Community-Building and Housing: Equity, Innovation, & Best-Practices
Wed, May 07
|Nordic Northwest
How do we create housing that addresses some of the greatest challenges of our time? For this program the speakers will dive into best-practices in the Portland metro region —from innovative middle housing investment and public-private partnerships to scalable and replicable "reparative development"
Time & Location
May 07, 2025, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM
Nordic Northwest, 8800 SW Oleson Rd, Portland, OR 97223, USA
About
Cost
Nordic Northwest Members: Free
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General Admission: $5
Please note, all sales are final
Doors open at 5:00 pm with a hosted reception with of Pacific Northwest beer / wine, beverages and light refreshments. Reception hosted by Scan Design Foundation.
Event description
How do we create housing that addresses some of the greatest challenges of our time? For this program the speakers will dive into best-practices in the Portland metro region —from innovative middle housing investment and public-private partnerships to scalable and replicable "reparative development" projects that address undue effects of urban renewal and displacement —and explore key themes in the Housing Lab exhibition.
Join us for rich conversation with Azalea Renfield, Executive Director of the nationally recognized Williams & Russell Community Development Corporation (CDC), a nonprofit dedicated to community and economic development. Under her leadership, this CDC was a recent recipient of $2.5M investment from the 1803 Fund to support Black communities in Portland; Tyler Bump of ECONorthwest, who brings a unique perspective focused on the intersection of land use planning and real estate investment that advance equitable housing, economic development, community revitalization, and sustainable development goals—including development of scenario modeling of middle housing options for Beaverton and other regional centers; and Steve Messinetti, who has served President and CEO of Habitat for Humanity Portland Region since March 2004, where under his visionary leadership the organization has successfully mobilized the community, volunteers, local businesses, faith organizations, and empowered low income families and first-time homeowners to help build affordable, high quality, energy efficient homes.
Presented in conjunction with Nordic Northwest's installation of the exhibition BOLIGLABORATORIUM: A DANISH HOUSING LAB, a joint initiative of the Danish Arts Foundation and Realdania. The U.S. premier of the exhibition is presented by Scan Design Foundation, whose mission is to support the cross-cultural exchange between Denmark and the U.S. The exhibition was first showcased at the 2023 Architectural Congress in Copenhagen and is on view at Nordic Northwest throughout April and May 2025.
Nordic Northwest is a honored to be partnering with WorldOregon on public programs related to this timely exhibition.
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