Civil Rights Title VI and Equity Manager

503.823.2595 danielle.brooks@portlandoregon.gov

Born and raised in Portland, Danielle has a lifelong interest in racial and social justice issues, including understanding how inequitable outcomes may arise from institutionalized racism and discrimination in policy, process, and program design and implementation. She has been involved personally, academically, and professionally in antidiscrimination work for nearly 15 years. Equity and social justice are more than a vocation for her, they are an avocation, a core value, life lens, and the issue that permanently drives her– keeping her dedicated and diligent.

She joined the City of Portland in 2007 initially as a Community Service Aide in the Office of Management and Finance (OMF), where she staffed the OMF Diversity committee and worked on workforce equity issues related to outreach, hiring, retention, and employee cultural competency. She was hired in 2008 to design, plan, implement, and evaluate the Civil Rights Title VI and Americans with Disabilities Act Title II Programs for the City. She served as program coordinator for over 4 years.

After a year away to work on environmental justice issues in Maui, Danielle was rehired to her former position and served as the Civil Rights Title VI and ADA Title II Manager, housed in the Office of Equity and Human Rights. With a strong racial justice background, Danielle focuses on the intent of Civil Rights laws and administration taking an equity and justice approach to Civil Rights compliance. According to Danielle, “When you prioritize and promote equity, you are doing good civil rights work, and vice versa.” While a holistic approach is necessary, Danielle focuses on how to redevelop City infrastructure and operations to dismantle institutional discrimination, eliminate disparities, produce equitable impacts and outcomes, and provide access. In 2018, the Civil Rights division successfully expanded and Danielle assumed the specific role of Civil Rights Title VI and Racial Equity Manager. 

Danielle has served as member of the Technical Advisory Group on Equity and Civic Engagement for the Portland Plan and on the Creation Committee for the Office of Equity and Human Rights. She has participated as a founding member in the Partnership for Racial Equity, a working group convened by the Urban League of Portland to create a Racial Equity Strategy Guide for public agencies. She has presented her work on approaching Civil Rights compliance through quality Equity and Social Justice Work at a variety of public forums and conferences, including the City’s own Northwest Diversity Conference.

Danielle holds a BA in Political Science with Minors in History and Sociology from Linfield College, focusing on race, racism, inequity, institutional discrimination, and public policy development in a variety of areas including criminal justice, education, workforce development, government and public services, and public operations and administration. She received her Masters of Arts in Public Policy from the University of Washington, where her emphasis again was on antidiscrimination and antiracism policy development.