IMAGINE

A community where there is trust and confidence in the decisions made. Communities needs are discussed openly and freely together with local government officials. Imagine how honest discussions could be, when all parties begin with sharing their interest in the subject matter, the impacts the decisions have, and whether their advocacy is tied to financial gain. Imagine the increased engagement and strong decisions we could make, if all communities felt welcome and supported in their participation, especially the communities who have been historically disadvantaged and underrepresented in government.

What can YOU imagine? 

Are you a staff liaison to an advisory body, such as a Budget Advisory Committee? Liaisons play an important role to convene impacted communities around important city decisions, a process that allows us as government to adapt and share outcomes.

APPLICATIONS IN ONE SPOT

Seeking Diverse Perspectives? Our Greater Impact Together.

Generating interest for your community advisory committee is easy now that Community members have one location to find all volunteer advisory body opportunities. When all offices share a recruitment webpage, much like job announcements, traffic from one posting compounds as more positions are added. We’ve noticed an uptick in broader community perspectives applying for multiple committees thanks to the power of our collective recruitments. Potential volunteers can visit https://www.portlandoregon.gov/civic/Apply, and staff can request postings by using the web posting template located in the employee resources webpage. Login to access this resource at https://www.portlandoregon.gov/civic/StaffOnly.

More about our Advisory Bodies Program

The Advisory Bodies program emerged from a 2017 council policy to support equitable, transparent and accountable city decision making.

Visit our Advisory Bodies Program page for recruitment and resources for your City Boards, Committees, and Commissions.

For 2019, program Management Analyst Ashley Tjaden has her sights set on these areas:

• Capacitate bureau liaisons citywide to create and run successful advisory bodies.
• Strategically engage communities equitably
• Resource libraries for staff and volunteers