190727

The City of Portland ordains:

Section 1.  The Council finds:

1. In FY 2020-21 City Council divested funding from the Portland Police Bureau and reinvested funding into the Black Youth Leadership Fund with Commissioner Hardesty’s Leadership.
2. The Black Youth Leadership program is a leadership development and healing program led by Black people in service to Black youth.
3. The City of Portland has a history of disinvestment in Black Communities.
4. Redlining, residential segregation, and neighborhood disinvestment in areas like Vanport, Albina, and other neighborhoods and community-based organizations have undermined the social and educational equality of Black Portlanders for generations.
5. Graduation gaps in PPS between Black and White students remain; In 2021 75.5% of Black youth graduated on time, as compared to 92.8% for White youth.
6. The establishment of the Black Youth Leadership Development Fund, in partnership with the Black United Fund of Oregon and the Oregon Community Foundation will use evidence-based, and culturally grounded engagement processes to raise leadership and entrepreneurial skills of Portland’s Black youth and offer them access to empowerment from inside-out, which can potentially influence their trajectory for generations.
7. Programming will include:
   1. Connecting Black youth with leadership-building and learning opportunities within Really Inspiring Spaces for Empowerment (RISE) and other community-based programs;
   2. Building a collaborative effort that reinforces community rather than continuing to operate in silos;
   3. Helping Black youth find belonging and joy within a shrinking Black community that is physically spread out and immersed in externalized and internalized racism;
   4. Exposing Black youth to hands-on and paid professional development and service-learning opportunities that ignite their career and/or creative passions;
   5. Creating a small publishing company to amplify youth voices and perspectives;
   6. Providing skills and training (in collaboration with other organizations and individuals) to help Black youth become entrepreneurs and community-minded social-justice advocates;
   7. Building capacity of Black youth by providing access to life- and career-development opportunities that build skills in business, government, advocacy, policy & philanthropy.
   8. Youth-led grant making opportunities in collaboration Youth Advisory council and Oregon Community Foundation.
8. The program will partner with a Youth Advisory Council which will make recommendations on training programs, funding opportunities, and planning events.

NOW, THEREFORE, the Council directs:

1. Commissioner Hardesty, Commissioner Position No. 3, is hereby authorized to execute grant agreements for a combined amount not to exceed $950,000 with the Black United Fund of Oregon, Inc. and Oregon Community Foundation in a form similar to the agreements attached as Exhibits A and B.
2. The Director of the Bureau of Revenue and Financial Services is authorized to execute amendments to the grant agreements authorized in section 1 above provided the amendments do not increase the City's financial obligations under the agreements.
3. The Office of Management & Finance Grants Office is authorized to perform all administrative matters in relation to the grant application, grant agreement or amendments, requests for reimbursement from the grantor, and to submit required online grant documents.