By Marshall Hammond
Coinciding with the start of the 2024-25 school year, a group of youths aged 13 to 21 took up residence on the grounds of the Oral Hull Park, just off the Sandy River, for a three-day gathering September 13-15. It was a mix of first-timers and multi-year veterans. Over the course of an activity-packed weekend they prepared for the hard work ahead—influencing county, city and state government policy-making over the coming school year.
No, they aren’t some teenage illuminati. They are the Multnomah Youth Commission (MYC), and their mission is to “provide a voice for youth in the County and City’s work.”
Their goals include expanding free transit fares for youths, pushing start times for schools to 8:30 am or later and fostering greater engagement between young people and law enforcement.
The MYC is composed of 30 commissioners selected through an application and interview process by the MYC. Training and support for the commission are provided by staff from Multnomah County’s Office of Diversity and Equity and the City of Portland’s Office of Community and Civic Life.
Lily Lockwood-Keil, 17, a senior at Cleveland High School, is starting her second year on the commission. “I love being part of the MYC because it builds community strength and resilience by bringing youth voices to decision making processes and really helping youth learn about the systems they and the people around them live within,” said Lockwood-Keil after attending the MYC’s three-day retreat.
The entire MYC meets twice a month from September to June. Weekly meetings are held by the commission’s three subcommittees, each with a different focus and unique policy goals. Lockwood-Keil is the co-chair of the Youth Against Violence Committee. The other two committees are the Education/Youth Voice Committee and the Transit Equity and Environmental Advocacy Committee (TEEA).
The Education/Youth Voice Committee is working to influence legislators to push school start times back to 8:30 am or later. There is a scientific consensus that, on average, teenagers are not getting enough sleep and that later school start times correlate with more sleep, better academic performance, better overall health and reduce the frequency of teen car accidents. This research has spurred a nation-wide movement to push start times back.
Two members of the MYC’s Education/Youth Voice Committee recently appeared on KGW TV’s “Straight Talk” alongside OSU pediatrician, Dr. Ben Hoffman, and Oregon State Representative, Hoa Nguyen, to talk about school start times. The segment aired August 16 and can be viewed on the KGW website.
The focus of the MYC’s TEEA Committee has been to revitalize and expand the Youth Pass transit program to provide year-round free transit for everyone under 18 years of age across as wide an area as possible. The committee also provides mini-grants for youth-led climate justice work with funding provided by Oregon Community Foundation’s Community 101 Program.
The Youth Against Violence Committee, which Lockwood-Keil co-chairs, surveyed Portland Public School students about their safety concerns and is crafting policy proposals for the Portland Police Bureau.
“We did a survey at the end of last year gauging how youth feel about the safety precautions in their schools,” said Lockwood-Keil. “We heard that people wanted more interactions with police outside of emergency response so we’re working with PPB to further develop those recommendations and understand what that would look like.”
To push for its goals, the MYC interacts with officials at city, county and state levels. They testify at hearings, attend legislative sessions and submit policy proposals to government offices. MYC members receive training in civic engagement, advocacy and governing from local experts and officials. A significant number even go on to pursue or hold positions in local government, such as District 3 City Council candidate Ahlam Osman, who was a MYC member from her freshman year of high school to her freshman year of college.
Lockwood-Keil, who may be leaving the MYC next year to attend college elsewhere, is also interested in pursuing a political career. “I would really like to work in government or policy development when I’m older, and I think that MYC has really prepared me for that,” said Lockwood-Keil. “Between hard skills and people skills or soft skills, I feel like I’ve learned a lot about note-taking, running meetings and also teamwork, collaboration and respectful communication. I feel like MYC has prepared me really well for any kind of social activism or social justice work.”
Separate from the skills she’s learned and friends she’s made, Lockwood-Keil says she values the work MYC does in encouraging young people to get involved in public policy.
“I think my greatest hope is that every youth in Multnomah County feels like they can access the support they need to make their voice heard, and figure out where they fit into conversations about community health, and that they feel comfortable exercising their voice for things that matter to them and that matter to their community,” said Lockwood-Keil.
The MYC accepts public comment at its bi-monthly policy meetings and via email. Find out more about MYC and view their calendar of events at multco.us/multnomah-youth-commission.
2024-2025 Multnomah Youth Commission photo by Jason Hill.
