Our Impact
Vibrant communities shape the heart and soul of Portland.
Portland is more than a city. It's a network of vibrant communities, woven together by an appreciation for nature, culture, learning, and opportunity.
The Vibrant Communities Service Area prioritizes these connections. We provide the places, funding, people, and resources community members need to experience joy. While our main priority is to serve those who call Portland home, we know how important these connections are to visitors who come to Portland for work and play.
The Office of Arts & Culture, the Portland Children's Levy, and Portland Parks & Recreation each do their part to make Portland special. By working together as a service area, something truly extraordinary is possible.
Together, we're keeping Portland vibrant, one park, one piece of art, and one child at a time.
Measuring Our Performance
Vibrant Communities foster a thriving city, and we are committed to understanding how our work supports our vision for a vibrant Portland.
As this new service area develops, we are aligning the goals and efforts of all the offices and bureaus within Vibrant Communities because we are all connected.
For example, each Vibrant Communities office or bureau provides grant dollars to partner organizations. Both Portland Children’s Levy and Portland Parks & Recreation invest in free meals for Portlanders. Both Arts & Culture and Parks & Recreation support or present community events, and measure attendance.
We have identified simple, understandable information for community members and policymakers to track our efforts and find out more about our work and our impact.
Our easy-to-use dashboard will guide you through four categories of performance measures:
- Participation and Access
- Service through Partnerships
- Maintenance & Stewardship
- Employees Representing Our Community
Learn more about this program on our Performance Indicators page.
Centering Equity and Inclusion
As we navigate the transition into a new service area, Vibrant Communities is implementing a strategic framework that will build a robust foundation for equity and inclusion.
Vibrant Communities is working toward:
- Ensuring civil rights laws and equity initiatives are implemented effectively;
- Consistently applying the City’s equity lens and anti-racism principles around our decision making, program implementation, and service; and
- Developing and implementing systems and processes that support equitable outcomes.
Impacted communities are integral to this work.
As the service area grows, we will be tracking outcomes and celebrating proactive equity and inclusion efforts. Our goal is to be responsive to the issues affecting Portlanders, so we can ensure equitable access to arts, recreation, and parks, and supports for children.
How We Partner
We actively cultivate and engage diverse partners across public, private, and nonprofit sectors to leverage additional investment and volunteerism, and maximize our impact. Through collaboration, we combine resources, time, funding, and expertise—aligning priorities toward shared goals. These partnerships foster strong community connections to our work, ensure equitable access, and create a welcoming gateway for private investment in City services, enabling us to accomplish more, together.
Guiding Principles:
- We cultivate mutually beneficial relationships and build trust with our partners through intuitive points of contact and entry, transparent communication, and clear feedback mechanisms.
- We foster public-private partnerships to drive economic development and expand infrastructure improvements.
- We build public-community partnerships through inclusive processes and targeted outreach, creating long-term community connection to our work.
- We address complex regional challenges through public-public collaborations across city, county, and state boundaries—pooling resources and expertise for efficient and responsive service delivery.