Thank You & Farewell to See Eun Kim

At the end of January, the Coalition of Communities of Color said thank you and farewell to our Leadership Development and Training Director, See Eun Kim, as she moves on to an exciting position as the Director of Executive Appointments at the Governor’s Office.

When CCC first initiated the Bridges Leadership Program in 2011, the goal was to advance racial equity in Oregon through a stronger pipeline of leaders of color with more development opportunities, a denser network of connections linking leaders of color to each other, and ultimately the dismantling of structural racism. As CCC has continued to strive toward this goal, we have made immeasurable progress, with over 500 alumni who are leading and driving systems change at the local and state level.

"During her time at CCC, See Eun laid the groundwork to launch the Bridges program into its second decade. We are thrilled that she will be continuing her work in bringing new leaders to state boards and commissions, and building equitable systems to support these leaders," said CCC Executive Director Marcus Mundy. "See Eun has been an asset to the Coalition and we thank her for her many contributions within CCC and to our member organizations."

“I am grateful for the relationships that were built, and I appreciate the good work we got to do in elevating BIPOC communities and issues that affect us all. During a time when we faced unprecedented challenges in our state and nation, I witnessed the resiliency of our communities and the power of unity. While at CCC I dedicated myself to ensure that the voices of underrepresented communities were heard, valued, and interwoven into the decision-making process,” See Eun reflects.

“In my next role as the Director of Executive Appointments at the Governor’s Office, I am eager to bring this same commitment to advancing racial equity. My first day will be on February 9th, 2021. I look forward to being in touch and partnering with you to create a more representative and equitable Oregon.”

Thank you again See Eun—we are so excited to work with you in your new role.

Community Organizations Call for Mark Shull's Resignation

Community Letter Calling for Clackamas County Commissioner Mark Shull’s Resignation

 January 27, 2021

We, the undersigned organizations, unequivocally condemn Clackamas County Commissioner Mark Shull’s statements concerning Muslims, Black people, immigrants and refugees, transgender individuals, and others, and demand his immediate resignation. Since these comments have come to light, Shull has reinforced his previous hateful and degrading statements, undermined his purported attempts at apology toward the Muslim community, and remained silent on his hateful statements targeting trans individuals.

Shull’s previous statements were so deeply problematic that they alone rendered Shull unfit to serve as a commissioner. And since these statements have come to light, Shull has repeatedly demonstrated that he maintains these views through public statements and to his constituents, and at his core remains unapologetic.

At a meeting of the Board of Commissioners, Shull continued his tirade against Muslims and unabashedly repeated hateful and Islamophobic lies. He has been silent on the hateful comments toward the trans community that denied their basic dignity. He has failed to account for his degrading comments toward other marginalized groups. And at the very press conference where he claimed to apologize, he stated that “All lives matter,” a fundamental refutation that Black lives do indeed matter. 

Dozens of organizations, community leaders, and elected officials from across the political spectrum—including all of his fellow County Commissioners—have done the right thing and rejected hate by calling for his resignation, as have thousands of community members. 

For the dignity, safety, and wellbeing of thousands of Clackamas County residents, there is no time to go through any further attempts at reconciliation or apologies. Shull is a sitting commissioner who will regularly vote on ordinances and policies that impact the communities he has repeatedly dehumanized. Shull is not entitled to this seat and is completely unfit to serve, and if his wishes are for genuine reconciliation, he must resign to prevent additional harm.

Shull is absolutely unfit to serve in office and must resign immediately. We call upon all members of our community to be in solidarity and join us in this demand.

Oregon Food Bank

Oregon Futures Lab

Oregon League of Conservation Voters

Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility

Oregon Working Families Party

Our Oregon

PCUN

Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon

Portland Business Alliance

Peace & Social Concerns Committee of the Multnomah Friends Meeting (Quaker)

Self Enhancement, Inc.

SEIU Local 49

Stand.earth

UFCW Local 555

Unite Oregon

Urban League of Portland

Verde

List of Signatories:

Africa House

APANO

Asian Family Center

Basic Rights Oregon

Coalition of Communities of Color

Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon

Forward Together

Hacienda CDC

Human Access Project

Imagine Black

Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO)

KairosPDX

Latino Network

NARAL Pro-Choice Oregon

Native American Youth and Family Center

New Oregon Movement

Next Up & Next Up Action Fund

Oregon Education Association

If you would like to add your organization to this letter, please complete this form.

Announcing Our 2021 Legislative Agenda

The 2021 legislative session has just begun, and the Coalition of Communities of Color is proud to release our priority legislative agenda. Every session, CCC engages throughout the legislative process to pass bills that increase opportunity and advance racial justice for communities of color.

As we continue respond to the pandemic, we also are looking to systemic change that will create a more equitable future for all. Our agenda is made up of legislation identified by our members, who work directly with communities to build solutions that will enable Black, Indigenous, and other Oregonians of color to thrive.

Our 2021 Priority Legislation

• Supporting Families

• Community Safety

• Economic Justice

• Strengthening Democracy

• Immigrant and Refugee Justice

• Environmental Justice

We'll also be building on our work around education justice, health equity, and more. Learn more about specific legislative items on our website here, and you can also download a PDF of our agenda. We'll be adding updates and more information as the legislative session advances, as well as opportunities for community members to get involved.

Learn more about CCC’s endorsement process and what it means here. The positions on our agenda represent only the position of CCC as a coalition and not individual members. Please contact CCC's Advocacy Director, Elona Wilson, at elona@coalitioncommunitiescolor.org with questions.

CCC Statement: Call for the Resignation of Clackamas County Commissioner Mark Shull

The Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) addresses the socioeconomic disparities, institutional racism and inequity of services experienced by our families, children and communities. Our member organizations organize our communities for collective action resulting in social change to obtain self-determination, wellness, justice, and prosperity. We do this throughout Oregon, including Clackamas County, where many we serve live, work, worship, and raise their families.

The recent abhorrent, unconscionable, and dehumanizing comments that have come to light from the social media accounts of recently-elected Clackamas County Commissioner Mark Shull, comments which revealed his untrammeled opinions on Muslim residents and others in his county, are incompatible with the high integrity, leadership, and public service required of an elected official, along with being incompatible with basic human decency.

As such, CCC unequivocally condemns his statements concerning Muslims, Black people, immigrants and refugees, transgender folks, and others, in the strongest possible terms. We wish to add our full-throated opposition to his continued presence as a Clackamas County Commissioner to the scores of legislators, organizations and residents who have already done so. We demand Commissioner Shull submit his resignation immediately.  The residents of Clackamas County deserve a commissioner advocating for all residents without fear or favor.  

To their credit—and as a stark reminder to Mr. Shull of how misplaced his perspectives on our Muslim community are—CCC member organization the Muslim Educational Trust, along with a group of our local Muslim and other faith organizations has demonstrated extraordinary generosity and reached out to Mr. Shull to invite him into conversation at one of their mosques to learn about Islam and our Muslim community members.

As recent state and national events have made clear, there is no place for racism and xenophobia—and the violent attacks on community members and on our democracy that they fuel—in the shared space we call the United States, particularly when those ideas are fueled by ignorance rather than understanding, and certainly not when those ideas are nestled in the heart and mind of an elected official representing and making decisions for the wellbeing of tens of thousands of Clackamas County residents. 

After considering all of these factors, CCC believes this final, simple fact:

Mark Shull is absolutely unfit to serve in office and must resign immediately. We call upon all members of our community to be in solidarity and join us in this demand.

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Africa House

Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO)

Asian Family Center

Coalition of Communities of Color

Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization (IRCO)

Latino Network

Unite Oregon

Verde

July 2020 Leaders Bridge eNewsletter

Welcome to Leaders Bridge, CCC’s quarterly newsletter highlighting our programs, leaders, and opportunities brought to you by the Bridges Leadership Initiative, our members, and key partners. 

• Organizational Updates

• Program Feature: UNID@S

• Celebrating 10 Years in 2021

• Leadership Resources

• UPCOMING EVENTS & COMMUNITY RESOURCES

Leaders, members, and CCC partners interested in sharing events and opportunities are encouraged to submit requests to SeeEun@CoalitionCommunitiesColor.org.

Black Lives Matter

We are heartbroken and outraged by the recent attacks on our Black community. The killings of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd, and the racist act of invoking the police on Christian Cooper, are only recent examples of an appalling history of racist violence perpetrated against the Black community.  As our mission is to address the socioeconomic disparities, institutional racism, and inequity of services experienced by our families, children, and communities; and to organize our communities for collective action resulting in social change to obtain self-determination, wellness, justice, and prosperity, we stand in solidarity and encourage our members to speak out against Anti-Black racism. Please read the Open Letter to Community written by Marcus Mundy, CCC’s Executive Director, to learn what we must do to commit ourselves to action.

Our Mission

The primary goal of the CCC is to advance racial equity through leadership development, policy analysis and advocacy, culturally-appropriate data and research, equity-based funding, and partnership and coalition building. Formed in 2001, the CCC is an alliance of culturally-specific community based organizations in the Portland metropolitan region with representatives from six communities of color: African, African American, Asian and Pacific Islander, Latino, Native American, and Slavic.

Now more than ever, we need representative leadership. Since March 2020, we have engaged in a strategic planning process to revamp the Bridges Leadership Development Program and recommit ourselves to our mission of advancing racial equity in Oregon through a stronger pipeline of leaders of color with more development opportunities, a denser network of connections linking leaders of color to each other and to leadership opportunities, and the dismantling of structural racism that constrains all our communities. 

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Organizational Update

See Eun Kim

Leadership Development & Training Director

The Coalition of Communities of Color is excited for the transformation of our Bridges Leadership Program led by our new Leadership Development and Training Director, See Eun Kim.  See Eun has hit the ground running and, even in these turbulent times, is working with the program coordinators for each leadership cohort to make this responsive to the needs of alumni, and current and prospective cohort members.

I hope that you appreciate the incredible and refreshing updates she has made to outreach, programming, alumni offerings, job placements, boards and commissions participation, etc. We look forward to providing as much support as we can to all of you.  

The leaders and alumni of these programs are the future of Oregon, and we are honored to be able to help you further your journey.

Marcus C. Mundy,
Executive Director

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Program Feature:

UNID@S for Oregon is one of six culturally-specific leadership programs within the Bridges Leadership Initiative. Led by Joaquin Lopez, UNID@S has gradated 155 participants since 2012 and continues to provide leadership development training to mid-career and established Latino leaders in Oregon. Learn about how UNID@S adapted their programming during COVID-19 and key highlights from this year. 

UNID@S learned a few things along the way that made the difference when presenting retreats and meetings through teleconference. We adapted and learned! Here are some takeaways, experiences, and tips:

• Technology is not the connection - to capitalize on Zoom teleconference when creating unique educational content, one must also conceptualize that everyone is in their own physical personal space. Even during a pandemic when we cannot physically connect, there are other ways of connecting, physically.

• Create session packets - for all virtual sessions, every participant was given a packet with agendas, bios, snacks, and any other workshop materials. This allowed for a human connection to happen through hardcopy paper and physical objects. Delivering them to people's homes became the glue that bonded everyone together.

• Appreciation cards - this long-lost art is an excellent way to connect people to each other. Every session, participants were given a card with an assigned participant to send it to. It allowed folks to engage physically in the world with each other, get to know each other more, and to appreciate each other's talents.  

• Be forceful in your facilitation - call on people instead of calling for volunteers. The all too familiar silence becomes dead space and stops the flow of energy and people tune out. When people log on and arrive, call their name and welcome them; make them feel seen. 

• Utilize the senses - utilize all the senses to present content - visual, auditory, read/writing, kinesthetic. Use your imagination to invigorate all the senses. Learning will increase.

• Keep meetings to 90 minutes - otherwise people get bored regardless of how amazing you are!

UNID@S Intergenerational Mural

For the last couple of years, we have created an UNID@S Intergenerational Mural. Charged with the task of creating a mural during the time of the pandemic, muralist Rodolfo Serna created a magical experience. He drew a heart on a canvass and cut it into 24 pieces for the twenty-three cohort members and me. Then gave every participant two extra mural pieces for fun. He and I created paint kits with the mural pieces, and I delivered them to everyone's home! On the day of the retreat with everyone in their own private Zoom space, Rodolfo guided us into painting our collective UNID@S heart. His mentor shared stories of intergenerational leadership from his experience as a Native American elder working with youth. The cohort painted their reflections on the two mural pieces from his stories, in addition to their heart piece. 

Now, Rodolfo will bind all the pieces to create one mural mosaic to represent the fact that while we may each be in our own individual pandemic world, we are yet bound together with love, culture, and leadership!”

“Creative power can pull down mountains of evil and level hilltops of injustice.”

— Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Our Vision Heading Into Our 10 Year Anniversary

2021 marks Bridges’ 10 Year Anniversary. Throughout the years, we have gone through different iterations of leadership programming. We will build upon the foundations of our previous leaders and enhance our services to meet the needs of our community.

The CCC envisions an Oregon where new, creative thinking flourishes by providing for the opportunities necessary to make the invisible, visible and to empower communities of color to self-organize, network, develop pathways to greater social inclusion, build culturally-specific social capital and provide leadership within and outside communities of color.  Leadership development in communities of color will increase outcomes for children and families of color, and increased outcomes for children and families of color will improve outcomes for all Oregonians. The CCC is committed to this work in the long-term and we recognize that meaningfully changing the face of leadership in Oregon is a multi-generational effort.

For more information regarding our new vision, please join us for our 2020 Bridges Convening. In lieu of an in-person gathering, we will be hosting our 2020 Bridges Convening online!  We will be sharing the results of our Strategic Planning Process, including how we have implemented the feedback we received from you all in the Alumni Engagement Survey. Please stay tuned for more information.

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Leadership Resources

Online Directory

Update your profile on the Bridges Online Directory. Upload a new headshot, update your bio, and indicate which leadership opportunities you are interested in. We will be using the Directory to vet alumni for various opportunities in the future.

Update Your Profile

Professional Development Support

Need a professional headshot, resume and/or biography review, interview preparation assistance, etc.? Let us know and we will help! Contact See Eun Kim atSeeEun@CoalitionCommunitiesColor.org

Contact Us Today

Priority Access To Job Opportunities

Have priority access to jobs posted on our website. Log into your Bridges Account and click “Jobs and Leadership Openings”.

Login to Bridges Directory

Leadership Opportunities

Interested in joining a board, commission, or committee? Check out the following County sites for current vacancies (Links are Bold): Multnomah County; Washington County; Clackamas County. Also, fill out the Alumni Engagement Survey and let us know the areas you are interested in. We will be building an email list to send relevant opportunities directly to your inbox!

Alumni Engagement Survey

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Up Coming Events & Community Resources

• A Series of Community Conversations hosted by the Department of Justice

• Compilation of COVID-19 Resources

CCC Statements :: Juneteenth & DACA

Juneteenth, for African Americans, is known as Independence Day or Freedom Day and is a holiday commemorating the June 19, 1865 announcement of the abolition of slavery and the emancipation of African American slaves. While President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation effectively ending slavery on January 1, 1863, that Proclamation had little effect in Texas until two and a half years later.

The Staff and Board of the Coalition of Communities of Color (CCC) would like to lift up the Black community in Oregon and the United States, honor the sacrifice of all those who endured such unjust and immoral bondage and echo and reaffirm the rising crescendo of those declaring that, in fact, and always, Black Lives Matter.

We at CCC have chosen to use Juneteenth as a day of reflection, inquiry, and gratitude for the gifts that those who have passed before us have bestowed upon us: the opportunity to breathe free. Although we work daily for culturally specific organizations and the underserved, we believe we still have much to learn about anti-black racism and other inequities. Juneteenth is our pause to continue the journey. We hope all can take a moment or two for reflection, as well.

This day also reminds us that we have an obligation to continue to fight for justice, whether it is the civil rights movement of the ’50s and ’60s, the right to vote, the right to be counted in the Census, the right to fair housing and strong education, or the battle for the DREAMers today.

We especially want to acknowledge and lift up on Juneteenth all of the hard working African American and Black Led organizations that are part of our Coalition, and that labor for this community every day: Africa House, KairosPDX, Portland African American Leadership Forum (PAALF), Portland Community Reinvestment Initiative (PCRI), Self Enhancement Inc. (SEI), Unite Oregon, and the Urban League of Portland.

Juneteenth in Oregon can be a day to remember that, even in a state where slavery was illegal, other actions can be almost as unfair and debilitating to the advancement of a people’s progress. Whether it is exclusion laws, lack of access to land, an annual tax for just being of color, being excluded from the vote, a ban on interracial marriage, or insurance surcharges for drivers of color, and we must remain steadfast to our values and continue to battle for all of our communities. As long as we keep fighting, we are truly emancipated.

Happy Juneteenth, Oregon.

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DREAMers and families were finally given some relief yesterday, June 18th, with the U.S. Supreme Court decision to block the Trump administration’s attempt of ending the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. The ruling impacts approximately 650,000 DACA recipients nationwide, and 11,000 of those recipients are here in Oregon. This decision is the result of the hard work of our Latinx, immigrant & refugee, and BIPOC communities who organized, mobilized, and with hope as a North Star, believed that even our most radical dreams for a better life could come true.

La lucha sigue, (our fight continues), though. The Supreme Court has not banned the Trump administration from ending DACA.  Communities across the country continue to mobilize and demand systemic changes to policing and community & public safety. The CCC and our members will continue to advocate for student safety in the classroom, on the way to school. We will continue to advocate against police & ICE presence in schools. We will continue to advocate for the accessibility of quality education & economic opportunities for DACA, undocumented, immigrant and refugee, and BIPOC students.

We appreciate the work of all of our member organizations, through their commitment to elevating community voices & addressing their needs. We want to especially acknowledge and recognize the dedicated efforts of Latino Network, IRCO, APANO, Voz Workers’ Rights Education Project, Hacienda CDC, Milagro Theater, and Verde.

We call on our federal delegation to pressure the Trump Administration to respect the decision of the Supreme Court, end its futile attempts to terminate the program, and ensure that USCIS does not share information with ICE about DACA recipients and their families. We call on our federal delegation to listen to the voices of the DREAMers and accelerate efforts to manifest their visions for their long-term status.

HOME IS HERE!