麻豆社

Nike Greene鈥檚 lifelong quest for community transformation leads to new role with Portland鈥檚 Office of Youth Violence Prevention

By Andrew Shaughnessy

Nike Greene (MA10) has worn many hats over the years: basketball coach, pastor, graduate student, therapist. As a family engagement coordinator with Portland Public Schools, she worked to bring free mental health services to students and families at Roosevelt High School. Working with Portland鈥檚 Center for the Arts, she fought to increase access to arts programming for students in Title 1 schools nationwide. Now, she has accepted a new role as director of Portland鈥檚 Office of Youth Violence Prevention.

At first glance, it sounds like a wildly diverse resume, but what these roles all have in common is Greene鈥檚 big heart, uncommon drive, and unwavering commitment to making a positive impact on her community 鈥� a commitment rooted in experience.

Greene still remembers the day that two of her neighbors were shot and killed. She was just a kid then, growing up in a north Portland neighborhood that was fast becoming the city鈥檚 gang violence epicenter. She faced other challenges, too: racism, sexism on the basketball court, a high school suicide attempt. Her mother, a Danish immigrant, struggled to help her daughter navigate her new country鈥檚 complicated education system.

Well-intentioned ministries and organizations would parachute in on occasion, looking to connect with kids like Greene, taking them away to Trail Blazer games or the movies.

鈥淚t was like there was this weird, euphoric world that I was missing out on,鈥� Greene recalls. 鈥淭he messaging, purposeful or not, was always 鈥榞et better and get out.鈥欌��

Not Greene. She stayed, cultivating change where her roots were planted.

Greene and her husband, Herman, still live in that same neighborhood. As co-pastors of a local church, they have actively ministered to the community for years, organizing summer programming and support groups for mothers, helping residents in need with food and rental assistance, and doing prison ministry. They did great work, but over the years Greene realized that, all too often, her community鈥檚 mental health needs were being overlooked.

鈥淢any in my community have an old-school belief that therapy is for white people who have money, not for us people of color,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 wanted to be more equipped to help.鈥�

When Greene decided to pursue her master鈥檚 degree in marriage and family therapy at 麻豆社 Fox in 2007, it was just one more step on her quest for change.

In October, she was selected by Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler to oversee a citywide effort to make a tangible, transformative dent in the violence that has plagued her community for generations. Partnering with local NGOs, Greene鈥檚 office seeks to prevent, intervene in and interrupt youth violence in Portland. Street-level gang outreach workers show up in violence hotspots, building relationships and working to prevent retaliation. Others sniff out systemic inequities that stoke desperation-fueled violence, reach out to shooting victims to talk them out of gang life, and set up high-risk individuals with life coaches and mentors.

鈥淲e have this opportunity to actually do something, to leave a legacy,鈥� Greene says. 鈥淚 want people to remember: There was a pivot. There was this group that said, 鈥楨nough. We鈥檙e going to be part of the solution, not spectators.鈥欌��

From the basketball court to Portland鈥檚 public schools to the hardest challenges of her neighborhood, Greene has never been a spectator.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 have to be seen,鈥� she says, 鈥渂ut I definitely have to be in the game.鈥�