Office of Community and Civic Life, Office of Equity and Human Rights will shift to Mayor Wheeler’s portfolio

The move is part of the City’s broader effort to streamline the
Charter Transition process and improve service delivery to Portlanders.
Today, Mayor Wheeler announced the move of the Office of Community & Civic Life and the Office of Equity and Human Rights to his portfolio as part of the alignment of bureaus into service areas established by City Council in Resolution 37609. The offices had been under Commissioner Dan Ryan’s portfolio since the beginning of 2023.
On Nov. 1, 2023, City Council adopted a new organizational chart to be fully implemented by January 1, 2025. Under that arrangement, both offices will be placed in the City Administrator’s Office. The Office of Community & Civic Life will report to the Assistant City Administrator and the Office of Equity and Human Rights will report to the Equity Officer.
The Office of Community & Civic Life was created in 1974 to build stronger communities by supporting and empowering Portlanders to get involved with their local government through civic engagement, community leadership, and support for neighbors.
The Office of Equity and Human Rights, created in 2011, holds the City accountable by providing leadership and developing policies, practices, and procedures that dismantle systems of oppression and build equitable foundations for systemically excluded and institutionally oppressed Portland communities.
“I am proud of the work we accomplished returning the Office of Community and Civic Life to its core mission of serving Portlanders with a renewed spirit of civic engagement that includes listening and learning from the wisdom in our neighborhood communities”, said Commissioner Dan Ryan. “Over the past year, the Office of Equity and Human Rights has focused on building capacity to deliver on the equity needs of all Portlanders. Positioning both offices under the City Administrator in the new form of government will ensure their ongoing success.”
“I’d like to thank Commissioner Ryan for his leadership of both offices over the past year and his commitment to serving Portlanders,” said Mayor Wheeler. “Together with my colleagues, we will continue to set Portland’s next government up for success so they can hit the ground running in January 2025.”