PORTLAND, OR – Generally on a Saturday morning City Hall is a pretty quiet place, but that was not the case on March 14, 2009. Shortly after 9:30 that morning, Commissioner Amanda Fritz was welcoming into the council chamber 42 people representing 37 different ethnicities, ninety percent of whom had never previously been inside City Hall, either in Portland or in any other place.
They were embarking on a four month, six-session series of trainings in effective civic advocacy and engagement for leaders of non-native and non-mainstream communities called Engage ’09. The Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) had been charged by the City of Portland to organize and lead the process, which was funded by the Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement.
Ranging in age from 17 to 78, the participants were mostly people who had agreed to put aside their fears of civic engagement, stemming from their experiences in countries of origin where they were, at best, shut out of the civic process and, at worst, had suffered significantly at the hands of elected officials.
IRCO undertook the project because of a lack of civic engagement from the local immigrant and refugee (I/R) community members. This has resulted in local public policy decisions that have historically been limited in their responsiveness to the needs of the I/R communities. The driving force behind Engage ’09 is that with increased levels of civic engagement, local policy could be shaped to result in improved outcomes for the I/R communities. At the same time it would enrich the city by bringing in the social capital of those communities and engaging their members in volunteerism, community development and social justice.The participants have all signed a pledge to fully participate in all trainings, become more active in their own community and neighborhood associations, and to work hard to build civic engagement skills. The trainings are very hands-on, with role playing and other means of developing the skills.
Expected outcomes include placing the ‘graduates’ on boards, commissions and advisory committees to City bureaus and departments. It is also expected that increased channels of communication, cooperation and support between the various ethnic communities themselves and between those communities and the City will result.
| < Prev |
|---|
Engage '09 Trains Future Civic Leaders