Town Hall/Current Events AM

Hear the Candidates for Portland Commissioner Position 2

Loretta Smith                               Dan Ryan    

Loretta Smith graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Broadcast Communication. Straight out of college she began working for then-Congressman Ron Wyden. Over 20 years with Senator Wyden, she rose from receptionist to become his field representative for Multnomah County.

After decades of working to advocate for resources for Portland, Loretta ran to be a Multnomah County Commissioner. During her time on the Commission, she created the Summer Works program at the county, tailored towards helping at-risk youth learn valuable life skills and placing them in permanent employment, a program that grew to over 600 students per year. Her commitment to promoting culturally specific safety net programs led her to create the only local Promise Neighborhoods Initiative in the state, investing $6 million+ in county funding to create new programs and services for our most vulnerable youth and families; she also led a coalition that secured $29 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Promise Neighborhoods Initiative.  

Dan Ryan was an elected member of the Portland Public School Board from 2005 to 2008. This passion for education continued when Dan Ryan served as the CEO of All Hands Raised (formerly Portland Schools Foundation) from 2008 to 2019. Dan was the Portland Light of Fire Executive Director of the Year in 2018. Dan received recognition as one of Portland Monthly Magazine’s 50 Most Influential Portlanders and is an alumnus of the American Leadership Forum in Oregon (ALF Class of XXVIII).

Dan serves on the leadership advisory boards of Wells Fargo, the Portland Trail Blazers, and Trillium Family Services and the University of Oregon Alumni Association. Prior to All Hands Raised, Dan worked in the private, public and non-profit sector including positions at the Oregon Ballet Theatre, Portland State University, Metropolitan Group, Virginia Mason Foundation, and New School University. He holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oregon and did graduate-level work at New School University’s Graduate School of Management & Urban Professional. 

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