Sameer Kanal is a first-term City Councilor representing North and Northeast Portland. He was born in the Overlook neighborhood of Portland. His father is a PSU graduate who worked as an economist and later a small business owner. His mother worked at the State of Oregon’s Refugee Program for 30 years and was a member of SEIU.
In high school, Sameer was the drummer for one of Portland Saturday Market’s house bands. He went to Clark College and the University of Washington, earning degrees in political science and economics. While at UW, Sameer co-founded the Northwest Association for Global Affairs, an organization providing international relations programs for college students.
In 2010, Sameer moved to New York City, eventually getting a master's degree in human rights and international law at NYU. He wrote his thesis on nonviolent protest in Palestine, which included spending a few months in the West Bank. His experiences there deepened his commitments to freedom of expression, to questioning assumptions, and to showing up in person to hear what people need.
After working in New York at jobs ranging from short-term work at the United Nations to retail management, Sameer moved back to the West Coast, first to Seattle where he worked for Governor Jay Inslee and later at the Gates Foundation.
After the pandemic started, Sameer followed his heart back home to Portland. He has served the City of Portland since 2021, first as the project manager for the Police Accountability Commission, then leading community engagement for the City’s Public Safety Service Area. These experiences taught him the importance of a holistic, prevention-focused public safety system and about the need to build a local government that listens to Portlanders and reflects their values and goals.
Sameer is the first Indian American, and one of the first two Asian Americans, ever to serve on the Portland City Council. He has also served on the City’s Parks Board and on the board of Dodgeball PDX. Sameer is a renter and Timbers and Thorns season-ticket holder, and he lives with his partner in Kenton.