Submitted by Marjory on Tue, 2010-03-16 12:29

Filed under:

• Social Change in Oregon
• Leadership

There’s a 20-foot magnolia tree in full bloom outside the window where I’m sitting. It’s beautiful on its own, but even more stunning against a backdrop of older moss covered trees, with budding rhododendrons nearby. In that environment, the magnolia becomes more than a tree—it is part of a vibrant garden.

I had a similar experience at MRG’s annual leadership gathering this weekend, where twenty-five volunteers and staff came from around the state. I was inspired by each person’s story of how they got involved in the social justice movement.

Together, they gave me great hope for the future.

One of our newest leaders is Patricia Cortez. Patricia left her home in El Salvador when the political climate became too dangerous for community organizers dedicated to leftist liberation movements. Today, she works as a youth organizer with Juventud FACETA, a program of Amigos Multicultural Services Center in Eugene, and supports Latina women going through postpartum depression.

Patricia’s experience as a bilingual, bicultural organizer will be a great addition to our General Fund Grantmaking Committee. But what gives me hope for the future is knowing she’ll be joined by other, equally inspiring leaders who took on new leadership roles on at MRG this year.

They include restaurateur and Eugene Human Rights Commissioner Ibrahim Hamide; Shadia Duery, who has been a natural resources manager in South, Central and North America; Francis Eatherington, who has been protecting Oregon's precious forests and waters for over 20 years; Linfield College development officer Chris Kahle; and Dianne Riley, the Equity Agenda Coordinator at the Coalition for a Livable Future in Portland.

The breadth of their experience—along with the rest of MRG’s volunteers and staff—will help make MRG the strongest resource it can be for Oregon’s social justice movement.

MRG leaders work in business, government, philanthropy, education, and social justice groups around the state. We come from Kenya, Bolivia, and Cote d’Ivoire; from the East Coast, the Midwest and the Deep South; from Oregon and other points around the globe.

Two-thirds of the people that gathered in Eugene this weekend are people of color, half identify as queer, and seven were born outside the U.S.. What we share is a commitment to MRG’s vision of a just and joyful world where people, cultures and ecosytems thrive.

In order to create a world that works for everyone, we need the leadership of people from many different communities, with a wide range of perspectives and skills.

This weekend’s leadership gathering showed that the future of MRG—and the movement—is in good hands!

Photo from http://tree-species.blogspot.com/