Hello Participants and Alumni,

I met with Graham Covington at Minds Matter of Portland recently and he is looking for mentors. I felt like this might be a good fit for some of you so if you are interested, their contact information is below.

Young Professionals Needed to Make College a Reality for Portland Area’s Bright, Motivated, Financially-Disadvantaged High School Students

Portland’s Minds Matter students are studying at schools like Columbia University, Georgetown University, Smith College, and Dartmouth’s Rassias School in France. With graduation from these prestigious summer programs, these talented Portland Public School sophomores, juniors, and seniors have a strong shot at acceptance into top notch colleges and universities. They’ll owe their journeys (and their futures) to the dedicated college graduates and Portland area professionals who served as their mentors at Minds Matter. We are proud to refer you to our most recent newsletter, which highlights Minds Matter of Portland, Inc.’s first graduating senior class, and the colleges to which they are headed.

Going into its fourth year, Minds Matter continues to seek young, college educated Portland professionals to mentor bright, financially disadvantaged high school students who will gain the life skills and experiences needed to be accepted into competitive summer prep programs and colleges. Each student is matched with two mentors, who meet with the student on Saturdays during the school year from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm at Self Enhancement, Inc.

Minds Matter of Portland, Inc. starts its 2009-2010 school year with 52 students from 16 different high schools from the Portland Metropolitan area. All of these students competed for consideration and were recommended to Minds Matter by their counselors and teachers. These students need your assistance and perspective to leverage their potential and expand their horizons.

Whether it’s helping students prepare for the SATs, attending a West Side Story performance at Portland Center Stage or dropping a mentee off at the airport on his or her way to a summer college program at Smith, Columbia, UC Berkeley, Stanford, Minds Matter mentors are changing the lives of Portland’s high school students, while truly enhancing their own.

To become a mentor, please contact us for an application via email at turid.owren@tonkon.com or Melissa Swenson at Melissa.Swenson@pgn.com (All mentors must pass a background check.). For more information on Minds Matter, please visit www.mindsmatter.org/portland, or contact Minds Matter’s Executive Director, Graham Covington, at Portland@mindsmatter.org, 503-201-7325.

The class of 2010 recently had our second program day—Power, Influence and Leadership. Despite having our ranks thinned by the flu, we came back to the table ready to learn. I’m beginning to suspect that the whirlwind of activities, panels and walking tours will be the norm rather than the exception. I’m not complaining, and I doubt others are either.

Our very full day included:

• A lecture on the history of Portland’s power players by preeminent local historian Chet Orloff,
• Tours of the KGW Studio on the Square and downtown, and
• A panel with media specialists and another with senior staff from two of Portland’s leading public agencies (TriMet and the Port of Portland).

With more than half of our class being imports to Portland, the lesson on the history of the community was particularly helpful in understanding the context for what made Portland successful in the first place, and provides clues about how we can apply the lessons of the past to our future.  On this, of all days, I suspect that we each walked away with different ideas about the most valuable thing we learned.

For me, the day’s core takeaway was related to the time it takes to move a plan from its early stages to full fruition. In 1904, the Olmsted brothers designed a plan for Portland’s parks. More than 100 years later, that plan is just coming to its full realization. While not everything takes that long, it was a ringing reminder that leadership means coming to the table and planning for the future you want to see, even if you might never see the full impact of your work.

I recieved an email from our own Don Krahmer that I thought might be nice to share with all the Leadership Portland Alumni. Wine tasting in the middle of a work day…sounds like fun, sign me up!

Some of you may know that a number of Leadership Portland alums and current class members are involved in The Connector Project, which proposes to use a unique scientific survey to study connections in Clark, Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties. By doing so, the Project will identify ways to recognize and facilitate the work of Connectors, creating collaboration in our community where there was previously none. The Connector Project board has been working hard for the last year raising money to complete this important project.

The project group is hosting a wine tasting fundraiser event next week.  At the event, you can learn more about this innovative project, catch up with some LP alums and get connected with others in the region.  Event details are below.

Date: Thursday November 12, 2009
Time: Bus departs at 11:00 a.m.Bus returns at 6:00 p.m.
Pick-Up / Drop-Off Location: In front of Keller Auditorium
Visit select Dundee, OR wineries

Cost: $100 (Cost includes transportation, tasting fees, snacks and picnic lunch)

Please make checks out to “OCF – Connector Project”
Payment can be mailed to: P.O. Box 19392 Portland, OR 97280

For more information visit us here: http://connectorprojectportland.com/

Questions about event to: Jeremy Solly, jdsolly@gmail.com

“Keep your feet under the table,” advised Michael Schrunk, Multnomah County District Attorney, in his report during the Leadership Portland Law, Justice & Safety program day. Grammatically, it was a declarative statement. But it was meant as an invitation to engage in the hard conversations necessary to find solutions to challenges facing Portland.

Our schedule for the day was ambitious. It began with a testimony from Rosie Sizer, Chief of Portland Police Bureau. It continued with shadowing a Clean and Safe Officer, witnessing a live courtroom proceedings, touring the county jail, and hearing from a panel of knowledgeable professionals regarding issues facing criminal offenders dealing with substance abuse.

At the end of the day, we were asked what our reactions were to the day’s events, and what we were willing to do with our learnings. For example, what can be done to ease reintegration into society for inmates in the county jail? What can we do for youth today that will prevent future prolonged stays in the county detention center? How can the city provide dignified housing for all when housing, and funding for housing, is scarce? Which programs are necessary to bridge the gap for an individual exiting jail and re-entering society?

The program day was an opportunity to get a read on Portland’s legal/social barometer – it exposed some of the issues compromising Portland’s good standing as a safe, and vibrant, city. Fortunately, many of us in the Leadership Portland Class of 2010 will pursue opportunities to creatively remedy these issues with a fervor and belief that solutions are possible, and worth the effort.

We’re on it.

The Dragon beckons…the Green Dragon that is. Join us in the beer garden this Thursday for happy hour and toast to a bold summer! 928 SE 9th is the grid square…be there at 5:30 ish. See you there!