2025 Friends & Allies Fall Summit
Story & Strategy Circles
It’s time to learn from each other’s experience - we are the leaders we’ve been waiting for! Tune into a story from a local organization about their approach to the topic. Then discuss the issue with peers, problem solve, and dream up new approaches for your own work. Know a lot about this topic? Know a little? All experience levels are welcome so we can share in each other’s growth.
Attendees will select one Story & Strategy Circle to attend during registration.
Coalition Building & Co-Leadership Models
Values of equality and power-sharing have led some organizations to reconsider how projects are progressed entirely, creating new structures for new goals. Portland Placemaking Coalition is approaching food justice work through shared leadership and community-knowledge prioritization. Let's discuss what alternative leadership models could look like, and the challenges that keep us from practicing them.
Partners: Elizabeth Wilson, E.D. Peace Village Global & Glyness Dean, Program Manager & Horticultural Coach, VetREST, members of Portland Placemaking Coalition
Glyness Dean is an Oregon Native born in the McKenzie River Valley and raised in Portland.
A bartender for many years, the worldwide reckoning of the pandemic opened her eyes to the inequities in our nation and state, and when the Labor Day fires of 2020 decimated her family's tree farm, she realized she needed to pursue a career that filled souls rather than glasses.
After a complete 180, Glyness is a co-founder of the Portland Placemaking Coalition, and horticultural program developer for VetREST, and provides coaching for home gardeners to tend their own land. She is also training to become a Therapeutic Horticulture Practitioner, and recently completed the 1000 Friends of Oregon LULI program.
Volunteer work has included the Portland Fruit Tree Project, Lettuce Grow, SUN schools, and serving on the board of the Montavilla Farmers Market.
After all this, she spends time with her 3 children and tries to remember when she last watered her plants.
Elizabeth Wilson
Elizabeth Wilson co-founded Peace Village Global in 1996 along with Wintry Whitt. The two went on to create the curricula, direct camps, and educate both camp directors and new trainers. Elizabeth was an adjunct professor in the Peace and Social Justice Department at Pacific University for over 20 years where she developed and led programs for students. She enjoys teaching outside the classroom and has worked in a UN camp for SE Asian refugees, with the Navajo Nation, and for many years leading expeditions in the wilderness. She has studied natural medicine, yoga and meditation for over 25 years, and delights in playing and teaching music, being outside and spending time with family.
Collective Support Strategies
(BIPOC Affinity Space)
This circle is a space for folks who identify as Black, Indigenous, or a Person of Color to come together, connect, and build resilience through shared stories and community. We’ll reflect on what it’s like to move through outdoor spaces as people of color, and focus on generating a sense of belonging and solidarity across our shared and intersectional marginalized identities.
You’ll leave with new insights, a deeper sense of community, and maybe even a new friend to keep journeying with. You are welcome here.
Partner: Lex Weaver, Community Engagement & Inclusion Strategist
Lex Weaver is a DEI strategist, community engager, and Popular Education facilitator. She specializes in supporting Employee Resource Groups, leading racial equity trainings, and creating meaningful learning spaces that foster connection and growth. As a Queer Black woman, Lex brings both lived experience and strategic insight to her work. Outside of facilitation, she finds joy in poetry, time in nature, rock climbing, and the deep sense of community she shares with her friends.
Community Engagement Tactics
Community Engagement is a broad term that covers lots of different approaches and interactions. But, Lloyd EcoDistrict has found momentum through their end-goal orientation and data-driven approach. Let’s hear from them and discuss approaches to equitable and innovative community engagement.
Partner: Joshua Baker, Outreach Program Manager, Lloyd Eco District
As the Outreach Program Manager for Lloyd EcoDistrict, Joshua (he/him) manages programs and events outlined in the organization’s 2030 Roadmap, leading initiatives in emergency preparedness, green spaces, community resilience, and energy. Before joining Lloyd EcoDistrict in 2020, he spent nearly a decade working in outreach and program management with energy and mission-driven nonprofits, including Solar Oregon and Western Energy Institute, where he advanced clean energy adoption and utility sector collaboration.
Outside of work, Joshua tends a community garden plot, volunteers with Portland’s Neighborhood Emergency Team program, co-leads Queerzamas (a queer mountaineering group within the Mazamas), and participates in conservation projects in the High Desert.
Volunteer Programming & Support
Volunteers are the lifeblood of community organizations. Yet, from pandemic recovery to new ways of social connection, it's hard to maintain a stable crew for continual impact. Let’s discuss volunteer program hurdles and strategies.
