OUR STORY

THE BEGINNING 

United in the belief that we can do more together than separately, the Portland African American Leadership Forum (PAALF) was founded in 2009 by a Steering Committee of 20 local African American leaders. PAALF was founded as one of the national African American Leadership Forums created out of Minnesota’s African American Leadership Forum established by Northwest Area Foundation.

SIX YEARS LATER

In 2015, we launched the People’s Plan visioning project. We hosted 26 different visioning sessions and focus groups that involved nearly 500 people. The People’s Plan was released in 2017 and resulted in over 65 action items that moved the people of Portland, Oregon closer to being a thriving, resilient, and connected community.

ESTABLISHING OUR SIBLING ORGANIZATION

By viewing the community as the drivers of change, the award-winning People’s Plan empowered Portland’s Black community to assert their right to actively shape the city they live in. Through the People’s Plan, we found that voter engagement to increase representation in elected offices was identified as highly important to Black people in Portland. To help lead that work, in 2019 we launched our sibling political organization, Imagine Black! From voters to elected officials, we believe that Black voices and Black leaders belong in meaningful decision-making roles.

NEW BEGINNINGS

In 2020, we began the journey to change our name from Portland African American Leadership Forum to Imagine Black Futures and from PAALF Action Fund to Imagine Black. 

Reflecting on the issues identified in the People’s Plan, living within a hostile political and social climate, a long term goal of doing statewide advocacy and organizing work, and the desire for intentional inclusion of ALL Black people in the African Diaspora the need for a name change began to crystalize.