Portland Parks Foundation
Joey Pope Award for Parks Leadership
The Joey Pope Award for Parks Leadership was established in 2022 to recognize an emerging leader, organization, or initiative promoting greater innovation and accessibility in Portland’s system of parks and open spaces. The honoree receives a $10,000 grant to advance their work plus customized technical assistance in partnership with PPF.
The annual award is named for Josephine Pope, founding chair of Portland Parks Foundation and our partner in the award’s creation. Guided by the belief that parks and the outdoors are for everyone and an essential part of life in the Northwest, Josephine (Joey) Pope has devoted over four decades of her life to activism, philanthropy, and leadership in making Portland’s parks system more accessible to all. Her work has ranged from developing the Hoyt Arboretum Visitors’ Center in the 1980s to establishing Holly Farm Park in the ‘90s to launching the effort to establish Leach Botanical Garden as the “Arboretum for the outer east side.” Joey also chaired the Vision 2020 Task Force to create the 20-year blueprint for Portland’s parks system.
To fund the award, we have also worked with the Pope family to establish the Joey Pope Fund for Parks Leadership. You can click here to read more about the fund and everyone who has contributed so far. The award will invest in emerging individuals, organizations, and initiatives playing a leadership role in advancing accessibility and innovation in Portland’s parks system.
I'm honored by the establishment of a parks leadership fund in my name. It's been a privilege to work on behalf of our parks system and our city for so many years. Parks are essential to our health and well-being. I hope this fund can make a difference in people's lives by leveraging new acts of leadership to keep improving Portland's parks system. - Joey Pope
“Joey was ahead of what we now call ‘equity,’” according to Zari Santner, Portland Parks & Recreation Director and Emeritus Board Member of Portland Parks Foundation. “For her, it was a matter of economically disadvantaged people of all races or color having access to parks, nature, and all recreation.”
The Joey Pope Award for Parks Leadership is an investment in emerging parks leaders or specific projects. The criteria for selecting honorees will include, but not be limited, to:
Innovating in programming in parks, recreation, and arts or in connecting such parks-oriented programs to those without access
Developing new approaches to horticulture and habitat creation to advance beauty and nature in a changing climate
Advancing equity, accessibility and cultural understanding of parks and parks programs for historically marginalized groups*
Building coalitions and partnerships to expand Portland’s system of parks, trails, open spaces, and playgrounds
* We define historically marginalized groups as anyone who has experienced inequities as a result of their class, race, ethnicity, citizenship status, nationality, disability, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation or age. We recognize that this list is not comprehensive and strive to prioritize all groups that experience inequities as a result of how they identify or are identified by others.
Who can be nominated?
In the spirit of its namesake, the Joey Pope Award for Parks Leadership will not be an award for past accomplishments, but rather a boost for emerging leaders, organizations or initiatives evolving Portland’s parks, open-spaces and trail systems for future generations and a new era of challenges and opportunities.
You can nominate an individual, a group of individuals, a 501(c)(3) organization, or an organization with a fiscal sponsor.
You are welcome to nominate yourself or your organization or initiative.
There is no limit to how many people you can nominate and no age restrictions.
If the nominee does not have a fiscal sponsor, please contact PPF at info@portlandpf.org
Nominations for 2024 will open March 1.
To prepare your nomination, you may review the questions below:
Award Timeline:
Nominations accepted March 1 - April 15, 11:59pm
Review period April- May
Award Announced Mid-May at the Spring Summit.
How to Submit:
Nominations can be submitted through the online portal. If you have trouble accessing the portal or want to confirm if you have an account please contact Jason Brown at jason.brown@portlandpf.org.
2024 Honorees
Brown Girl Rise
Brown Girl Rise
Brown Girl Rise is deeply committed to creating inclusive spaces where historically excluded groups, particularly BIPOC youth and femmes, can access nature, engage in recreational activities, and foster cultural connections. BGR’s week-long day camps, Radical Organizing Workshop Series (ROWS), and youth board engagement initiatives provide transformative experiences that blend outdoor education, social justice advocacy, and cultural celebration. Their work centers the experiences and voices of BIPOC youth, in an effort to challenge traditional narratives of who belongs in outdoor spaces and redefine the relationship between marginalized communities and nature.
Through a diverse array of community partnerships and coalitions, BGR expands access, education, and advocacy efforts for their participants. These efforts include outdoor skill-building, deeping connection to land and culture, farming and food justice, learning from Indigenous wisdom and practices, and environmental sustainability. BGR is committed to doing the work together with the community and exemplify collaboration by working in tandem with organizations such as Wild Diversity, Atabey Medicine, and Mudbone Grown Farms to co-facilitate workshops, share resources, and provide programming that integrates environmental activism, cultural heritage, and outdoor recreation.
Learn more and support their work here:
www.browngirlriseportland.org
Portland Community Football Club
Portland Community Football Club
Portland Community Football Club (PCFC) provides access to high-quality, affordable club soccer for low income and marginalized youth, ages 6-18, including LGBTQIA+, Black, Brown, Latinx, immigrants, and refugees. Their “whole child” advocacy approach supports overall health, offering wraparound services that focus on emotional, psychological, and social well-being including nutrition, mentorship, academic support, and social service referrals. PCFC is committed to meeting their youth athletes and families where they are, be that on the field or at home.
PCFC embraces a unique Sports Based Youth Development methodology that uses soccer to provide support and opportunities youth need to be healthy, contributing citizens now and as adults. Additionally, they mentor their team coaches so they can better mentor their young athletes, including trauma-informed, anti-oppressive practices. Their wraparound community support programs include diverse family services, a food pantry, and their Liberate Sports Campaign committed to erasing the gap between privilege and play through a focus on gender, race, and economic equity within sports.
Learn more and support their work here:
www.pcfc.co
2024 Nominees
Bea Yeh Ogden, of Luminous Together
Black Swimming Initiative
Brianna Brawley, of Zenger Farm
Brown Girl Rise
Free Arts NW
Harper's Playground
Jamie Newsome, of ELSO Inc.
Kids N' Tennis, Inc
Knott Street Boxing
Nicole Allen, of Through the Trees Collective
Portland Community Football Club
Realize the Root, of Black and Beyond the Binary
Reclaiming Black Joy Project
Terrain: a land art exhibition
The Kidz Outside
Vanport Placemarking Project
2023 Honoree:
Black Futures Farm
Black Futures Farm is both a community-building and production farm, where they grow meaningful relationships alongside vegetables, fruits, and herbs. They work on 1.15 acres with 17 different fruit trees, vegetables, flowers, medicinal and cooking herbs in the Brentwood-Darlington Neighborhood, unceded Clackamas and Multnomah First Nations Territory. Black Futures Farm is a program of the Black Food Sovereignty Coalition, and their main goal is to heal the connection between Black people and the land. They achieve this by cultivating a healthy place for the Black community to gather in joy.
Innovative, Intentional Programing & Advancing Equity
Everything Black Futures Farm provides promotes intentional, experiential learning opportunities for farm workers and volunteers to better understand the history of land stewardship and their relationship to the land and community. Starting in May and ending in October, every Sunday is Black Sunday, a day for Black-identified folks to gather, celebrate, learn, and grow together. To deepen its vision, the farm is currently innovating programming based in wellness, clean energy and culturally affirming practices. These programs center the land as the source of knowledge, healing, and hope, and challenge white-centered and conservationist ideals around the environment.
Support their work and learn more: www.blackfutures.farm
2023 Nominees
Black Futures Farm
Brent Atchley, Push Movement
Dean Dickinson,
Skaters for Portland Skateparks
Green Lents
Jayanika Lawrence,
Friends of Zenger Farm
Juntu Capistrano Oberg,
Northwest Trail Alliance
Maritza Oropeza Kritz
Peter Johnson,
Portland Waterfront Pavilion
Prashant Kakad,
Dance United
Rain Pollock,
Ladies of the Rose
Urban Nature Partners PDX
2022 Honoree: Pamela Slaughter, People of Color Outdoors
Pamela Slaughter founded People of Color Outdoors (POCO) where black, indigenous and all people of color can enjoy and learn about nature in a safe, welcoming, caring community. POCO blends networking, outdoors career options, environmental education, history, and outdoor skills—and, “of course, fun”—while bird watching, fishing, canoeing, bike riding, and overnight camping. Still working as a realtor and using little more than email and a Facebook page, she has rallied 3,000 constituents and partnerships with, among many others, Metro, Columbia Slough Watershed Council, Audubon Society, and the Nature Conservancy.
Over the years, Pamela has evolved POCO from simple meet-ups for people of color to a growing program of environmental and cultural education. Since inception, POCO has hosted over 200 outings ranging from hiking, birding, canoeing, snowshoeing, biking and camping. As POCO continues to grow, Pamela has added youth summer camps and training opportunities for POCO members to take specific skill training coursework in order to lead future POCO outings.
Support this work and learn more: www.pdxpocoutdoors.com
2022 Nominees
Chad Brown, Love is King
Gabe Sheoships, Friends of Tryon Creek
JoAnn Vrilakas and Dr. Derron Coles, Leach Botanical Gardens and The Blueprint Foundation
Pamela Slaughter, People of Color Outdoors
Pacific North West Council of Water Protectors
Prashant Kadad, Dance United
Rob Whitson, Troll City Boathouse
Urban Nature Partners PDX
Vanport Placemarking Project
The Portland Parks Foundation also offers a Small Grants Program to support community organizations working to create or care for public parks and park programs, community gardens, and natural areas. Check out our Small Grants Program Guidelines to see if your organization would be a good fit!
And check out our annual Parks Champion Award, which recognizes volunteers who provide outstanding volunteer service to a park, community center, natural area, or community garden. Each year, PPF makes a grant of $1,500 on the recommendation of the award recipient to a community organization that aligns with PPF’s vision to help Portland communities create more equitable access to nature, play, health, and places of connection.