In the beginning the Coalition members took time to discuss mutual values and goals, conversations that created a strong foundation for future challenges. The group agreed that its mission is to unite as a coalition to address the socioeconomic disparities, institutional racism, and inequity of services experienced by the families, children and communities it represents. The Coalition also agreed to organize communities for collective action with the goal of achieving social change around self-determination, wellness, equality, justice and prosperi- ty. The members’ vision is for increased political power, greater representation of communities of color in key leadership positions, and influence in decision making. This vision stems from the shared values of acceptance and understanding of all cultures, trust, unity, mutual support, and ultimately equity and justice for all people.

Six years later, the Coalition’s voice has grown stronger and advocacy efforts have expanded beyond County funding processes into other arenas of public policy that impact communities of color. Current efforts are focused on the development and implementation of a comprehensive research project on population data for communities of color in the Portland metro area. The Coalition has agreed that accurate population data and thorough needs assessment are a top priority in order to develop policies that accurately reflect and appropriately meet the needs of youth and families that reside in the City of Portland and Multnomah County.

Each of the six communi- ties of color—African American, African Immigrant and Refugee, Asian/Pacific Islander, Latino, Native American, and Slavic—that comprise the Coalition have experienced significant negative impacts due to policies and decisions that were made based on inaccurate data, as well as policy decisions that are not in touch with the current ethnic communi- ties that reside in Portland. One example of inadequate data is the current information on high school dropout rates. The commonly used practice of gathering high school dropout information based only on twelfth grade completion overlooks a number of youth of color who drop out of school before they even reach the twelfth grade. Focusing solely on one grade does not demonstrate accurate progression of youth leading up to the twelfth grade1, and actually overlooks a large number of youth who leave school before reaching their senior years, making the dropout rate seem much less significant than it actually is, particularly for youth of color and for youth living in poverty.