Meyer Memorial Trust

06/12/2026

Meet Albina Music Trust , our newest neighbor at The Center for Just Futures.

What began as a search for Portland’s Black musical history has grown into a living archive of 15,000+ photographs, recordings, oral histories and cultural artifacts.

But AMT’s work is about more than preserving the past — it’s about connection. Through music, storytelling and community, they are carrying Albina’s cultural legacy forward.

Experience those stories yourself at Soul Walk North on June 14. Walk the neighborhood. Hear the voices. Discover the memories that continue to shape Albina.

🎧 Learn more at the link in our bio.

Thank you to AMT for allowing us to share this song. Vocal performance by Time Sound Legacy Ensemble: Arietta Ward, LaRhonda Steele, MaryEtta Callier and Nafisaria Mathews. Song: Kingdom of God” by Arietta and Nafisaria’s mother, Janice Scroggins.

05/28/2026

Fair wages. Strong benefits. Trust-based funding. Survivor-centered accountability. Language justice.

These are the building blocks for a movement that can actually win.

All Due Respect's latest resource, "No Future Without Us," outlines what immigration organizers need not just to endure, but to build lasting change — and calls on funders, organizations and leaders to meet this moment with deeper investment and shared responsibility.

allduerespectproject.org/immigration

05/26/2026

“The truth is that if we want a stronger and more representative democracy, our collective responsibility can’t end with our ballots,” Erin Kothari, Oregon Futures Lab executive director, writes in The Oregonian.

Drawing on findings from their latest report, The Leading Curve, Kothari underscores that supporting leaders of color means investing in them long after Election Day. They need resources, backing and community care needed not just to win, but to lead boldly and sustainably.

Letters to the Editor can be submitted to [email protected] with full name and place of residence.

05/26/2026

In the midst of turmoil, companionship can do more than ground us — it can change the course of a life.

When Chad Brown connected with his service dog, Axe, he found both stability and purpose. With Axe helping monitor his PTSD, Brown felt empowered to launch Love is King, a nonprofit connecting youth, veterans and Indigenous communities to the healing power of nature.

Now, Brown and Axe’s story is reaching even more people through Oprah Winfrey's series, "Life is Better with Dogs." Congratulations to Brown on this well-deserved feature and for showing what healing, trust and community can make possible!

The Oprah Podcast Presents: “Life is Better With Dogs” Episode 1: C...

05/25/2026

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05/21/2026

One side is building cages. The other is fighting for people’s freedom. This year-long investigative story from Bloomberg follows Innovation Law Lab, the Portland-based legal team taking on the largest immigration detention system in modern history.

Bloomberg Investigates spent a year following a group of lawyers as...

05/20/2026

In the Coquille Tribe, nation building begins at home — around kitchen tables, in shared stories and in the values passed from one generation to the next. Meet a family whose deep connection to culture, community and each other is shaping the future. https://mmt.org/news/on-building-a-nation/

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/