Forest Park is for everyone.

FPC's Commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Forest Park Conservancy, as a steward of public lands, will be more successful and Forest Park and Marquam Nature Park will be better protected if the FPC organizational culture, including leadership, staff, and volunteers, comes from “all walks of life”. FPC has a responsibility to deepen its understanding of inclusiveness in all its forms. We recognize the impacts of discrimination based on race, class, gender, disability, sexual orientation, culture, religion, and ethnicity (this is not a complete list). Ultimately, we aim to create an organization where individuals can bring their whole selves to their interactions with FPC, whether in leadership, partnership, volunteering, as a donor, or as a park user. This emphasis on authentic relationships will build trust and increase the diversity of the community dedicated to ensuring a resilient Forest Park.

We aim to create an organization where individuals can bring their whole selves to their interactions with FPC, including in positions of leadership, as partners, volunteers, donors, and park users. We believe wholeheartedly that this endeavor will benefit not only the resiliency of our organization but also the well-being of our community.

As a steward of public land, we know:

  • Social inequities of many kinds negatively impact our community’s ability to feel safe and enjoy the outdoors in whatever way is meaningful to them.
  • We have a lot to learn, and a responsibility to deepen our understanding of systems of oppression in order to work against them.
  • Engaging with this work requires a cultural shift toward inclusion, which will show up in everything we do.

We are on the journey of taking a closer look at our work through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) and have joined a thriving movement of land stewards recognizing our place in co-creating a more just and equitable world.

Land Acknowledgment

The Portland Metro area, including Forest Park, rests on traditional village sites of the Multnomah, Wasco, Cowlitz, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Bands of Chinook, Tualatin, Kalapuya, Molalla, and many other tribes who made their homes along the Columbia River, creating communities and summer encampments to harvest and use the plentiful natural resources of the area.

We acknowledge that Portland, OR, has the 9th largest Urban Native American population in the U.S., with over 380 federally recognized Tribes represented in the Portland Metropolitan area (Cascade Diversity Council). We also acknowledge the systemic policies of genocide, relocation, and assimilation that still impact many Indigenous/Native American families.

We are inspired by the collective work of many Native Nations, leaders, and families who are demonstrating resilience, resistance, revitalization, healing, and creativity. We thank the descendants of these Tribes for being the original stewards and protectors of these lands since time immemorial.