Our Mission
We work for more participatory and just public budgeting for all Oregonians by centering the expertise and leadership of underrepresented communities.
Vision and
Values
We envision Oregon as a multicultural and multiracial participatory democracy that centers marginalized communities so that all of the state’s people know their power.
Equity and inclusion, with an emphasis on racial justice
Community-based and human-centered approaches
Stewardship of people and place
Transparency and accountability
Collaboration and learning together
Fun & play as a means for more inclusive and participatory democracy
Our History
Participatory Budgeting Oregon formed in 2018 after cohosting a Community Forum to explore bringing participatory budgeting (PB) to the Portland-metro Region. Conversations with national PB experts and local community leaders identified the need for a statewide organization to educate, organize and support launching and implementing PB grounded in the Forum's recommendations and our Theory of Change.
Since our inception, we have prioritized building an organization and a team that values collaboration, participatory decision making, transparency, accountability, strong interpersonal relationships in and reflective practice. We center on equity, justice and inclusion with an emphasis on the racial and class barriers to participatory democracy. We recognize that a truly liberatory democracy must both heal the traumas of the past with and through participatory mechanisms that redistribute power in the present.
We operate with the methods of sociocracy, popular education, and participatory democracy. We combine our passion and knowledge of PB with our love of the land and connections to our communities. We see PB as a tool to create a vibrant mulit-racial democracy that engages and represents the full diversity of the people, their priorities and collective potential.
Since 2018 through our accomplishments, we have helped raised over $5 million in public funds to be allocated by PB in Oregon.
PB Oregon is an Oregon-incorporated tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization.