Unite Oregon is a membership organization led by people of color, immigrants and refugees, rural communities, and people experiencing poverty. We work across Oregon to build a unified intercultural movement for justice.

Grounded in the belief that organizing people who are suffering oppression has the greatest potential to affect the root causes of economic, political and social injustice, we involve our members in all aspects of program development and implementation.

Programs

We focus on four program areas that, when combined, catalyze systemic change.

Civic Engagement—Unite Oregon’s civic engagement programs provide pathways for community members to participate in democratic processes, serve as leaders on boards and commissions, and engage in the issues that matter most to them.

Policy Advocacy—Unite Oregon advocates for policy changes at the local, state, and national levels that increase equity and reduce disparities experienced by immigrants, refugees, people of color, rural communities, and people experiencing poverty.

Intergenerational Leadership Development—Unite Oregon develops new leaders through signature leadership development programs, through strategic trainings, and through on-the-ground leadership positions within our issue campaigns.

Community Organizing—Unite Oregon assists our members in building the organizing skills necessary to impact policies that affect them and to work collaboratively, mobilizing diverse constituencies.

Issues

We work on a wide range of issues which impact the communities we organize. Our priorities are:

Police Accountability, Defunding, and Community Safety—Transforming Oregon’s approach to community safety requires dismantling patterns and practices of profiling in law enforcement. This means enacting a comprehensive strategy that includes high level community oversight and transparency, defunding police and reinvesting those funds in our communities, consistent data collection, and robust accountability mechanisms.

Economic Justice—Unite Oregon is proud to be joining a diverse and growing number of individuals, organizations, and coalitions nationwide to generate even greater attention to—and progress on—the issues and policies that are of critical importance to the economic stability and success of women, families, and the nation. We are coming together to remind lawmakers and people across the country that we are women and families, and the issues we care about matter. We need an economy that works for all of us, and that starts with pay equity for all, a higher minimum wage, and paid family and medical leave.

Immigrant and Refugee Rights—Unite Oregon continues to advocate for Comprehensive Immigration Reform at the national level, including policies which end deportation, strengthen family unity and re‐unification, and include a path to permanent residency and citizenship. We support expanding the refugee and asylum programs to ensure people fleeing persecution, natural disaster, and war across the world can find safety in this country.

Drug Treatment and Recovery—After working tirelessly in 2020 to pass Measure 110, the Oregon Drug Treatment and Recovery Act, we are working with partners across the state to ensure that everyone has equitable access to the healing services they need in their recovery journey and that we are centering the folks most harmed by the failed War on Drugs.

Education—Through our Building Undergraduates through Inclusive Leadership Development program, we work to address systemic barriers to educational attainment for many students of color, empower parents and families to advocate for justice in our educational system, and organize our communities to advance an educational equity agenda.

Environmental Justice and Climate Resiliance—As climate change intensifies across the state of Oregon, the communities we organize are disproportionately experiencing the impacts. We work to organize communities to combat environmental injustice and the inequitable distributions of the benefits and burdens of development, as we ensure that immigrants, refugees, and BIPOC folks have the resources they need to prepare for a changing climate.

Health Equity—Along with our community partners and coalitions such as the Oregon Health Equity Alliance, we educate, organize and advocate for community-driven solutions to improve our health and wellbeing. We believe every Oregonian should have an equal chance to achieve their full health potential.

Housing—Home should be our safest space - a place that can serve as a core foundation of our health and where our families can thrive. Increasingly, the quality and stability of our housing is determined not only by our economic circumstances, but by our race, ethnicity, and immigration status. The current housing crisis impacts all Oregonians, but due to systemic barriers, some communities are impacted more than others.