Board of Directors
Board Member
Eddy Morales
Eddy (he/him) has grown up in Oregon since age 6. He attended the University of Oregon. He has served as Vice President and President of the United States Student Association (USSA) giving voice to students across the country in the White House, Congress, and the Department of Education. A small business owner and community organizer, Eddy spent the last 18 years working for multiple national organizations dedicated to community change. His work proved successful, allowing him to collaborate with policymakers from around the country and give back to the community that has given him so much. In November 2018, Eddy was elected to a four-year term for Gresham City Council Position 2 and sworn into office on January 8, 2019.
Board Member
Gayle Palmer
Gayle (she/her) is an East Portland resident and civic activist currently pursuing community engagement at the neighborhood level. Gayle is a Board Member of the Centennial Community Association and is a member of the East Portland Action Plan committee, where she focuses on Economic Development and Operations Sub-Committee assignments. Since moving to Oregon in 2014, as a retired Librarian and Digital Collections Consultant, Gayle has spent her time as a free-lance grant writer and instructor in fundraising and grant writing with several regional colleges. She spends as much time as possible with her grandchildren and enjoys discovering Portland area music and food venues.
Board Chair
Jim Labbe
Jim grew up in Oregon with a life-long passion for activating municipal and regional democracy for people and the planet. He got his start serving on the Multnomah Youth Commission in 1985. Since then his work has broadly focused on community-based organizing and advocacy around natural resource conservation in Oregon. Jim has research interests and professional publications that span history, regional equity, urban forestry, and watershed science and management.
Advisors
Linn Davis (he/him) is a Program Manager at Healthy Democracy (HD). HD is best known for designing and facilitating the Citizens' Initiative Review (CIR) which convenes random, representative groups of voters to evaluate ballot measures and produce balanced, informative, and accessible voter information. Panels of everyday folks question advocates and experts, and then write a statement on the most important information for voters to know – which is typically printed in the voters' pamphlet. The Oregon legislature made the CIR an official part of the state's election process in 2011. Linn also manages HD's other process design and implementation work including emerging work in bringing random, representative policy deliberations (known as citizen juries) to the local government and high school levels. He holds a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from Portland State University and a BA in History from Grinnell College.
The amazing Amy Nguyen (she/her) currently serves as Public Space Management Program Development Supervisor, Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT). She brings an enormous depth and breadth of experience and knowledge as a public servant and a practitioner of participatory budgeting. From Spring of 2017 to Summer 2019 she served as the Civic Engagement & Leadership Development Strategic Lead for Department of Neighborhoods (DON) where she managed Seattle's participatory budgeting program. Beyond that, her experience in policy analysis, nonprofit management and community organizing spans New York City, New Orleans and Seattle. Amy served as a Legislative Aide for a Seattle City Council member and a Program Manager for Seattle-based APACE (Asian Pacific Islander Americans of Civic Empowerment). Amy received a Master's degree in Urban Policy and an undergraduate degree in Urban Studies from the New School in New York.