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| Affiliation | Democratic |
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2023-04-04 |
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| Name | Mingus Mapps |
| Address |
Portland, Oregon , United States |
| Email | None |
| Website | [Link] |
| Donate |  |
| Born |
April 09, 1968
(56 years)
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| Contributor | RBH |
| Last Modifed | Juan Croniqueur
Feb 15, 2024 08:53pm |
| Tags |
Black -
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| Info | Mingus Mapps learned the value of public service as a child. He grew up in a working-class family. Like many, his parents struggled to make ends meet.
When Mingus was young, after-school care didn’t exist. He would take the bus to the local welfare office where his mom worked and spend his afternoons there.
In that welfare office, Mingus saw how the government could help struggling people whose lives were similar to his family’s. He also learned the value of good customer service and treating people with respect and knew his life work would be helping others through public service.
Mingus spent his summers with his family exploring and playing in the majestic rivers and woods of the Pacific Northwest. Portland became his second home, laying the ground for his fondness of fresh air, kindness in strangers, creative artisans, and a caring community.
In the 70s and 80s, the push to open college admissions to students of color opened the doors for Mingus’ two aunts and an uncle to attend Reed College. Mingus followed their path in 1986 when he enrolled as an eager student at Reed College. He made lifelong friends and graduated in 1990 with a degree in political science.
Mingus’s first jobs out of college were with Multnomah County Commissioner Gladys McCoy, one of the first people of color to serve as an elected official in Oregon, and Multnomah County Commissioner Beverly Stein, who became one of his mentors. Mingus also worked as an Intergovernmental Relations Specialist at Portland Public Schools and a Planning Associate at United Way of Columbia-Willamette.
Mingus moved to the East Coast to become one of the few Black male students at Cornell University’s graduate program in Government. He earned his Ph.D. in 2004. His research focused on issues at the intersection of public policy, inequality, and race. He was a political professor at Brandeis University, Bowdoin College, and Portland State University. He also worked as a postdoctoral research fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
Mingus returned to Portland to raise his two sons, Langston and Coltrane, now 14 and 12 years old. They inspire his public service every day.
From 2015 to 2018, Mingus led the Historic Parkrose Neighborhood Prosperity Initiative—an urban renewal zone promoting equitable economic development in East Portland. He then worked in City Hall to support neighborhoods in the Office of Community and Civic Life.
In 2020, Mingus became the third Black man elected to the Portland City Council. He currently oversees the Portland Bureau of Transportation (PBOT), the Portland Water Bureau, and the Bureau of Environmental Services.
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