Portland Community College
EN-6: Community Partnerships

The PCC Oaks Partners is a collaborative effort between PCC (landowner and educational institution), Indigenous-led organizations and community members, and local environmental and cultural organizations including Clean Water Services, THPRD, TSWCD, Five Oaks Museum, Friends of Tryon Creek, Wisdom of the Elders, the Wetlands Conservancy, and more. We are working to center Indigenous knowledge and access to the natural areas at Rock Creek. https://www.pcc.edu/news/2024/04/metro-watershed-grant/

The Oregon Clean Energy Workforce Coalition (OCEWC), which PGE launched in 2022, is composed of stakeholders from around the state working together to build equitable and inclusive career pathways to meet the dynamic needs of the energy sector. Coalition members include representatives from state, Tribal, and local governments, labor unions, workforce development boards, education and training providers, employers, and community-based organizations.

OCEWC programming funded by the U.S. Department of Labor grant will focus on two historically marginalized populations that face particular barriers to workforce participation: adults in custody and young adults disengaged from school and work, often called “opportunity youth.” Through an expansion of the Union Pre-Apprenticeship Construction Training Oregon program, adults in custody will have the opportunity to participate in a 12-week construction trades skill-building course run by local unions – Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1, Cement Masons Local 555, and Ironworkers Local 29. Upon release, graduates will have direct entry or preferential placement at an apprenticeship program, leading to quality jobs in high-demand fields. Engagement with opportunity youth will focus on exposure to the range of clean energy jobs available within Oregon. A new interactive website will guide youth and other jobseekers through potential pathways to clean energy careers.

PCC joined the Breaking Barriers Fleet Decarbonization Accelerator program, a hands-on, cohort-based program that equips businesses and organizations with the knowledge, tools, and networks to create actionable fleet decarbonization plans. With representation from PCC Sustainability and Planning & Capital Construction, this helped establish a foundational understanding of fleet electrification and create a roadmap to support the college’s fleet conversion efforts. Additionally, the college hired a consultant to establish a charging infrastructure plan that addressed both fleet and community charging needs. PCC remains a member of the collaborative in order to mentor future cohorts.

PCC Oaks Partners is a collaborative effort between PCC (landowner and educational institution), Indigenous-led organizations and community members, and local environmental and cultural organizations including Clean Water Services, THPRD, TSWCD, Five Oaks Museum, Friends of Tryon Creek, Wisdom of the Elders, the Wetlands Conservancy, and more. We are working to center Indigenous knowledge and access to the natural areas at Rock Creek. https://www.pcc.edu/news/2024/04/metro-watershed-grant/

The Oregon Clean Energy Workforce Coalition (OCEWC) -  which PGE launched in 2022, is composed of stakeholders from around the state working together to build equitable and inclusive career pathways to meet the dynamic needs of the energy sector. Coalition members include representatives from state, Tribal, and local governments, labor unions, workforce development boards, education and training providers, employers, and community-based organizations.

OCEWC programming funded by the U.S. Department of Labor grant will focus on two historically marginalized populations that face particular barriers to workforce participation: adults in custody and young adults disengaged from school and work, often called “opportunity youth.” Through an expansion of the Union Pre-Apprenticeship Construction Training Oregon program, adults in custody will have the opportunity to participate in a 12-week construction trades skill-building course run by local unions – Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 1, Cement Masons Local 555, and Ironworkers Local 29. Upon release, graduates will have direct entry or preferential placement at an apprenticeship program, leading to quality jobs in high-demand fields. Engagement with opportunity youth will focus on exposure to the range of clean energy jobs available within Oregon. A new interactive website will guide youth and other jobseekers through potential pathways to clean energy careers.

Our office of People, Strategy, Equity and Culture has long cultivated a culture of inclusion and belonging that stresses the value of reciprocal and beneficial relationships. Resources such as PCC’s equitable decision making framework guide decision making at the college including partnership agreements. Some parts of PCC have chosen to create additional guidelines for partnership agreements. One example is the PCC’s community based-learning program, which has learning agreements that outline expectations for community partners: https://www.pcc.edu/community-based-learning/forms/#learning-agreement. In addition, community-based learning has established best practices for community based learning partnerships that are reciprocal and beneficial https://www.pcc.edu/community-based-learning/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2017/04/CBLBestPractices_lettersize.pdf.

Community Relations is working to formalize and standardize an institution-wide definition of community engagement in order to better reflect current best practices. This definition emphasizes collaboration, connection with the local, regional, state, and national communities the college serves, the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources, and reciprocal partnerships for the purpose of forging strategic partnerships – collaborative, mutually beneficial relationships – that bolster equitable student access and success as well as transformative change.