July 21, 2021
Page 3
INSIDE L O C A L N E W S
The
Week in Review
M ETRO
page 2
page 7
Marsha Williams (from left), Zalika Gardner and Kali Thorne-Ladd, founders of KairoxPDX, are
pictured in a Portland Observer photo from 2018. It was announced Friday that Williams will become
the school’s new executive director as Thorne-Ladd moves to a new position as executive director of
the Children’s Institute.
KairosPDX Leaders Swap Roles
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
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Black community
school announces
changes
KairosPDX, the public charter
school serving grades K-5 with
special emphasis on the Black
community, announced the ap-
pointments and promotions Mon-
day of Marsha P.J. Williams as its
chief executive officer and Zalika
Gardner as chief education and
culture officer.
Both Williams and Gardner
were among KairosPDX’s five
co-founders of the school in 2012
with a mission to eliminate racial
achievement and opportunity gaps
by cultivating confident, creative
and compassionate leaders.
Williams will replace current
KairosPDX Executive Director
Kali Thorne Ladd, also one of the
school’s co-founders, who will be
departing the organization at the
end of August and embarking on
a new position as chief executive
officer of the Children’s Institute.
The KairosPDX board ex-
pressed it was grateful for Thorne’s
“dedication and trailblazing work
and looks forward to her successes
in her professional journey.”
Williams is a seasoned exec-
utive, who brings a wealth of di-
verse organizational skills and
thought leadership to commu-
nity-based and national organi-
zations, most notably currently
serving as the chapter president
of the Portland Willamette Valley
Chapter of Jack and Jill of Ameri-
ca, Inc. and as a trustee on Warner
Pacific University’s Board.
Before KairosPDX, Williams
worked in the health care sec-
tor. She received her Bache-
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O PINION
C LASSIFIED /B IDS
pages 10
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New Ally
for Change
in Police
Culture
Nonpartisan
League of Women
Voters takes stand
Police headquarters, downtown. (Photo by M. O. Stevens/
Wikipedia Commons)
Changing the culture of the
Portland Police Bureau must be
a key goal of bureau leadership,
according to a new advocacy po-
sition just released by the nonpar-
tisan League of Women Voters of
Portland.
The League’s membership is-
sued a report last week that con-
cluded that, “PPB must end prac-
tices that systematically place
police in opposition to or in dom-
ination of the public, or that treat
community members as enemies.”
The report, coming after a
year-long study of Portland police
oversight and accountability, calls
for added accountability for police
officers who violate community
standards and police bureau pol-
icies and directives; a reduction
in the use of force; fair, equitable,
and respectful treatment of com-
munity members; and a reduction
of bias-based policing with a goal
C ontinued on P age 4