Keynote Speaker Professor Brence Pernell will discuss the 13th amendment and the constitutional basis for reparations. We will also be joined by Oregon Senator Lew Frederick, and Oregon Representative Janelle Bynum. The presentations will be followed by a panel discussion with Roberta Phillip-Robbins J.D. and Cameron Whitten, moderated by Rakeem Washington.

All proceeds were donated to Western States Center.

Keynote Speaker: Brence Pernell

Brence Pernell is Adjunct Professor of Law at the NYU School of Law and at New York Law School. His scholarly interests intersect race, education, and the law. He has published in several law journals, including, most recently, the Yale Law & Policy Review (forthcoming 2021). 

After obtaining his A.B. in History from Duke University, Brence studied at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education, earning his M.Ed. He taught public high school for several years thereafter and went on to attend the NYU School of Law as a Root-Tilden Kern Scholar and AnBryce Scholar. Brence clerked for Judge J. Michelle Childs at the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina and for Chief Judge Theodore McKee of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit before litigating at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He now serves as Assistant General Counsel at MDRC, a New York-based social policy firm aimed at improving public education and the lives of poor people.

A courageous trailblazer, State Representative Janelle Bynum currently serves as the Oregon State Representative for House District 51 (East Portland and Happy Valley). In the Legislature, she is Chairwoman of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Sub-Committee on Equitable Policing; and serves as a Member of the House Business and Labor, Ways and Means, and Modernizing the Legislature Committees. She also leads the BIPOC Caucus giving voice to Oregon’s Black, Indigenous, and People of Color constituents. During her tenure in the Legislature, Janelle has spearheaded bipartisan initiatives encompassing Voter Engagement and Turnout; Investment in K-12 and Higher Education; Juvenile and Criminal Justice Reform; and Targeted Support for Underrepresented Businesses. Next on Janelle’s ambitious agenda is to pass landmark legislation on Police Accountability along with mental health workforce investments, the CROWN Act, diversification of corporate boards, and increased access to the ballot for youth. Concurrent with her leadership in public service, Janelle and her husband Mark are parents to four school-age children and own four McDonald’s Restaurants. She has served on the Board of Trustees for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Oregon, Business Oregon, the Center for Women’s Leadership, and the Oregon Commission on Black Affairs. She earned her undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering from Florida A&M University, and her MBA from the University of Michigan—Ross Business School. Janelle is a champion for Historically Black Colleges and Universities and is a lifelong lover of American football, fast cars, and artisan cheeses. Senator Lew Frederick started his second term as the State Senator for District #22 (N/NE Portland) in January 2021 after seven years as a State Representative.  He currently serves as Senate Majority Whip and is on the Joint Ways and Means Committee, including its Subcommittee on Natural Resources and Co-Chairs its Subcommittee on Education. Senator Frederick also serves on the Joint Committee on Transportation, Joint Committee on the Interstate 5 Bridge, Joint Committee on Legislative Policy and Research, and Senate Committee on Redistricting. He is also an alternate to both the Senate and Joint Committees on Conduct. With nine committees, he has more committee assignments than any other legislator. During the interim, he also serves on the Emergency Board.  An Earlham College graduate, he’s a PhD candidate at Portland State University and studied at MIT, Morehouse and Woods Hole Marine Biology Laboratories.  Senator Frederick grew up directly involved in the Civil Rights Movement and his career includes being a KGW-Channel 8 television reporter, Director of Public Information for the Portland Public Schools, teacher, actor and ranch hand. At the age of eighteen, Cameron Whitten (all pronouns) worked themself out of youth homelessness in Portland and has spent the past decade giving back to the same community that was here when they needed it most. cameron has been a leader in several movements for social change, served as the Executive Director of Q Center, and is currently the CEO of racial justice nonprofit Brown Hope and Co-Founder of the Black Resilience Fund. They serve on the board of Pioneer Courthouse Square. Roberta Phillip-Robbins, J.D. is a co-founder of Green Conscience Collective, a philanthropic effort aimed at connecting the cannabis industry to communities disproportionately harmed by the war on drugs. The mission of GCC is to redress past harm by intentionally investing in the Black and Brown communities that continue to bear the brunt of generational harm from cannabis prohibition. Prior to creating GCC, Roberta served as Executive Director of MRG Foundation, an organization that funds social justice and grassroots activism. In that role, she served as thought-partner to leaders in philanthropy and pushed the sector to embrace more grantee-led initiatives. Prior to that work, Roberta provided leadership at Multnomah County through her roles as senior policy advisor to the County Chair on issues related to public safety, education, and equity and as a specialist in the Office of Diversity and Equity, focusing on affirmative action, EEO compliance, and workforce equity. After graduating from Lewis & Clark Law School in 2006, Roberta clerked for Judge Richard Baldwin at Multnomah County Circuit Court. She currently serves as chair of the Oregon Council on Civil Rights and board chair of the Metropolitan Public Defender. Roberta lives in NE Portland with her hubby and their two daughters and is currently obsessed with paddleboarding.     Rakeem Washington believes in the power and importance of connecting with community. Prior to the beginning of his professional career, he spent hours as a volunteer, mentor, and coach for families and various community-based organizations. Rakeem continued his passion for working with children and families after graduating from Lewis and Clark Law School in 2008 when he began work as a staff attorney for the Juvenile Rights Project, a public defense law firm representing children and parents in child welfare, school discipline, and juvenile delinquency cases. He has continued that work in various forms while working with Portland Public Schools, the Oregon Judicial Department, and the Portland Observer Newspaper. He currently serves as the Director of the Opening Doors Project at Portland Community College—a federal grant supporting educational opportunities for students incarcerated through the Oregon Youth Authority. Recognizing that healthy communities make healthy individuals, Rakeem continues to work towards empowering the voice and increasing the visibility of underserved and disenfranchised populations.  Rakeem also has taught in Portland State University’s University Studies Department teaching a class called Race, Class, Gender and Social Justice. He leads students in an examination of current and historical societal practices and forces that shape the world we live in. His students work year-long to create action projects that work against poverty, houselessness, mass incarceration, economic immobility, educational deficiencies, diminishing mental health services and all of the comorbid permutations disparately facing BIPOC folks.  Throughout his professional career, Rakeem has advocated for those with marginalized identities. He learned early that true anti-racism/anti-oppression work requires building coalitions by creating authentic relationships. He teaches students, college faculty, fellow attorneys, business leaders and government employees in well-versed and established equity principles. He has led conversations and trainings at the Governor’s Summit on Minority Over-Representation in the Juvenile Justice System, the National Conference on Race and Ethnicity in Higher Education and the National Conference of Association of Community College Trustees.  Thank You to Our Sponsors Title Sponsor Columbia Bank Presenting Sponsors Ball Janik Barran Liebman LLP Bennett Hartman Morris & Kaplan LLP Brownstein Rask LLP Bullard Law Farleigh Wada Witt Foster Garvey PC Johnson Johnson Lucas & Middleton PC Larkins Vacura Kayser Markowitz Herbold PC Metro Law Group O’Connor Weber LLC Stoel Rives LLP Sugerman Law Troutman Pepper Wyse Kadish LLP Yates Family Law PC

Supporting Sponsors

Aldrich Goldstein

Anderson Bradley Krant, P. C.

Bobadilla Law, P.C.

Boise Matthews

Brix Law LLP (Bend/Portland)

Gevurtz Menashe

Ghandour Law

Gilbert Levy and Bennett

Heritage Bank

Hodgkinson Street Mepham

Holland and Knight

Kilmer Vorhees

Macmillan Scholz & Marks PC

Multnomah Bar Association (2021: Supporting $250)

Oregon Criminal Defense Lawyers Association

Perkins Coie LLP

Reinisch Wilson Weier PC

SAIF

Sanger Law

Thomas Coon Newton & Frost

Tomasi, Salyer, Martin

Tonkon Torp

Trainor Law

Gillaspy and Rhode PLLC

Vial Fotheringham LLP