The Portland Tribune - Bonamici Visits Final Session of Beaverton BOLD Program

News Article

By Miles Vance

The City of Beaverton's Organizing and Leadership Development program welcomed U.S. Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici to the final training session of this year's BOLD program on Saturday.

Bonamici's visit highlighted the significance of the program and Beaverton's continuing efforts to engage and support immigrants, refugees, and communities of color.

"Beaverton is a leader in encouraging civic engagement and leadership among immigrants, refugees, and people of color," Bonamici said. "Diversity, and our acceptance of people from around the world, make our communities strong and vibrant. The graduates of the BOLD program will invest their hard work, talents and ideas in our community, and we will all benefit from having people in leadership roles who can speak from experience about the needs of communities of color, immigrants, and refugees."

BOLD is held each spring and is designed for immigrants, refugees and people of color to learn leadership development skills and civic engagement. The program exposes participants to the fundamentals of community leadership, cross-cultural organizing, the structure of local government and ways to get involved. Participants have the opportunity to meet the mayor and city councilors, and this year had the added bonus of meeting Bonamici.

"We're very proud to invest in our community through the BOLD program," said Mayor Denny Doyle. "Representative Bonamici's visit (was) an important highlight for participants and a message that word of the program's successes is spreading."

Many graduates of the BOLD program have gone on to serve on city boards and in other leadership positions in the community, as well as act as ambassadors to their communities. The program is a successful partnership between the city of Beaverton and the local nonprofit Unite Oregon, formerly known as the Center for Intercultural Organizing.

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