The Portland Society announces grant winner

Grant winner Stephanie Routh, shown here with
Oregon State Representative Lew Frederick at an event in April.
(Photo © J. Maus/BikePortland)

The Portland Society, a non-profit business alliance of professional women, “who are passionate about bicycling” has announced their 2012 grant recipient. Stephanie Routh, the executive director of the Willamette Pedestrian Coalition, has earned a $1,000 award from the Portland Society Fund, which aims to help women develop professional skills for use in promoting active transportation.

Routh is a respected local activist whose combination of policy smarts and fun-loving nature has lifted the profile of the WPC. With her $1,000 grant, Routh plans to enroll in the Fiction/Creative Nonfiction Certificate Program offered by the Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC).

Routh said she considers herself “pretty darn lucky” to have been accepted to the program, which integrates creative writing study and applicable publishing skills. “This is the closest I can imagine coming to graduate school, and I’m grateful to both the Portland Society Fund and IPRC for supporting this adventure.”

With the skills she learns from the IPRC Routh hopes to become better at messaging around issues she advocates for. “The IPRC certificate program will allow me to explore more compelling, more personal, and more persuasive messaging that would help me in transportation as social justice work,” she said, in a statement from The Portland Society.

This is the only the second year grants have been awarded by The Portland Society Fund. Last year the awards went to a trio of women. The Portland Society is a project of Umbrella, a 501(c)3 organization that enables grassroots activism.