Think & Drink with Eric K. Ward And Rukaiyah Adams by Oregon Humanities

A conversation on race, power, and justice with Eric K. Ward, executive director of Western States Center, and Rukaiyah Adams, chief investment officer of Meyer Memorial Trust.

Eric K. Ward is a long time civil rights strategist and philanthropist. Originally from Los Angeles, he attended Lane Community College and the University of Oregon and began his civil rights career at a time when the white nationalist movement was engaged in violent paramilitary activity that sought to undermine democratic governance in the Pacific Northwest. He worked to expose and counter hate groups and establish task forces focused on human rights and anti-violence throughout the Northwest. Most recently a program officer for the Ford Foundation, Ward returned to Oregon in 2017 to lead Western States Center, a Portland-based nonprofit that works with leaders in the West to harness regional advocacy to reduce inequality and advance opportunity.

Rukaiyah Adams is chief investment officer of Meyer Memorial Trust. She serves on the board of directors of Oregon Public Broadcasting and as chair of the Oregon Investment Council, the board that manages approximately $90 billion for the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund. She is a driving force of Albina Vision, an effort to develop a new, inclusive neighborhood in Portland’s Rose Quarter, where the majority-Black community of Albina existed before it was razed to build Memorial Coliseum.