Civic Trust and Aligned Leadership

Fostering creativity, connection, and equitable outcomes for Portland by bringing together civic leaders in a “shared learning” community

Although Portland has many paths for broad civic engagement, the region does not have a multi-sector civic space for leaders to build trust and work collaboratively on challenges facing Portland. 
We believe it’s time to build one.

Background

In late 2021, the North Star team invited a small group of individuals from Meyer Memorial Trust, Oregon Humanities, Social Venture Partners Portland, United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, and Western States Center to an open-ended conversation about what role we might collectively play in addressing the signs of clear civic distress in our city —  increasing property crimes and homicides, un-civil engagement with elected leaders, racialized police violence, increased presence of anti-government and white supremacist paramilitary groups, and a growing sense among Portlanders that the city is moving in the wrong direction, and that too little is being done about it. 

We saw that Portland leaders across different sectors are hungry for a space to work together on “the future of Portland” — whether they define that as reviving downtown, investing in neighborhood centers, addressing homelessness, finding dynamic leaders to serve in public office, or fully reforming the City’s elections and governing charter. 

We believe that how civic leaders come together in this pivotal moment will likely set the course for where we arrive in five, ten, twenty years. So, it’s important to do it in a way that builds civic strengths that we know we’ll need throughout that period — and in a way that identifies, cultivates, tests, and supports people (and communities) who can work together as leaders now and in the future. 

OUR KEY TERMS

Civic Leader Anyone who convenes a community — a broad definition that can respond to the many ways that Portlanders work, play, pray, protest, plan and explore together.

Organization A group of people with an organizing structure and civic purpose, such as advocacy groups, volunteer groups, philanthropic institutions, government agencies and offices, churches, service providers, business associations, theater groups, and more.

Our Research

During the course of our engagement, we came to see that our best focus might be to: Foster creativity, connection, and equitable outcomes for Portland by creating a meaningful “shared learning” space that can engage, support, enrich and deepen trusting relationships among the people who convene and lead civic spaces in our region.

Our report shares the key themes and takeaways from four areas of research and “testing the water” on these ideas:

  1. Engaging Civic Leaders - “Building Bridges” (2022)
    North Star, Western States Center and Oregon Humanities hosted a series of gatherings for executive leaders of civic organizations in Portland in a broad range of sectors: arts, business, philanthropy, activism, direct service, media, and government.

  2. Discovery - Shared Learning Spaces (2022)
    We learned about the power of “shared learning communities” to help metropolitan areas respond to crises, build trust, and create equitable outcomes and economic growth.

  3. Community Interviews (2023)
    We interviewed people to gut check the need for a new civic space, and to flesh out the approach. We came away with complex insights and an appetite to address the clearest through-line: Although Portland has many opportunities for broad civic engagement, the region does not seem to have a multi-sector civic space for leaders to build trust and work collaboratively on challenges facing Portland.

  4. Design Workshops (2023)
    North Star hosted an afternoon of interactive “design workshops” that explored design challenges with creating a new civic space, including how to ensure the space is action-oriented, inclusive, builds trust, and supports of the existing civic ecosystem.

Themes from our research

  • Portland does not have an effective cross-sector civic space where leaders of civic organizations across business, philanthropy, government, and community can foster creativity and connection, learn together, and align action to deliver equitable outcomes for the communities they serve.

  • Executive civic leaders in every sector in the city expressed a deep sense of civic loneliness. They yearn for a place to develop stronger relationships, greater trust with peers, a sense of shared purpose, and a place to join effectively in solution-oriented learning.

  • Civic leaders in our region take the community-facing civic engagement seriously and bring together the communities they serve with creativity and “best practice adaptations” in a post-Covid moment. They are also eager to share and learn skills and new approaches to engage communities in a moment of deepening polarization, distrust in institutions and government, and a sense of fractured belonging.

  • Portland leaders see challenges with building trust across differences that raise important design questions for a “shared learning space.” Nobody thinks that this is an easy lift.

  • Regional civic leaders see a need to deepen shared understanding of the role of government, to and leverage government in their community work in different ways.

  • Portland leaders wish to develop, share, and use different tools for storytelling and culture-creation focused on welcome, abundance.

  • Regional leaders emphasize the value of “connecting the dots" with existing civic spaces and creating infrastructure that enriches and expands current civic assets — not another new community-facing group.

  • There is a general sense that there isn’t a clear, shared vision for the region. But there’s a lot of interest in being part of that visioning, and ensuring that the voices of communities that civic leaders serve and represent are heard in that work.

A Vision for Portland’s Future

We believe that a healthy “center” is a space where participants can explore competing and dissonant visions for the future of Portland. But we also believe it is important to start with animating shared values.

These are ours: 

  • Portland’s hopeful future requires a thriving, connected, multi-racial middle class.

    Decades of research shows that metropolitan areas with a strong multi-racial middle class are regions that thrive, where white, Black and brown community members experience increased opportunity and connection. These studies show critical correlation between a multiracial middle class and both civic engagement and economic prosperity.

  • Portland needs a plan to welcome population changes.

    To date, our community has come up short when imagining and enacting strategies to welcome our growing and changing population in a way that builds a trusting community and shared livability, and in a way that reflects our collective concerns about the changing climate. We believe that the most inspiring and impactful solutions for the City will respond to these needs.

  • Portland needs to transform and revitalize how elected leaders and communities engage.

    Elected leaders cannot do the work our region needs without a fully engaged, collaborative, and motivated civic community. And … civic leaders will be most effective in advancing impactful reforms in accountable partnership with elected leaders.

  • Portland needs a positive and productive “center” to drive these changes.

    We are interested in strengthening the culture of a “center” in Portland — defining “center” as a place that brings together people of different ideologies and experiences so you can accomplish work together and get things done.

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