Culture Change

Hello! We are grateful to be in community with you toward racial justice. We hope this information will help you lift up the experiences and voices of Portland’s communities of color to build a better community for all.

A commitment to culture change provides your workplace with the skills to address racism. This can mean many things, among them:

• Training to create shared understanding and language surrounding oppression

• Examining how your business can help to mitigate the impacts of racism

• Gaining tools to support employees to change organizational culture and center racial equity

The systemic inequities caused by racism have given economic advantages to white people since the first contact with indigenous peoples in the Americas. These privileges have stacked up over many generations, creating significant and enduring disparities in wealth and economic stability for communities of color. While our Portland community includes many People of Color who are financially stable, thriving, and contributing to the health of our economy, we must collectively address the inequities that continue for all who have experienced racism and discrimination in our city.

This work requires ongoing commitment. The following road map offers best practices to help you find your way, ground you in core elements, and move from caring to doing. We built this content with people who have deep experience in this work. We listened to businesses and organizations. We thought about preventing harm. It’s not perfect and that’s okay! This is a living guide that will change over time as we learn. We are sharing what we know, hoping that it will assist you in creating greater racial equity.