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Seeds of SE Uplift Volunteer Spotlight – Rachel Davies

  • by Mireaya Medina
  • February 1, 2014February 27, 2014

CKNA Board Members Getting Rachel Davies is passionate about the well-being of her neighbors, even going so far as to move to Portland because of how impressed she was with the strength of our neighborhoods. As a student she sat in on city council meetings and dedicated lots of time to volunteering. When she moved to Portland 8 years ago, she began attending Neighborhood Association meetings with her husband Darian, and was eventually elected as chair of the Creston-Kenilworth Neighborhood Association (CKNA).

We sat down with Rachel to discuss CKNA’s newly formed business committee, her experiences being a chair versus a co-chair, and how she has successfully navigated family and volunteer life.

When you joined the CKNA board in the spring of 2012, it was in a difficult transition period with very few board members. What was that experience like and what have you found to be the keys to reinvigorating and sustaining the new board?

It was exciting, actually. You guys (SE Uplift) did this fantastic outreach effort where you put flyers on every single door in our whole neighborhood, and we got some fantastic people to come out. Darian’s initial experience was during a waning period of neighbor involvement, which made it hard for him to maintain his motivation as people were disappearing. So it was great to suddenly have this group of people who were really interested in the stuff we were doing. And I think, really, that’s the key. It’s having a core group of people who enjoy working on projects together, sharing ideas, and seeing them through to completion.

Speaking of ideas and projects, which CKNA project are you most proud of?

Well, we had some successful events over the summer, which were really fun and it was gratifying to see people come and be a part of an event that we put on and organized. But I think the thing I’m most proud of is just being part of this group of people. We’ve had some people come and go, but there’s this core group of people that likes interacting with each other and creating this new energy in our neighborhood. And I think that’s what I’m most proud of – to be a part of that.

You have been both the chair and the co-chair of the CKNA board. What do you feel are the pros and cons of each arrangement?

My co-chair and I were good friends before we took on the role together, which meant we trusted each other already. If I missed something she would pick it up and if she missed something I would pick it up, and so we had this nice partnership where neither one of us felt like we had to have our fingers in every single pot. It takes a lot of energy to get things started from zero, so having somebody who I could easily work together with was enormously helpful.

I personally didn’t experience any cons. I think it was a great arrangement. The con could potentially be that if you there wasn’t a strong relationship between the co-chairs, it could be easy for one person to slack off and the other to feel like they have to pick up everything, but I didn’t experience that.

But now that we’ve gotten momentum going and I’m confident in my ability to run the meetings, it hasn’t been too overwhelming being the chair by myself. I also think it is easier if you know that there’s one person who is overseeing all of the projects going on; it maintains continuity. So I guess that’s a benefit to having a single chair.

Your whole family is involved with CKNA – your husband is a fellow board member and your kids regularly attend the meetings. Given that you have been able to successfully navigate both the world of volunteerism and family, what advice or encouragement could you offer other families out there who want, but struggle, to become involved?

You know, something that I’ve learned is that if you really want to do something, you can find a way to make it work. If you like the idea of doing something but can’t quite figure out how to make it work, then maybe it’s just not the right time. That’s always the reality of volunteer work. Not only are we helping to create the community that we want in our neighborhood – which is a powerful thing – we’re teaching our kids that it’s important to give back. And there’s no better way to teach them that than to just do it yourself.

CKNA recently started a small business committee. What was the spark for forming this committee and what are its goals?

One of our newer board members, who is a business owner himself, was really the spark for the committee. There isn’t a business association in our neighborhood. We’re in between the Clinton/Division and the Woodstock business association territories and he felt there was some real desire from the business community in our neighborhood to have something similar.

We’ve heard, and I don’t know any personal anecdotes, but we’ve heard there are neighborhoods where the neighborhood associations and business associations conflict with each other. They don’t necessarily like working with one another. But we have this blank slate where we can help get a business association started and set up a dynamic where we help them out and they help us out. We want to draw attention in the neighborhood to the businesses here. We have some really cool locally-run neighborhood shops, but they have a hard time being seen.

It seems like a great area to start talking with businesses and spread the word. 

And we have. We’ve talked to several of the small business owners and even Hopworks, which is not exactly small [laughs]. And it takes a little while to get momentum. Once you have a few people attending, then it’s easier for other people to say, “OK I’m going to come join.” So we’re still on the small snowball and we’re waiting to get on the big snowball. But it’s a really cool group of people because they all have different goals for the group, but they’re all perfectly legitimate. Some of the smaller shops just want to have a place where they can come and hang out with other business owners, share ideas, share problems, brainstorm things; not feel so isolated. And then there are others who have been around a long time and are very well established as a business, but they want to be more involved with the community, and so they’re looking for ways to branch out locally. It’s the most effective way to build your business clientele – within your neighborhood.

By: Jay Derderian

Tags:Creston-Kenilworth Neighborhood AssociationSeeds of SE Uplift

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Matchu Williams

Matchu feels fortunate to work with the community in advancing the SE Uplift mission of collaborating to build informed, inclusive, and participatory neighborhoods that support our social and ecological well-being. He looks forward to assisting neighborhood and partnering with the community in building capacity in building equity in their programs for civic engagement.

Matchu holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a focus on Women, Gender, and Sexuality studies and Criminal Justice. You may know Matchu from the SE Uplift Board of Directors where he was recently Vice Chair. He brings a wealth of community engagement to SE Uplift having previously served as Chair of Mt. Scott Arleta Neighborhood Association, BikeLoud Memorial Events Coordinator, Arleta Triangle Project Planning Committee, South East in Active Motion Co-Chair, and has volunteered with many groups including Urban Gleaners, Sisters of the Road, SOLVE, Transition Projects, Food Not Bombs, Humane Society of SW Washington, and more.

On his days off he dreams of the next bikepacking (biking + camping) trip. Last year he bikepacked the San Juan Islands and campgrounds in the Cascades. When in town he enjoys cycling, seeing movies on the big screen at the historic Hollywood Theatre, and enjoying food at Portland Mercado with friends.

Matchu is the SE Uplift Liaison for the following neighborhoods: Creston-Kenilworth, Kerns, South Tabor, Foster-Powell, Mt. Scott-Arleta, and Sunnyside.

Leah Fisher

Leah is the SE Uplift Neighborhood Planning Program Manager, and serves as the main point of contact for community members wanting to communicate about Portland’s land use and transportation planning policy and processes. Leah supports SE Uplift’s Land Use and Transportation Committee which meets monthly and represents perspectives of volunteers from each of our twenty neighborhood associations as well as several business associations. Another part of Leah’s multifaceted role is supporting several neighborhood associations.

Leah holds a Master’s degree in Public Health and a Bachelor’s degree in City and Regional Planning, Minor in Economics. She has worked for state and local government, and is a LEED accredited Professional (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).

On any given day, Leah can be found working in her yard or garden, relaxing on the porch with her 2 daughters, playing soccer, jogging, or walking through her Southeast Portland neighborhood.

Leah is the SE Uplift Liaison for the following neighborhoods: Reed, North Tabor, Montavilla, Woodstock, and Brooklyn.

Leroy Eadie

Leroy is the Executive Director for SE Uplift.

He has the wonderful opportunity to work with an outstanding staff and Board to carry out the mission of SE Uplift. He feels very lucky to get to work in such a great community and is excited to his best to make a difference.

Leroy has a bachelors in Urban and Regional Planning from Eastern Washington University. His background has been mostly in local government – working for 25 years for the City of Spokane. Leroy worked for 15 years in the Planning Department and for 10 years as the Parks and Recreation Director.

He loves to be outside on his time off. His favorite outdoor activity is backpacking – in the last five years or so he has been working to complete the Washington Section of the Pacific Crest Trail. He and his wife also love camping in their tear drop trailer with their two dogs Frisky and Charlie.

Leroy is the SE Uplift Liaison for the following neighborhoods: Richmond, Eastmoreland, and HAND.

Paola De La Cruz

Paola is the Communications & Outreach Manager for SE Uplift. Paola’s professional background lies in design and community advocacy. She has worked with non-profits from Boston, MA to the Portland metro area, to campaign for equity and inclusivity.

Paola received a BFA in Illustration under Communication Design. She looks to merge illustration and design with community organizing to bring SE neighbors together.

On her free time, Paola is painting ethereal, powerful women or putting on a 90s R&B concert for her small dog.

Paola is the SE Uplift Liaison for the following neighborhoods: Buckman, Mt. Tabor, SMILE, Laurelhurst, Brentwood-Darlington, and Ardenwald Johnson Creek.

Eaen Goss

Eaen provides administrative support to the SE Uplift staff and the communities of SE Portland. They’re excited to work to ensure that community involvement is possible for anyone who wants to take part and are invested in creating a community where everyone (especially BIPOC, queer, disabled, and poor folks) has the access and agency to shape their lives and the place they call home.

Eaen’s professional background is in higher education administration and non-profit administration. They received a communications degree from Southern Oregon University in 2014 as well as a Master of Education degree in Student Development Administration from Seattle University in 2016. Their initial goal was to pursue college access work after graduation, but their plans changed when they were drawn to disability justice organizing outside the sphere of higher education.

On days off, Eaen is likely spending time with their partner and dog, a 13-year old rescue Chihuahua. They also enjoy doing art and working with different community groups in the Portland-area. Eaen is currently collaborating on forming a community care project for disabled folks in PDX and spends any remaining free time on that.