2023 Annual Report

Programs Summary

In 2023, our fifty-second year as an organization, the staff at Oregon Humanities stepped into our mission with intentional and fresh approaches to enduring programs and publications. Using our updated strategic framework, we brought people together with curiosity, consideration, and compassion. These efforts led to some impressive outcomes: We collaborated with 161 contributors to share 167 stories in print, online, and over the airwaves. We doubled our number of Community Storytelling Fellows. Our Consider This events drew over 3,600 people in person and another 3,500 online. We also tripled our number of rural programs, hosting events in Joseph, Talent, Redmond, and elsewhere.

Learn more about some of the initiatives, events, and partnerships that connected Oregonians in 2023:

• Housing conversations: Throughout the summer and fall, we partnered with organizations across the state to host community conversations about housing and belonging. This series was inspired by a frequently requested Conversation Project program led by Paul Susi. Paul helped us train four new facilitators—Jacquelle Cherise Davis, Yimei Shao, Julia Waters, and Reeva Wortel—to lead important discussions about homelessness and explore the question of who “belongs” in our communities.
• Belonging on the airwaves: In January, we launched a three-part series about organizing on The Detour, our monthly podcast and radio show. The episodes covered civic participation, Black political power, intergenerational justice, and labor movements. In November, we started a four-part series about belonging. Topics included immigration and emotional exile, the importance of stories in the LGBTQ+ community, and what it means to preserve the history of Black Oregonians. We capped the series off with conversations with students at Fern Hill Elementary School and Crestview Heights Elementary about how to help others feel like they belong.
• Live-screening popular programs: Consider This guests reflected on People, Place, and Power through the spring and then on Fear and Belonging in the fall. Three of these conversations were screened live for an audience 300 miles from Portland. Participants gathered in La Grande to hear Mónica Guzmán talk about communicating across divides; Alexander Baretich, Matt McCaw, and Carina Miller discuss redrawing borders; and Casey Parks share stories about family, identity, and belonging. Each time, the watch party submitted questions for the speakers and discussed among themselves about how the topic manifested locally. 
• Being present throughout Oregon: We know there is much to be gained by physically showing up. This year, we focused our time and effort in showing up in Southern Oregon through a range of activities. In April, with grant support from The Ford Family Foundation, we held a So Much Together program in Talent, bringing together twenty community members for a workshop on creativity. In September, we gathered in Phoenix with over thirty supporters and friends to celebrate our board chair, Bobby Arellano, concluding his term. Finally, in early November, we took Consider This to Grants Pass for an onstage conversation about Aging and Belonging.
• Accessibility: There was a major staff-led effort to focus on how our programs, media, and events can be more accessible to people with disabilities. We worked with an accessibility and inclusivity consultant to grow our staff’s collective understanding of disability justice and accessibility accommodations. Every department identified areas of improvement and started to implement meaningful changes.
• Fundraising: Partnerships are as vital for our fundraising as they are for our programs. This past winter, we partnered with Willamette Week's Give!Guide as one of 250 nonprofits in their annual giving campaign. We received over $30,000 in donations, while spotlighting several nonprofit and local business partners and practicing many of the principles of community-centric fundraising.

By the Numbers

108% increase in rural programs

14% increase in publication contributors

141 in 2022 → 161 in 2023

$356,633 awarded in grants and fellowships

More highlights:

• 14,000 subscribers received Oregon Humanities magazine
• 36,000 people listened to The Detour on the radio or online
• 3,600 people attended Consider This events
• 414 people participated in a Conversation Project program
• 115 people trained to lead reflective conversations
• 39 people completed a Humanity in Perspective course, earning three college credits

Thank you to the following supporters who made gifts to Oregon Humanities in 2023.

Gifts in Honor and Memory

Anonymous in honor of Conversation Project
Anonymous in honor of Cecily Frazier
Anonymous in honor of Sarah Mirk's brilliant piece on Preschool for All
Anonymous in honor of Kathryn Thomas
Alec Arellano in honor of Bob Arellano
Ana Arellano in honor of Mr. Robert 'Bobby' Arellano, who brought so much joy into my life, with great gratitude
Robert Arellano in honor of 100% board giving in FY23!
Dominique Brillanceau in honor of WriteAroundPortland staff
Matthew Cohen in honor of intelligent, caring, woke folk!!
Karen and Stuart Foster in honor of Kathleen Davis
Laura Fouts in honor of Sonya Fouts
Melody Ghormley and Kyle Kroker in honor of Emmett Wheatfall
Melody Ghormley and Kyle Kroker in honor of Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women Oregon
CM Hall in honor of Adam Davis
Lyn Hennion and Alex Bellen in honor of Bobby Arellano
Carolyn Kohn in honor of Kate Lasky
James Luby in honor of Daniel Grant and his service to Oregon Humanities
Nancy Miller in honor of Josephine Cooper
Laura Mundt in honor of working with Lewis & Clark ENVS students
Paulann Petersen in honor of The Oregon Poet Laureate Program
Shelby Wood in honor of all the writers
Merri Wyatt in honor of Jackie Willingham and Adam Davis

Mariah Acton in memory of Anita Engiles
Anonymous in memory of Grant Brunker
Anonymous in memory of Jackie Davis
Anonymous in memory of The people of Lahaina
Judith Armatta in memory of Keith Alan Tharp
Lorna Baldwin in memory of Lucas B. Gibbons
Susan Banyas in memory of Martha Banyas
Kathy Cotton in memory of Christine Poole-Jones
Julie Durkheimer in memory of Chris F. Salvi
Laura Fouts in memory of Carol Janet Lindberg
Cosette Freeman in memory of my mother, Wilma Daane
Dr. Jami D. L. Hart in memory of Laurie Gardener
Bette Husted in memory of T. Katharine Sheldahl-Thomason
Kathleen Melhuse in memory of Malcolm Snider
Peter Mitchel and Heather Houston in memory of Roseanne Leary Mitchel
Linda Monk in memory of Larry Monk
Julie Nittler in memory of Roger Nittler
Ken and Laurie Orwick in memory of Erling and Adella Orwick
Aaron Rosen in memory of Whitney Hammond
Kathleen Saadat in memory of Gladys McCoy
Sandy Sampson in memory of Sharon Walsh
Mary Elizabeth Sargent and William Watson in memory of Garry Watson
Penelope Short in memory of Ruth Siegenthaler
Vicky Vinch in memory of Irene Scultz
Kathleen Wall in memory of Paula Baca Candelaria
Annie Walsh in memory of Charles Rosenberg
Marvin Weiss in memory of Hildegard Weiss
Mike Wolf in memory of JoAnn Spohn Wolf
Carolyn Wright in memory of Dell Rhodes
Irene Zenev in memory of Roger Hall