With my usual co-host Eva Frazier on vacation (hope Italy is amazing Eva!), I welcomed a special guest into the shed this week: Stephen Green! Stephen is a multi-talented business advocate and community builder you should probably know about if you care about the future of Portland. Why?
For starters, Stephen is executive director of Business for a Better Portland, the nonprofit organization founded in 2017 as an antidote to the Portland Metro Chamber. In his role at BBPDX, Stephen helps 400 member businesses navigate everything from city politics to building social capital. Pitch Black, now in its eighth year, is an annual event that connects BIPOC entrepreneurs with funders. “It’s Shark Tank meets America’s Funniest Home Videos,” is how Stephen describes it. He also sits on all types of important advisory committees and boards, including the Governor’s Central City Task Force.
Stephen’s superpower is connecting people to information and resources and using his knowledge and experience to help others. That’s my kind of guy! We haven’t spent a lot of time together over the years, but I feel like we’ve both known about each other for a long time. I’ve watched him from afar with respect and knew that eventually our circles would cross. Now they have!
In this episode, Stephen and I chat about all sorts of stuff; but mostly local business and politics (especially our new form of government). He tells stories about Portland’s Black history (did you know “the Pearl” district was named after a Black woman?), we dish on what we think makes Portland tick, why bike riders tend to love Portland so much, how to talk to business owners about bicycling and transportation reform, and much more.
Thanks to Brock Dittus of Sprocket Podcast fame for our fantastic theme music.
Listen in the player above or wherever you get your podcasts. You can hear a short highlight reel in the video below:
Thanks for reading.
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Yes, let’s do more to connect businesses and bicycling at 22:22 ….
Love the interaction he described sitting in a meeting with an older white guy who stated that now is the worst time to be a “white man of means in Portland”. As an older white man of means in Portland I couldn’t disagree more. It is an exciting time!
Great interview Jonathan. Thanks!
Thanks for the feedback Stephen. That part was really amazing to me too. Glad you listened!
I would LOVE for Stephen Green to by our City Council Rep.
I would also like for Dan Ryan to lose his seat.
I have known Stephen since 2015. He is an amazing person, and that definitely came through in the interview. Actually him showing off his e-bike a few years ago was one of the things that normalized riding for me and made me feel comfortable. I straddle the cycling and startup spheres and love when they interact. Thanks to both of you!
PS Jonathan you should totally become a BBPDX member, but they should also become a BP sponsor!