I’m often approached by acquaintances who ask me, “How in the world can you keep at this all the time? Where do you get the energy, find the hope to slog through the highs and lows of this kind of work?” I’m pretty sure they’re really asking, “Why aren’t you doing something simpler, easier […]
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Last fall, when I was the brand-new Executive Director of MRG, my first road trip took me from Portland to Southern Oregon and I wrote about my experience. I’ve now been on the job nearly one year, which made my second trip down the road so pleasing. Everywhere I ventured, I was struck by the consistent […]
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Recently, I re-read an April interview between Applied Research Center’s wonderful, incisive President, Rinku Sen, and provocative progressive thinker, Van Jones. The interview followed by a few days the publication of Van’s newest book, Rebuild the Dream which debuted on the anniversary of MLK’s assassination; a date that holds special significance for Van because, as […]
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Recently, I had the pleasure of sitting with a great group of community members to talk about justice. At the latest MRG Justice Social my daughter and I spoke together, for the first time publicly, about our mutual and different perspectives on what it’s meant to live our lives honed by a multigenerational quest for […]
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I’m excited to have ‘crossed over’ from an incredible year of exciting change, transition and settling in! Now, a few weeks into the new year, I’m in a reflective mood, and find myself frequently looking back over so many amazing, humbling, and educational moments in 2011. I have hopes for increasing our movement for social […]
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For years, as a donor to MRG and an activist in philanthropy, I’ve seen the grant announcements come from MRG Foundation. It has always been a lot of groups, (this month we announced 22 grants): some that I knew, some that I didn’t. Some in Portland, others in towns I hadn’t heard of. I knew […]
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I’ve returned from another road trip with my colleague Sheryl Sackman, this time we traveled to Southern Oregon. Our trip offered a chance to connect with MRG supporters — many of whom have been with MRG for a long time — and I witnessed the work of several of MRG’s former and current grantees, some […]
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(Guest post by MRG board member Shizuko Hashimoto.) For the last two weeks, I have lived, breathed, and Facebooked Occupy Portland. On October 6, I left work and arrived in Chapman and Lownsdale Squares in downtown Portland. This was ground zero of the new Occupy Portland movement and I was eager to see what was […]
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I’ve been riveted by Occupy Wall Street taking over the news, and excited that it has spawned supportive local efforts across the country. There’s something wonderful when regular people – our families, co-workers, friends, neighbors – come together to organize in the moment based on shared values. I headed downtown to walk into Occupy Portland, […]
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