Donnie Oliveira, Director
Donnie Oliveira was appointed Director on June 3, 2022 by Commissioner Carmen Rubio. Director Oliveira served as Deputy Director from 2019 to 2022 overseeing the Bureau's communications, finance, business operations, and policy work.
Before relocating to the Pacific Northwest, Director Oliveira worked for the City of San Francisco, focused on advancing the nexus between climate action, job creation and innovation. He led the development of the City’s 2014 climate action strategy including the launch of the internationally lauded 0-50-100-Roots climate communications framework. Along with helping to shape waste reduction, transportation and energy policies for San Francisco, Director Oliveira launched the Environment Now program, a workforce program that continues to create good, green jobs. His work included development of innovative partnerships with the likes of Google, IDEO and Adobe to launch innovative climate programming around food-waste reduction, corporate responsibility, and climate emissions dashboards.
Along with annual "Dad of the Year" awards from his two kids, Director Oliveira was recognized in 2017 with the Good Government Award, the highest honor a public servant in San Francisco can receive, from Mayor Edwin Lee. He was recognized for his exceptional leadership, community engagement and advocacy, and ground-breaking public/private partnership work.
Eric Engstrom, Deputy Director
Director Oliveira named Eric Engstrom the Bureau of Planning and Sustainability's Deputy Director in June 2022.
Engstrom served in this role on an interim basis betwen April and June of 2022 after a 26-year career with the City of Portland. During his time at the City, Deputy Director Engstrom has worked on several high-profile and critical land-use and strategic-planning topics including infill development strategies, urban natural area protection, and zoning reform.
Deputy Director Engstrom managed the development of the Portland Plan, a strategic plan adopted by Portland City Council in 2012. He also served as the project manager for Portland's Comprehensive Plan Update, which was adopted in 2016.
Patricia Diefenderfer, Chief Planner
Patricia Diefenderfer joined BPS as Chief Planner on March 2, 2022.
Diefenderfer brings over 22 years of municipal planning experience, including current and long-range planning, neighborhood and downtown planning, transit-oriented district planning, transportation and streetscape planning, historic preservation, and community development.
She has extensive experience leading teams on wide-ranging efforts in two of the country's most diverse cities: Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif. Additionally, her values are aligned with the City’s core values of anti-racism, equity, transparency and communication, and represent the way in which she has approached her work as a planner.
Vivian Satterfield, Chief Sustainability Officer
Vivian Satterfield joined BPS as Chief Sustainability Officer on Feb. 1, 2023.
Prior to BPS, Satterfield served as the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Verde, a Portland-based non-profit whose mission is to build environmental wealth by investing in climate resilience through social enterprise, outreach, and advocacy, especially for frontline communities. A biracial, first-generation Chinese American, Satterfield was born and raised in the city of Chicago where she lived until relocating to Portland in 2008. For more than a decade, Satterfield has worked in Portland’s frontline communities at the intersections of environmental, racial, and economic justice delivering a track record of success at the municipal, regional, and statewide level in securing policy wins and programmatic investments.
Nikoyia Phillips, Equity Manager
Nikoyia Phillips was hired as BPS's Equity Manager on Oct. 22, 2020. Phillips previously served as the bureau’s Community Engagement Coordinator.
Phillips is a second-generation Portlander who has spent much of her career in community organizing, nonprofit development and public health policy with the Multnomah County Health Department. She brings a combination of skills to the job, along with her focus on racial equity.
Her work at BPS reshaping the Community Involvement Committee, managing the PSU internship program, and operationalizing our equity work to support the most vulnerable communities are testament to her capabilities and influence.