Appoint members to the District 1 Community Involvement Committee

TO THE COUNCIL:The Community Involvement Committee (CIC) reviews and advises on how City staff engage with the public in land use and transportation planning. The CIC is an important part of the City's Community Involvement Program, supporting the goals and policies of the 2035 Comprehensive Plan and is required by Oregon Statewide Planning Goal 1. To achieve equal representation from the four council districts, it is recommended that the Council appoint two new members to the Community Involvement Committee, with terms ending September 2, 2029. As Mayor, I request a Council motion and vote to confirm these appointments to the Community Involvement Committee: Appointment Term 1. Mireaya Medina Sept. 2, 2026 – Sept. 1, 2029 2. Sabina Urdes Sept. 2, 2026 – Sept. 1, 2029 These two individuals bring a wide variety of expertise and experience from across the Portland community and provide the committee with equal representation across the four districts. They will add immense value to the work we do in community involvement and accountability in long-range planning. I look forward to working with this group of volunteers and the recommendations they will make to City planning staff in the years ahead. Brief biographies and statements of interest for each individual are provided below: Mireaya MedinaBiographyMireaya comes from both professional and community leadership experience, and has familiarity working across local government, nonprofit organizations, neighborhood coalitions, advocacy initiatives, and community-based spaces, Mireaya understands the importance of building environments where people feel respected, heard, and meaningfully included in decision-making processes. Mireaya's work brings to the CIC knowledge centered on equitable engagement practices, culturally responsive communications, and relationship-building with historically underserved communities, including Black, Indigenous, immigrant, refugee, LGBTQIA+, disabled, and low-income communities. Contributed to diverse groups like the Black and Beyond the Binary Collective, SE Uplift Neighborhood Coalition, Portland United Against Hate, Portland Parks & Recreation, amongst others. Statement of InterestWhat excites me most about the opportunity to serve on this advisory body is the chance to contribute to meaningful, community-centered work alongside people who are committed to creating positive impact.I value collaborative spaces where community voice, equity, creativity, and public service intersect, and I am especially interested in helping strengthen systems, engagement practices, and decision-making processes in ways that are thoughtful, inclusive, and responsive to community needs.I am also excited by the opportunity to learn from others, contribute my own experiences and skills, and help support work that creates tangible benefits for the broader community.If selected to serve, I would hope to contribute to thoughtful and equitable decision-making processes while helping strengthen communication, collaboration, and community engagement efforts connected to the advisory body's mission.I would also hope to:Help elevate community perspectives that may not always be fully represented.Support accessible and inclusive engagement practices.Contribute strategic thinking and organizational support.Help build strong relationships between the advisory body and the communities it serves.Support actionable recommendations and meaningful outcomes.More broadly, I would hope to be a collaborative, reliable, and solutions-oriented member who contributes positively to the group's work and helps move initiatives forward in a way that feels grounded, equitable, and community-centered.Sabina UrdesBiographySabina brings experience working with diverse communities, their work has been focused on building relationships across lines of race, ethnicity, language, age, income, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and lived experience. They believe that strong communities are built when people feel heard, respected, and included in decision-making processes. Much of Sabina's work has centered in East Portland, collaborated with immigrant communities, LGBTQIA+ residents, BIPOC-led organizations, low-income families, elders, youth, and people experiencing housing insecurity. Is a founder and Executive Director of East Portland Collective, worked for Councilor Candace Avalos office, where Sabina worked directly with a highly diverse constituency, was the President of Lents Neighborhood Association, Co-chair of the East Portland Action Plan, and a member of a few other community groups. Statement of InterestWhat excites me most about the possibility of serving on the Community Involvement Committee is the opportunity to help strengthen meaningful, accessible, and equitable civic engagement in District 1 and across Portland. Much of my work over the past several years has centered around helping community members feel connected to decision-making processes that often feel inaccessible, intimidating, or disconnected from their lived realities. I care deeply about creating pathways for people—especially historically underrepresented communities—to feel heard, respected, and included in shaping the future of their neighborhoods and city.As someone who has spent years organizing in East Portland, I have seen both the incredible strengths within our communities and the barriers many residents face when trying to engage with government systems. I am excited by the possibility of helping bridge those gaps by bringing my experience in community organizing, outreach, coalition-building, and public engagement into a collaborative advisory space focused on improving community involvement.I am especially drawn to opportunities that center relationship-building and shared problem-solving across diverse communities. I enjoy bringing people together, helping facilitate productive conversations, and finding ways to ensure outreach and engagement efforts are culturally responsive and accessible to people from different backgrounds, languages, and lived experiences.Serving on this advisory body would also allow me to continue contributing to the communities I care deeply about while learning from other committee members, community leaders, and residents. I believe Portland is at an important moment in redefining how local government engages with the public, and I would be honored to support efforts that make participation more inclusive, transparent, and community-driven.If selected to serve, I would hope to help strengthen trust, accessibility, and meaningful participation between community members and local government—particularly for communities that have historically been underrepresented or excluded from civic processes. I would want to contribute to engagement strategies that feel more community-centered, culturally responsive, multilingual, and relationship-driven rather than transactional.One of my goals would be to help identify practical ways to reduce barriers to participation for residents who may face challenges related to language access, housing instability, transportation, disability, work schedules, childcare, or unfamiliarity with government systems. Through my work in East Portland, I have seen how much insight and leadership exists within communities that are often left out of decision-making conversations, and I believe the City benefits when engagement efforts intentionally meet people where they are.I would also hope to bring a strong community organizing perspective to the advisory body by helping strengthen partnerships between neighborhood groups, grassroots organizations, culturally specific organizations, and local government. I believe collaboration across sectors and communities is essential to building lasting and equitable civic participation.Additionally, I would want to support outreach and communication efforts that are more transparent, approachable, and easier for residents to engage with. My background in communications and public engagement has taught me that people are far more likely to participate when they feel informed, welcomed, and confident that their voices will genuinely matter.Ultimately, I would hope my service contributes to creating more inclusive and effective community involvement processes that reflect the diversity, creativity, and lived experiences of Portland residents—especially those from East Portland and historically marginalized communities.