The Center for Philanthropy meeting rooms are named after local social justice heroes.

 
Black and white elegant photo portrait of Beatrice Morrow Cannady, a Black woman with sleek hair, pulled back, and a floral, fringed shawl draped over most of her body. She is seated.

Beatrice Morrow Cannady (1890-1974)

Beatrice Morrow Cannady was a civil rights activist and founding member of Portland’s branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She used her position as editor of the Advocate, Oregon’s largest African American newspaper, to defend the rights of African Americans in Oregon and Southwest Washington.

Read more about Beatrice.

Photo from the Oregon Historical Society

 
Close-up photo of Arthur Honeyman’s face, an older white man wearing a beret with patches of red skin around his lips.

Arthur Honeyman, MFA (1940-2008)

Arthur Honeyman was a prolific essayist, poet, publisher and disability rights activist who did things his own way. Among his life adventures: running for Oregon’s state legislature twice on a platform of “Spastic Power,” shuffling his wheelchair from Portland to Salem along the freeway to protest the lack of disabled access on buses and springing his mother out of a mental institution.

Read more about Art.

Photo from oregonlive.com

 
Black and white photo portrait of Iwao Oyama, an older Japanese man, sitting at a desk in a suit with a newspaper in hand.

Iwao Oyama (1886-1952)

Iwao Oyama edited and published Oshu Nippo, the primary Japanese language newspaper in Oregon, from 1917-1951. On the afternoon of the attack on Pearl Harbor, Iwao Oyama was arrested and his printing press confiscated. Nevertheless, as soon as World War II ended, he returned to Portland and resumed publishing Oshu Nippo with a typewriter and mimeograph machine.

Read more about Iwao.

Photo from the Oregon Historical Society

 
Professional photo portrait of Melissa Sarabia, a young Latina woman with flowing hair, smiling and standing among trees covered in ivy.

Melissa Sarabia (1988-2015)

Melissa Sarabia was studying to be an immigration lawyer at Lewis & Clark Law School. She acted as an advocate for educational justice for undocumented youth and would often testify on behalf of DREAMers. Melissa’s family believes she was motivated to protect others’ rights and help them overcome their life obstacles due to her own experience with cystic fibrosis.

Read more about Melissa.

Photo from www.gofundme.com/zys6nnr8

 
Blurry photo of Reverend Ramona Soto Rank, a Native woman with short hair, smiling, pictured from the shoulders up.

Reverend Ramona Soto Rank (1944-2007)

Reverend Ramona Soto Rank was an enrolled member of the Klamath Tribes of Oregon and the first Native American woman to be ordained in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. As a leader in both American Indian/Alaska Native communities and the Lutheran Church, Ramona strongly supported Native American rights for sovereignty and self-determination.

Read more about Ramona.

Photo from day1.org