and political analysis, local campaign development, and civic engagement (naturalization, voter registration, getting out the vote) and candidate recruitment and development (including endorsement and 501(c)(4) work around coordinated and independent expenditures to elect immigrant and pro-immigrant candidates). The success of our work in SW Washington is dependent on our ability to help build a dynamic and integrated ecosystem of organizations that are rooted in SW Washington, aligned with partner organizations on both sides of the border within the Portland metropolitan region, and able to move politics in the State House in Olympia, WA. 

Pacific County Voices Uniting

Pacific County Voices Uniting, located along the edges of Willapa Bay in Southwest Washington, aims to shift, balance, and develop a healthy civic engagement culture by working to build reflective representation and by creating collaborative BIPOC movements that increase awareness through education and empowerment of BIPOC voices. We are a 100% BIPOC-led organization in a county with large disparities and inequities in its political power and representation demographics. By uniting cross-cultural demographics through various methods of civic engagement, collaborative projects, and lifting and supporting BIPOC leadership, we hope to build representation and political power in Pacific County while promoting systems and policies that create equitable access to services for those often forgotten or silenced.

SW Washington Communities United for Change (SWCUC)

SWCUC is committed to building sustained POWER within, amongst, and alongside SW Washington's BIPOC-identifying community. We have worked diligently to become known and understood as a viable stakeholder holding community representatives and elected officials accountable to commUNITY. Our work has been connected to several statewide, grassroots initiatives including Census 2020, Redistricting, Environmental Justice Task Force, Washington 4 Black Lives, and Treatment First Washington, to name a few. The regional work of SWCUC will be realized when there is a solid infrastructure that belongs to our BIPOC commUNITY, where members will be proud to participate in civic engagement and policy systems change, culminating in leadership training that prepares future BIPOC candidates to run for elected positions with the mindset of supporting our SWWA BIPOC voices. 

Unite Oregon Action

For over 20 years, Unite Oregon has advocated for policy change within systems that are led by people who don’t look like us, and who treat our communities as an afterthought—if at all. One thing is clear: if we want to live in a system that supports and values our communities, we’re going to have to build it ourselves. We want to move beyond building community power to actually SHIFTING the balance of power so our communities can govern. We’ll do that by training and supporting candidates for elected office who look like us, share our values and political analysis, while also mobilizing broad Immigrant, Refugee, and BIPOC (IR-BIPOC) community participation as voters, advocates, and volunteers. 

UNITE Warm Springs 

UNITE Warm Springs is exactly what it says, an honest genuine effort towards a common goal. Unity in policy, practice, and spirit. The founders of UNITE Warm Springs are all mothers and hold careers in other areas. We recognize we must build now to ensure our children's lives can be different than ours. We want a community that does not celebrate surviving, but strives to thrive. Our Tribal leaders must be able to navigate and understand local, state, and national levels of governance to effectively advocate for our people. Our representatives on every level choose how and when they understand tribal people or issues. Advocacy and education to others takes up our resources and capacity and holds us back from building within. Seventy five percent of our tribal budget ultimately goes to natural resource protection or development. That means our money, staff, and time is spent protecting rights we have and not on healing, providing services, our children and families, or addressing the major issues within our people. 

Washington County Ignite 

Washington County Ignite is dedicated to building power in our community of Black, Indigenous and People of Color, LGBTQ+, and young people residing in the most rapidly diversifying county in Oregon. We aim to transform Washington County through political organizing by supporting changes in leadership to be reflective of the population they serve. We believe in building political power in BIPOC and LGBTQ+ communities so that we can put leaders in positions of power and make decisions that are reflective of the community they serve. Through voter engagement and voter education, we aim to empower members of our community to run for local offices, because we believe representation in all levels of government is crucial in returning power back to the people who were disenfranchised.