My name is Mike Phillips. I’ve toured with Stevie Wonder, Prince and worked with Michael Jackson. I’m the first non-athlete, to sign with Brand Jordan. The correlation between music and sports; they feed each other. It’s important to remember your technique. practice doesn't make perfect, perfect practice makes perfect.
AJ McCreary founded the Equitable Giving Circle to address the fact that every community has different needs, yet there is not equity. Their work aims to build immediate and increased equity throughout Portland’s BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) communities through a combination of fund development and network building opportunities that center economic equity.
Jordan Carter is an entrepreneur with a vision to build a community of creative excellence. He co-founded Portland's "Produce Organics" and "Produce Organics Records."
Hobbs Waters is an artist, dancer and founder of CityTroll. Whether it’s performance, entertainment, visual art or design, Hobbs identifies as a City Troll in every way and tries to represent this in his work.
Portland Trail Blazer and NBA great Terry Porter talks about his life, his community, his family and how coaching is his way of giving student and athletes direction and support in their lives.
Justice Adrienne Nelson was appointed to the Oregon Supreme Court January, 2018, making her the first African American to sit on the state’s highest court and on any appellate state court. Her election to a six-year term in November 2018 made her the first African American woman elected statewide in Oregon.
Jewan Manuel traces his journey to Portland and into the world of great vegan food. The founder of Plant Based Papi, the popular comfort food pop-up that recently celebrated its one year anniversary of slinging truffle mac and cheese tacos, crispy buffalo “chicken” quesadillas, and roasted jackfruit chili cheese fries, talks about his inspirations and living a purposeful life.
Bertony Faustin has lived a life that has taken him from making mixtapes from the radio in Brooklyn to blending wine in North Plains, Oregon, without skipping a beat. He and his fellow winemakers overcame the odds to forge a new lane in an industry steeped in it's set ways, growing Abbey Creek Vineyard into a signature Oregon earth to glass winery.
Jonathan Johnsongriffin leads Nike vision and strategy that drives product and brand. He talks about the importance of purpose in his life and how it fuels and inspires him and how it can fuel organizations to better represent and serve the greater community and the community of the world that they are a part of.
Actor Bobbi MacKenzie is a young, dynamic talent who goes to Tigard High School. She lived for two years in New York City attending the "School of Rock". She hopes to return to New York to attend The Julliard School. Her personal motto: "Stay ready so you don't have to get ready".
Kayode E. Balogun (Aka, Ambush) is the music curator and executive director at The Numberz, a radio station providing a unique listener and creator experience carving out a media space to empower communities of color. The intent of The Numberz is to give a full representation of the Black music experience.
Jocelyn Rice has worked for Columbia Sportswear, Nike, and Eddie Bauer, and has won multiple awards for her designs. Her interest in design in collaboration with history and culture began in college and has led to her work as a transformative designer of outdoor apparel, being a strong advocate for Black and Brown women in the outdoor industry and for informing modern design with racial equity work.
Ian Williams is founder of Deadstock Coffee Company, which he started in 2015 out of a truck, but moved on to create a neighborhood brick and mortar temple to NBA culture and sneaker design in Portland's Chinatown.
Jacqueline Alexander is the founder and CEO of Know Your Fruit / Puff Factory. “I've always felt like more black people should be involved in farming because it's our legacy,” Alexanders said. “We have lost so much land as Black people. In the ’20s, there were about 1.1 million Black farmers. Fast forward to today, there's only 46,000. My vision is for young people to understand that this is an option and it's how we build generational wealth. We need to own the land."
Easy McCoy is a Portland, Oregon, rapper and artist. His vision is to be true to his experience and vision in a personal and authentic way.
Astoria, Oregon resident Zachary Stocks is an educator, historian, National Park Service Ranger and the Executive Director of Oregon Black Pioneers. His work focuses on 18th and 19th century America, with particular emphasis on African American history and the history of westward expansion.
Jelani Memory is the CEO and founder of "A Kids Company About," which creates books to help kids and parents navigate tough conversations and meaningful discussions about real-life issues in the real world they are growing up in. In 2021, Jelani expanded his company to include subscription-based classes for teens and podcasts.
Jordan Dinwiddie is an award-winning Associate Creative Director at Wieden + Kennedy. She has been recognized as one of Adweek’s Creative 100 and BET’s 25 most influential people in sneakers. Born in Chicago, she moved to Portland 2013 after her blog caught the attention of her eventual Wieden + Kennedy peers.