Community Education Events

LWVPDX presents free community education programs for members and the public, covering current public policy issues across a range of topics.

Our community education programs are held free of charge for our members and the public. We cover political topics, but always from a nonpartisan perspective.  We do not endorse candidates or parties.

Immigration: Our Spring 2025 Community Education Series

“Immigration policies should promote the reunification of immediate families, meet economic, business, and employment needs, and be responsive to those facing political persecution or humanitarian crises.“ -LWVUS position on immigration (https://lwvc.org/position/position-immigration/)

Immigration remains one of the most intensely felt issues across our nation. Hear from powerful speakers addressing this key issue, in two panels addressing both local and national policies affecting our immigrant neighbors.

Policing Immigration in Portland

  • Wednesday, March 12, 7-8:30 pm
  • Hosted by our Justice Interest Group

National Perspectives on Immigration Policy

  • Wednesday, April 9, 7-8:30 pm
  • Hosted by our International Relations Interest Group

About our Civic Education panels

All of our programs are recorded for rebroadcast by MetroEast Community Media and available by video and podcast from our website. Funding for production of these programs are provided by the League of Women Voters of Portland Education Fund and the Carol and Velma Saling Foundation. Donate to support our educational programs.

MetroEast Community Media produces our public events.

Videos

You can view a playlist of all the recorded videos at the League of Women Voters of Portland Civic Education panel playlist : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmMSxCrGwrI&list=PLTj47qOhpKn3jECmhiOAo6SRvWBK6NWsV

Podcasts

Since 2021, we also have produced podcasts of each community education program. Listen to the podcasts on our Buzzsprout website. Recordings of election forums are posted under the election date in the Vote menu for this website.

You can find notices of upcoming events in the sidebar to the right of each page on this website. Descriptions of each event are often posted on the homepage of this website a few weeks before the event.

Past Programming

Election 2024 Community Education Series

Portland is in the midst of historic changes. This November, Portlanders will experience a new voting method when the city introduces ranked-choice voting (RCV) to elect its top officials. In January, a new form of government took office, with 12 City Councilors addressing legislative issues and a mayor focused on administrative management. Helping you know what to expect, the League offered a series of free community learning panels through Fall 2024. Click on the title of each event to learn about it.

  1. Ranked Choice Voting: Moving Portland Forward with Confidence – Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024, 7-8:30 pm
  2. Get to Know Your New Portland Government – Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024, 7-8:30 pm
  3. Election 2024 Recap and Reflection – Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024, 7-8:30 pm

Our 2024 Election Series – Podcasts and Videos

You can view or listen to the first two programs:

Ranked-Choice Voting: Moving Portland Forward With Confidence

Portland: Get to Know Your New City Government

Past Programming

MetroEast logo

MetroEast Community Media produces our public events.

Videos

You can view a playlist of all the recorded videos at the League of Women Voters of Portland Civic Education panel playlist : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmMSxCrGwrI&list=PLTj47qOhpKn3jECmhiOAo6SRvWBK6NWsV

Podcasts

Since 2021, we also have produced podcasts of each community education program. Listen to the podcasts on our Buzzsprout website. Recordings of election forums are posted under the election date in the Vote menu for this website.

You can find notices of upcoming events in the sidebar to the right of each page on this website. Descriptions of each event are often posted on the homepage of this website a few weeks before the event.

2023-24 Programs

September 19, 2023, via Zoom, Portland is Changing! Charter Implementation Successes and Challenges. The video recording of this event is here. Listen to the podcast of this program by clicking here.

October 11, 2023, via Zoom, panel discussion on progress in creating a Community Board for Police Accountability. The video of this event is here. You can listen to the podcast by clicking here.

November 15 2023 via Zoom: Transportation Challenges for Portland and Beyond. The video of this webinar is here. The podcast is here.

March 13, 2024 “Solutions to our Affordable Housing Crisis”  Panelists : Representative Mark Gamba, Oregon Legislature; Brian Hoop, Director, Housing Oregon; Dominique Merriweather (Dom), Executive Director, Proud Ground; Elsa Natal, Director of Affordable Housing for Our Just Future. The video of this event is here. For the podcast click here.

April 10, 2024  “Portland Public Schools, Opportunities and Challenges Ahead”  Panelists: Dr. Sandy Husk, Portland Public Schools Interim Superintendent; Michelle DePass is a PPS Board of Directors member; William Fernandez, Senior Professional Development Officer, Office of Research, Assessment and Accountability; Kristina Howard, Interim Chief Academic Officer, Senior Director, Teacher Professional Learning, Office of Teaching and Learning. The link to the video is here. Listen to the podcast here.

2022-23 Programs

September 2022, via Zoom with video and podcast recordings: Explaining Measure 26-228, Portland Charter Reform. Julia Meier, Charter Commission Program Manager, and three commission members explained details about the ballot measure and answered audience questions. The podcast is available here. (Separately, we presented a voter service forum on Measure 26-228 with pro and con speakers. The podcast of the forum is here.

October 2022, via Zoom with video and podcast recordings: Gun Safety, Responsible Use & Policy. The program focused on measures to prevent gun violence and injuries, and to ensure safety in our schools and neighborhoods. The Gun Safety podcast is available here.

November 2022: Election Debrief. An analysis of the 2022 General Election results. View the recording here. Listen to the podcast by clicking here.

February 2023: Progress and Challenges for Portland Police and Policing Alternatives: a panel discussion about police training, police compliance with the US Department of Justice Settlement Agreement, and projects such as Portland Street Response which send unarmed professionals to intervene in low-risk or nonviolent confrontations. The video recording is here. The podcast is here.

April 2023: Mental and Behavioral Health, Housing and Homelessness. A panel discussion about chronic homelessness as a public health issue; the consequences of not providing health care to people with mental illness or addiction, who have experienced trauma resulting from homelessness; and the lack of shelters, beds, and extremely low-income housing. They also discuss some successful programs to help. View the video here. The podcast is here.

2021-22 Programs

Since the beginning of the pandemic, most of our Community Education programs have been conducted by Zoom. However, our October 2021 event was a very dynamic demonstration, held in person with appropriate precautions. Here are the public events we presented in the fall of 2021 and spring of 2022. Podcasts of these events are on our Buzzsprout webpage here: https://lwvpdxpodcasts.buzzsprout.com

    • September 2021, via Zoom and video recording, Pesticides: Balancing Benefits & Risks. To supplement information in the LWV of Oregon study on Pesticides and Other Biocides, the Portland LWV presented a panel discussion on how to improve the safe use of pesticides. The recording is available here.

    • November 2021, via Zoom and video recording, Immigration and Refugee Resettlement. A panel of experts from government and nonprofits, including former refugees, explained legislation and services to help new immigrants. View the video here. Listen to the podcast by searching LWVPDX PODCASTS on your favorite app.

    • February 2022, via Zoom, video recording and podcast, Portland Charter Review Commission. Members of the commission explained the process and answered questions about their goals and plans.

    • March 2022, via Zoom, video and podcast, Climate on an International Scale: Notes from COP26. Five LWV members who attended the November 2021 UN Climate Conference in Glasgow discussed what they learned about the world’s efforts to combat climate change.

2020-21 Programs

    • September 2020, the Future of Health Care in America and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The LWV of Portland, with the assistance of MetroEast Community Media, recorded a Zoom panel discussion with health experts. You can view that recording here.

    • November 2020, Election Debrief: Now What?, with expert political analysts speaking about the election’s impacts on our city, state and nation. The recording is available for viewing here.

    • February 2021, From Houseless to Housing and Services, with speakers from various local organizations that provide services for our houseless population. The recording of this panel discussion can viewed here.

    • March 2021, a panel discussion on Climate Change: Here and Now, which can be viewed here.

    • April 2021, Portland Police Bureau: Oversight and Accountability, a panel discussion with people who are working on police accountability, training and legislation. View the recording of this discussion here.

2019-20 Programs

    • September 16, 2019 – Innovations in Public Education, on Monday, September 16, 7 to 8:30 pm, Multnomah County Boardroom, 501 SE Hawthorne. View the video recording here.

    • October 21, 2019 (Monday)  – Election Forum on local ballot measures in the November 5 Special Election, 6:30-8:30 pm, Multnomah County Boardroom, 501 SE Hawthorne.  View the recordings under November 5 Special Election here.

    • November 12, 2019 – Portland’s City Government – Results of the study by the League of Women Voters of Portland on criteria for effective governments and whether the structure of our current city government is serving us effectively. 7:00-8:30 pm, Multnomah County Boardroom, 501 SE Hawthorne. You can view the video recording here.

    • March 10, 2020, Privacy and Cybersecurity Today, panel discussion with presentations by LWV of Oregon President Becky Gladstone with an overview of the LWVOR study, Director of Multnomah County Elections Tim Scott on election security, and Lane Powell attorney Emily Maass on corporate and personal security, 7:00-8:30 pm, Multnomah County Boardroom, 501 SE Hawthorne. Click here to view the video of this event.

    • April 2020: The League interviewed dozens of Primary Election candidates via Zoom. With the help of our media partner, MetroEast, we created a Video Voters’ Guide.