Our Vision
Everyone can be a writer and benefit from and contribute to their community through the literary arts.
Writing is a powerful tool for individual and societal transformation, self-expression, healing and the realization of the dignity of one’s self and others.
Writing and sharing stories helps us access our common humanity and connects individuals and groups who are often separated by age, race, income level, gender, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, health status, education level and the geographic and social boundaries of neighborhoods.
In any life, especially one lived in poverty or isolation, there is a vital need for art, community and joy.
Our commitment to equity
Write Around Portland is committed to understanding and changing historical legacies of inequity and patterns of oppression, especially as applied to communities of color. We recognize that working towards equity requires active investments in changing structures and practices to be more culturally responsive. We are committed to advancing racial equity as a foundational element of all aspects of our work, which we believe will also inform our work addressing other inequities in our organization and our community. Read our Racial Equity Assessment Report and our Racial Equity Framework that staff and board use in decision-making as we strive to embed anti-racist practices within our organization, the nonprofit sector and the places where we operate.
Our History
Write Around Portland was founded in 1999 by Liza Halley and Ben Moorad. Since then, we have held 600+ writing workshops for 5,000+ adults and young people, more than 75% of whom live below the federal poverty level. We have published 50+ anthologies, partnered with 200+ community organizations and trained 300+ volunteer workshop facilitators.
Our Diversity Statement
Diversity is a fundamental part of Write Around Portland’s value system and is essential to our ability to develop and deliver programming that is consistent with and supports our mission to change lives through the power of writing.
We believe that diversity is a strength that makes our workshops, anthologies and readings rich and reflective of our greater community.
We are intentional in our recruitment, support and inclusion of diverse people throughout our organization, including our board members, staff, volunteers, workshop participants and agency partners.
We value diversity in all its forms and work to create meaningful and respectful connections among people of different socioeconomic levels, races, ages, ethnicities, nationalities, genders, sexual orientations, health statuses, physical and mental abilities, education levels, religions and backgrounds.
We continually work to cultivate an environment and organizational culture in which all who are involved in our organization feel respected, included and valued. Our commitment to inclusiveness will be evident in our organizational policies and procedures, as part of our strategic plan, within our organizational goals and throughout our programs.
Other Information
Job Opportunities
No current openings
Staff
Chris McDonald (he/him)
Executive Director
Sarah Weller (she/her)
Program Director
Will Preston (he/him)
Development Manager
Lilly Do (she/her)
Operations Coordinator
Elisabeth Geier (she/her)
Volunteer Coordinator
Leah Middleton (she/they)
Development & Engagement Coordinator
Board
Chenoa Philabaum (she/her)
Co-Chair
City of Portland
Kate Rood (she/her)
Co-Chair
Toptal
Sara Guest (she/her)
Secretary
Multnomah County
Amanda Gonser (she/her)
Treasurer
PagerDuty
Kelsey Allen (she/her)
Meals on Wheels People
Precious Bugarin (she/her)
Mercy Corps
Alex Larralde (she/her)
Betterworks
Michael Montoya (he/him)
City of Portland
Marisol Tawadros (she/her)
Nike
Reggie Wideman (he/him)
Lytics
Resource Council
Liza Halley
Co-Founder, Write Around Portland
Ben Moorad
Co-Founder, Write Around Portland
Robyn Steely
Write Around Portland Executive Director 2005 – 2015
Miriam Sontz
Former CEO, Powell’s Books
Dave Eggers
Author, Editor of McSweeney’s, Founder, 826 Valencia
Jeana Edelman
Owner, HOTLIPS Pizza + Soda
Holly MacArthur
Founding Director, Tin House
Paul Lipscomb
Principal, Options Consulting
Jennifer Allen
Program Officer, James F & Marion L Miller Foundation; Former Write Around Portland Board Chair