100 Best awards dinner honors top nonprofits in Oregon


Jason Kaplan

Oregon Business celebrated the 2017 100 Best Nonprofits to Work for in Oregon last night at the Sentinel hotel in Portland.

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Here are some of the highlights:

The event was emceed by Geoff Norcross, host of OPB’s Morning Edition.

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Portland improv group ComedySportz delivered a “very serious, very formal,” reading of the names of all 100 nonprofits. The pun- laden performance — “I Energy Trusted you”  â€” featured skits, a riff on renaissance-era madrigals and goofy modern dance moves miming the work of individual nonprofits. 

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Editor Linda Baker hosted a Q&A with Rukaiyah Adams, Chief Investment Officer at Meyer Memorial Trust. Adams described her transition from the private sector to nonprofit work.

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“I didn’t want to keep making money for people who didn’t need more of it,” she said. Now, she said, “my job is to be Robin Hood.”

Adams called for a greater focus on equity and inclusion in nonprofit management. She also touched on what Portland nonprofits can do to remedy the city’s history of racist planning policies and gentrification.

Although Oregonians understand the importance of investing in environmental conservation, she said, we need to apply the same energy to conserving culture and human habitat in our urban areas.

Oregon Business research editor Kim Moore took the stage to discuss changes to the survey aimed at capturing workforce equity issues.

We honored the best nonprofits in each category:

BD2F9962Capital Manor recieves its award for the second-best large nonprofit

Large

1. Childpeace Montessori School

2. Capital Manor

3. Life Flight Network

Medium

1. B’nai B’rith Camp

2. Ronald McDonald House Charities of Oregon

3. Portland Homeless Family Solutions

Small

1. Americans Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center

2. Clackamas Workforce Partnership

3. Bridge Meadows

4. Maslow Project

To cap off the evening, we broke out fresh copies of our October issue, featuring the complete list of the  2017 100 Best Nonprofits to Work For in Oregon. To view the list online, click here.

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