Meyer Memorial Trust

04/02/2026

There’s power in leadership built from lived experience. At Voz Workers' Rights Education Project, that power shapes every victory.

Organizers like Karla Castaneda, Annica Maxfield and Essly Diaz fight alongside workers every day, turning workplace challenges into movements for justice. But the real heroes? The clients themselves: workers who step forward, share their stories and demand fair opportunities.

Led by immigrant workers, Voz organizers and their Day Laborer Committee have stood shoulder‑to‑shoulder with their community to win real change:

📍Strengthening wage‑theft penalties and passing laws that protect workers from exploitation
📍Making Portland and Multnomah County Sanctuary jurisdictions that limit Police/ICE collaboration
📍Joining PCUN to build a movement in support of “A Day Without an Immigrant” which strikes up again on May 1

These wins didn’t just happen, they were built by voices that refused to be ignored.

Through democratic leadership development, workers at Voz have also raised the minimum wage at their Worker Center, improved safety and inclusivity standards, and set strategic priorities like workforce training — all decided by workers themselves.

And the momentum continues. Workers democratically chose to increase wages for all jobs dispatched through the Voz Worker Center, a powerful example of workers defining their own economic dignity.

Every campaign, every committee vote, every story shared at Voz is a reminder: justice isn’t delivered, it’s built by the people most affected.

📸 : Voz

04/01/2026

Oregon’s immigrant and refugee communities are powerful drivers of our state’s economy, culture and justice movements.

For nearly a decade, the Oregon Immigrant & Refugee Funders Collaborative (OIRFC) has invested $19M in over 200 organizations. Together with The Collins Foundation and the Oregon Community Foundation, we've supported legal defense, refugee resettlement, community organizing and leadership development. These investments amplify community expertise, build strong coalitions and strengthen protections for those who make Oregon thrive.

Our report shows what happens when philanthropy follows and fuels community-led solutions: families access legal counsel, refugees find safe homes, immigrant leaders shape policy and local coalitions hold systems accountable. These communities aren’t just surviving, they are shaping the future of Oregon.

Explore the full report and see how collective investment in community power is creating real change: https://mmt.org/our-grantmaking/what-we-fund/oregon-refugee-and-immigrant-funders-collaborative/

03/31/2026

Looking to advance your career in the nonprofit sector? Our friends at The Math Learning Center, Impact NW and Northwest Regional Education Service District are hiring! Click the links below to learn more.

The Math Learning Center: https://ow.ly/eUcx50YxMFY

Impact NW: https://ow.ly/ipIW50YxMFX

Northwest Regional Education Service District - Official: https://ow.ly/59Nn50YxMFW

03/26/2026

Across Oregon, justice is built every day — often by people working behind the scenes to keep communities safe, supported and together.

Isa Peña is one of those people.

As Director of Strategy at Innovation Law Lab, Isa helps lead rapid legal response efforts when immigration enforcement actions take place. She and her team work to ensure people have access to representation and are not quietly transferred out of state, away from their families and communities.

She brings years of leadership to this work. A longtime organizer in Oregon’s immigrant justice movement and former Interim Executive Director of Causa, Isa is also a daughter of immigrant Oregonians. Her work is deeply rooted in relationship, policy advocacy and a belief that communities closest to injustice should shape the solutions. Today, she continues that leadership as a member of the Oregon Worker Relief Executive Committee, a Tri-Chair of Oregon for All , a Justice Fellow with Seeding Justice and a 2025 Aguila Award recipient from Latino Network.

The urgency of this work is clear.

Across the country, immigration detention remains widespread. Here in Oregon, enforcement has surged in recent years, with thousands of people detained and families impacted in a matter of months.

Behind these numbers are our neighbors.

And in those moments of crisis, Isa and her colleagues show up: coordinating response, advocating for rights and working to keep families together.

That work is not only immediate, it is also shaping systems.

Through Innovation Law Lab, Isa is part of a broader effort that has:
🔹 Helped lead national litigation against policies like “Remain in Mexico” and asylum bans
🔹 Advocated to end harmful practices like Title 42 expulsions
🔹 Filed cases to stop the transfer of detained individuals away from legal support and community
🔹 Advanced due process protections through ongoing individual and class-action cases

Her work is grounded not only in response, but in possibility; in building a future where all Oregonians can live with dignity, safety and belonging.

Because advancing justice takes more than systems change. It takes people showing up, again and again, for their communities.

📸 : Innovation Law Lab

03/25/2026

After years of community effort, the Across the Bridge Monument, honoring Eugene’s founding Black families is nearing completion. This powerful new public work recognizes a community that was displaced in 1949, and whose legacy continues to shape the region today.

Before its final bronze casting, the community is invited to a first public viewing of the life-sized sculpture.

📍 Reinmuth Bronze Studio, Eugene

📅 Monday, March 30
🕛 12:00–2:00 PM

This moment is about remembrance, acknowledgment and belonging.

We’re honored to help amplify the work of the Black Cultural Initiative and the many partners who made this possible.

03/25/2026

At Meyer, how we invest matters just as much as what we fund.

We’re using our $868M endowment as a tool for justice; aligning our investments with the future we believe in.

Through our Mission-Aligned Investment Framework, we’re prioritizing:
🌱 Diverse investment managers
🌱 Sustainable & environmental solutions
🌱 Social solutions that address root causes of inequity

These aren’t just categories, they’re commitments. Commitments to shift capital, expand opportunity and invest in communities most impacted by systemic oppression.

As of 2025, more than 82% of our endowment is already aligned with this vision — and we’re on track for 100% by 2035.

Because every dollar should move us closer to a more just and equitable world.

Learn more about our investments approach today: https://mmt.org/our-investments/

03/24/2026

📣 Have something real to share about building community power?

Neighborhood Partnerships is now accepting session proposals for RE:Conference — and they’re looking for organizers, artists and community members who are building an inclusive future.

This year’s theme, RE:Focus on Community, is all about strengthening collaboration and learning from the models already taking root in our communities.

If you’re developing tools, testing solutions or organizing for housing, racial and economic justice — your voice belongs in this space.

Submit your proposal by April 9.

We want to hear from you!RE:Conference brings together organizers, practitioners, policy advocates, front-line staff, and community members working at the intersection of racial, economic, and housing justice. This year, we're inviting session proposals that help us RE:Focus on what it takes to buil...

03/17/2026

Flags will fly at half mast today in honor of Senator Avel Gordly, a steadfast advocate for racial justice and the first Black woman to serve in the Oregon senate. Born and raised in Portland, Gordly was a champion for the community she came from.

She worked with prominent civil rights organizations, such as the Black United Fund of Oregon and Urban League of Portland, ensuring access to cultural resources and knowledge reached those most impacted. She applied those principles while serving in the legislature, introducing the Task Force on Racial and Ethnic Health and the Task Force on Environmental Justice, which impacts we still benefit from today.

Gordly will not only be remembered for the many contributions she bestowed upon Oregonians, but also her unwavering vision for an inclusive and representational democracy. May we continue to honor her innovative spirit as we fight for our collective future.

03/11/2026

Want to amplify your mission to reach new listeners? We’re excited to share an opportunity for Meyer grantee partners to highlight your work through Community Voices, an award-winning public service series from Portland Radio Project (PRP).

Each episode features a 10–20 minute conversation with a local nonprofit, focused on your mission, impact and an upcoming event or community initiative. Segments air on 99.1 FM, stream online and are shared back with participating organizations for use in your own outreach and promotion.

There is no cost to participate. If your organization has an upcoming event, milestone or story you’d like to lift up, let us know by emailing [email protected] with the subject line “PRP Opportunity.” Meyer will help make introductions to the PRP team, who will take it from there.

03/07/2026

Six years ago today, artist and cultural organizer, Sharita Towne, launched A Black Art Ecology of Portland (BAEP): a living, breathing ecosystem expanding the landscape of Black creativity across the region.

The initiative cultivates networks of creative care between artists, cultural workers, partner organizations and direct service providers. Now embedded within Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA), BAEP supports the creation of art in new and existing spaces. From affordable housing communities to neighborhood cultural hubs and site-responsive public art projects, the organization imbues Oregon with Black healing, justice and belonging.

As an artist-organizer, Towne sees Black collectivity as a creative form — one that reshapes the city itself. Holding space for Black art, joy and liberation means investing in a shared vision of place rooted in connection and mutual care. It’s about imagining a city where culture grows through collaboration, where creative practice strengthens relationships and where the collective “we” becomes the foundation for new possibilities.

“We’re here to impact an entire ecology of Black art, Black memory, Black prosperity and Black imaginary,” Towne says.

This Spring’s offerings beautifully reflect that spirit:

Community members can find release and connection on the dance floor through monthly gatherings hosted by Akela of BASS PDX — a reminder that movement and celebration are longstanding traditions of resilience and joy.

They are also invited to come to the Marginalia Literacy Lab, a project led by Ella Ray that transforms BAEP’s new space “whole time” into a site for forging kinship through a daily practice of reading.

Meanwhile, the collaborative project Seed to Quilt: Beloved Fragments, stewarded by Bridgette Hickey, brings together artists and Black-stewarded farms to grow plants used for natural dyes. Through workshops and shared learning, participants explore organic dye arts, quilting and the intergenerational knowledge embedded in craft traditions.

BAEP also continues to nurture performing artists. Dancer and choreographer Britan Morris and Motionz Dance have been developing new work through rehearsal space and neighborhood partnerships, culminating in an upcoming performance this spring at the Alberta Abbey.

Set to open March 13, Portland-born multidisciplinary artist Samara Andre’s newest exhibition, Everything I Am Has Already Happened, invites viewers into a deeply personal exploration of Blackness and being.

These paintings not only engage with the unfolding history of a first-gen Haitian, they speak to the ongoing journey of an artist and cultural producer, through layers of personal symbology and visual storytelling.

To learn more and get involved, reach out to [email protected].

03/07/2026

Six years ago today, artist and cultural organizer, Sharita Towne, launched A Black Art Ecology of Portland (BAEP): a living, breathing ecosystem expanding the landscape of Black creativity across the region.

The initiative cultivates networks of creative care between artists, cultural workers, partner organizations and direct service providers. Now embedded within , BAEP supports the creation of art in new and existing spaces. From affordable housing communities to site-responsive public art projects, the organization imbues Oregon with Black healing, justice + belonging.

“We’re here to impact an entire ecology of Black art, Black memory, Black prosperity + Black imaginary,” Towne said.

This Spring’s offerings beautifully reflect that spirit:

Community members can find release + connection on the dance floor through monthly gatherings hosted by Akela of .pdx — a reminder that movement and celebration are longstanding traditions of resilience and joy.

You are also invited to come to the , a project led by Ella Ray that transforms BAEP’s new space “whole time” into a site for forging kinship through a daily practice of reading.

Meanwhile, the collaborative project , stewarded by Bridgette Hickey, brings together artists and Black-stewarded farms to grow plants used for natural dyes. Through workshops and shared learning, participants explore organic dye arts, quilting + the intergenerational knowledge embedded in craft traditions.

BAEP also continues to nurture performing artists. Dancer + choreographer Britan Morris and have been developing new work through rehearsal space + neighborhood partnerships, culminating in an upcoming performance this spring @ the Alberta Abbey.

Set to open March 13, Portland-born multidisciplinary artist Samara Andre’s () newest exhibition, Everything I Am Has Already Happened, invites viewers into a deeply personal exploration of Blackness + being.

These paintings not only engage with the unfolding history of a first-gen Haitian, they speak to the ongoing journey of an artist + cultural producer, through layers of personal symbology and visual storytelling.