About Steph

Born in Parkrose. Organizing since high school.

I have spent more than 20 years fighting for East County. I'm running for the East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District to build a coalition and advance community-based solutions to our region's needs.

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Steph as a child with new bikes in Parkrose

Steph giving a thumbs up outside the Multnomah County Elections Building

20+years fighting for East County

7years on Portland's Planning Commission, as Vice-chair and Chair

5years as Oregon Walks' first executive director

100+tons of debris cleared after the 2004 tsunami

Why I’m running

The decision to run

Earlier this year, the legislature considered a bill (SB 1586) that would have expanded the urban growth boundary and offered tax incentives for data centers. I helped organize opposition to the bill, and it thankfully failed to pass out of committee. Both East and West Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation Districts submitted testimony in opposition to the bill, and I became very excited about how SWCDs could be full partners in developing regional and statewide policies that advance a sustainable economy for Oregonians, not huge out-of-state corporations.

I am running for East Multnomah Soil & Water Conservation District At-large 2 position to build a coalition and advance community-based solutions to our region's needs.

Testifying in opposition to tax incentives and more land for data centers (SB 1586)

The record

Chair and Vice-chair, Portland Planning & Sustainability Commission, 2019 to 2026
First executive director, Oregon Walks
Helped organize the opposition that stopped SB 1586
Green Empowerment: clean water and renewable energy with rural and Indigenous communities
Community engagement manager for State Senator Khanh Pham
Metro Natural Areas Funding Advisory Panel
Adjunct faculty, Portland State University, teaching Community Organizing & Social Change
Skin dive support team leader, post-tsunami recovery in Koh Phi Phi, Thailand
Co-founder, Cycle Wild
Small-business owner
Parkrose High School; Linfield University, BA

Her story

Go back in time

Start with today and travel back to where it began, in Parkrose.

2019 to today

From the classroom to the dais

I joined the adjunct faculty of PSU's urban planning school in 2019, teaching Community Organizing & Social Change. It has been a privilege to meet students who are dedicated to becoming involved in issues that matter to them.

2019 was also the year I was appointed to Portland's Planning & Sustainability Commission (now the Planning Commission), on which I have served as a Vice-chair and Chair. After seven years deliberating on projects spanning from the Shelter to Housing Continuum Project, to the CEI Hub, to the Economic Opportunities Analysis, I am eager to build on my experience and relationships in service to all East Multnomah County.

Further back: 2005 ↓

A tour of the CEI Hub by canoe, with Neighbors for Clean Air and partners

2005

Environmental justice, abroad and at home

When I returned to Oregon in mid-2005, I was delighted to join the staff of Green Empowerment, an organization that works with in-country partner organizations to build clean water and renewable energy infrastructure with Indigenous and rural communities across the globe.

After almost five years with Green Empowerment, I joined Oregon Walks as its first Executive Director. Thanks to the dedication of its board, volunteers, and supporters, we advocated for sidewalks and more walkable and rollable neighborhoods throughout the state. We still have a long way to go, but we accomplished a lot during my five-year tenure and had fun doing it.

Further back: College to 2004 ↓

A sign in Jinotega, Nicaragua: No to the privatization of water! — A sign in Jinotega, Nicaragua: "No to the privatization of water!"

College to 2004

From dockwork in Alaska to disaster recovery in Thailand

I attended Linfield College in McMinnville and worked summers at a fish cannery in Alaska. I learned a lot about the delicate balance between conservation and local economies on the docks!

After graduation, I moved to New York City to teach acting and scriptwriting with an off-Broadway theater company. I went on to work for a historic preservation architectural firm by day and volunteer on local issues and campaigns focused on environmental justice at nights and weekends.

A long story short: I lived in New York City during 9/11, northern China during SARS, and southern Thailand during the massive 2004 tsunami. I served as a skin dive support team leader as part of the post-tsunami disaster recovery effort in Koh Phi Phi, Thailand, leading volunteers to clean up over 100 tons of debris in an effort to save the fragile coral environment and support the local economy.

Further back: 1992 ↓

Break time on the docks of an Alaskan fish cannery

The official team shirt of disaster recovery in Koh Phi Phi, Thailand

1992

Knocking doors, protecting neighbors

1992 was the year of Ballot Measure 9, "one of the harshest anti-gay measures presented to voters in American history." I was a high school sophomore. I knew that, if that bill passed, I could work as hard as anyone and still be fired simply for being who I was. And so on the weekends, I canvassed for a state representative who was against the ballot measure, coming out to strangers on their porches in the process.

The ballot measure's defeat marked a turning point, for this state and for my life. I was proud of my neighbors for choosing to reject hate, and I realized the importance of literally walking my talk, of meeting people where they are, and organizing in common cause.

Further back: Early years ↓

Early years

Growing up in East Multnomah County

I have lived the majority of my life in East Portland, a part of our region that has experienced such inequitable investments impacting neighbors' health that it is sometimes referred to in land use discussions as a "sacrifice zone." I was born in Parkrose, a neighborhood that would become part of Portland in 1983 as part of annexation.

Back to today ↑