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500 Friends of SGP 🌻

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Social Good Place Portland

LXCL:Social Good Place exists to nurture positive outcomes in our community — thorough gathering, good work, and nonprofit support. Learn more about us at socialgoodplace.org.

Life Recording &mdash; Live! is an evening built around real conversation. Four volunteers are chosen from the audience to &nbsp;tell a piece of their story in conversation with a skilled interviewer &mdash; no script and no performance, just a real conversation happening live.&nbsp; After the event, each story becomes a short original piece set to music as a keepsake for everyone who was there. You might come to listen. You might come to be one of the storytellers. Either way, the ordinary is already extraordinary. 🌻 Accessibility Note: Social Good Place is housed in a historic building with significant physical limitations. There is no level entry to the building, no ramps, and no elevators. Accessing the event space requires navigating stairs. You can read Social Good Place&#39;s full statement on accessibility at socialgoodplace.org.

Life Recording — Live! July 2026

Keep Creativity Alive: Help Us Sustain Youth Arts Programs at Social Good Place Every day at Social Good Place, something magical happens. And when there&#39;s Arts programming in the building, teens are finding their voice as they create story arcs for their first novel. Kids learn new techniques to turn their creature ideas into stickers, or felted figures &mdash; or both &mdash; and feel the satisfaction of bringing their vision to life where others can see it too.&nbsp; Behind the magic is a cost that&#39;s easy to overlook.Arts educators are already stretched thin. Renting physical space&mdash;the kind of space where real hands-on learning happens&mdash;can consume as much as half of their tiny budgets before they&#39;ve bought a ream of paper &mdash; or thought about compensating themselves for their time creating engaging curriculum. Many programs disappear because gathering together IRL is too expensive. We&#39;re passionate about supporting programs for creative youth.As parents and nonprofit professionals who believe deeply in the power of both analog and digital arts education, the SGP Team elects to absorb some of that overhead burden. We reduce rental fees for organizations like Make Art and the Novel Camp so they can meet here, focus on what matters, and keep showing up for Portland&#39;s youth. We want to support these new programs as they find their footing, refine their programming, and reach more and more kids with opportunities to explore storytelling, character development, felting, ceramics, still life drawing, sticker-making, and more. Your gift directly subsidizes space costs and gives Novel Camp, Make Art, and Social Good Place more runway to connect with and serve the community.

Keep Creativity Alive: Help Us Sustain Youth Arts Programs at Social Good PlaceEvery day at Social Good Place, something magical happens. And when there's Arts programming in the building, teens are finding their voice as they create story arcs for their first novel. Kids learn new techniques to turn their creature ideas into stickers, or felted figures — or both — and feel the satisfaction of bringing their vision to life where others can see it too. Behind the magic is a cost that's easy to overlook.Arts educators are already stretched thin. Renting physical space—the kind of space where real hands-on learning happens—can consume as much as half of their tiny budgets before they've bought a ream of paper — or thought about compensating themselves for their time creating engaging curriculum.Many programs disappear because gathering together IRL is too expensive.We're passionate about supporting programs for creative youth.As parents and nonprofit professionals who believe deeply in the power of both analog and digital arts education, the SGP Team elects to absorb some of that overhead burden. We reduce rental fees for organizations like Make Art and the Novel Camp so they can meet here, focus on what matters, and keep showing up for Portland's youth.We want to support these new programs as they find their footing, refine their programming, and reach more and more kids with opportunities to explore storytelling, character development, felting, ceramics, still life drawing, sticker-making, and more.Your gift directly subsidizes space costs and gives Novel Camp, Make Art, and Social Good Place more runway to connect with and serve the community.

Youth Arts Programs @ Social Good Place

Our kickoff session features Michael Jonas, JD, MBA in conversation with Brandon Giles, Strategic Planning Facilitator, about collaboration, models and decision-making protocols. Small group conversation and networking time to follow.&nbsp; Michael Jonas,&nbsp;JD, MBA is a licensed attorney, community advocate, and leader in nonprofit and community-centered business law. As the founder of Narwhal Law and Business Strategy, he works with nonprofits, community groups, and small businesses to build strong, sustainable organizations that create lasting community impact. Through accessible legal services, strategic guidance, and practical education, Michael helps organizations strengthen their governance, navigate complex legal issues, and advance their missions with confidence. He is passionate about making the law more approachable and empowering communities with the knowledge and tools they need to thrive. Organizations of all types and sizes lean on&nbsp;Brandon Giles to guide key conversations that uncover their visions, values, and ideas. An engaging facilitator with a developmental mindset, he can serve as a unique sounding board for leaders and teams, regardless of their industry or specialty.

Deciding Better Together Session 1: Board Collaboration

In Session 2 of Deciding Better Together, we&#39;ll briefly recap the discussion from Aug 26 (Session 1, Board Collaboration) and Brandon will give a lesson on 2-3 less-familiar decision making methods.&nbsp; In a guided group activity, participants will practice these methods live and chat about what they might want to bring to decision-making groups that they&#39;re a part of.&nbsp; About the Speaker:&nbsp;Organizations of all types and sizes lean on&nbsp;Brandon Giles to guide key conversations that uncover their visions, values, and ideas. An engaging facilitator with a developmental mindset, he can serve as a unique sounding board for leaders and teams, regardless of their industry or specialty. 🌻 Accessibility note: Social Good Place is housed in a historic building with significant physical limitations. There is no level entry to the building, no ramps, and no elevators. Accessing the event space requires navigating stairs. You can read Social Good Place&#39;s full statement on accessibility at socialgoodplace.org.

Deciding Better Together Session 2: Try Something New

In Session 3, Making a New System Stick, our Guest Speaker will draw on their own experiences serving on nonprofits to discuss introducing and adopting new decision-making processes with your own team or board, including what worked, where resistance showed up, how changes stuck, and the practical &quot;Now what do I do Monday morning&quot; takeaway. 🌻 Accessibility note: Social Good Place is housed in a historic building with significant physical limitations. There is no level entry to the building, no ramps, and no elevators. Accessing the event space requires navigating stairs. You can read Social Good Place&#39;s full statement on accessibility at socialgoodplace.org.

Social Good Place Portland

Social Good Place Portland

Events

Events

Deciding Better Together Session 1: Board Collaboration

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Deciding Better Together Session 2: Try Something New

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Deciding Better Together Session 3: Making a New System Stick

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500 Friends of SGP 🌻

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Youth Arts Programs @ Social Good Place

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