Prosper Portland, the city of Portland’s economic development agency, has selected Chabre Vickers as its equity, policy and communications director. She will lead the agency’s ongoing work to center equity in its policies and practices, guide strategic communication and community engagement, and oversee the development of quantitative outcomes and metrics.
Prosper Portland executive director Kimberly Branam said, “We could not be more pleased to welcome Chabre to our team. Her extensive background in equity-centered community development and communications, her relationship-centric and results-focused leadership style, and track record of creating and sustaining partnerships to increase access to resources and enact transformational change will enhance and advance the work of Prosper Portland and that of the city.”
Vickers’ background includes multiple roles at Wells Fargo, where she served as the vice president public affairs employee initiatives leader and the vice president community development officer for Oregon. In these roles she led the statewide activation of more than $22 million in Wells Fargo Foundation philanthropic community investment including the 2019 $7.1 million Neighborhood LIFT program, which helped 280 families become new homeowners across Multnomah County. In 2021 she helped lead Wells Fargo’s Open for Business Fund $5.4 million investment into local CDFIs and technical assistance organizations to support Oregon’s diverse small businesses.
Vickers has also served in many leadership roles representing the bank and finance industry, among them the Oregon State Treasurer’s Financial Empowerment Advisory Team, the steering committee for the Oregon Economic Justice Roundtable led by Asset Funders Network, Governor Brown’s Metro Regional Solutions Committee, and the inaugural chair of the Oregon Bankers Association BIPOC Task Force, working to ensure financial institutions across Oregon intentionally work to benefit communities of color.
Vickers attended Howard University, is a third generation Black Indigenous Oregonian, and a descendant of the Shoshone Bannock tribes. Called “one of Portland’s super-connectors” by Portland Monthly magazine, her passion for community is demonstrated by her commitment to public service and her advocacy with many organizations – including the Williams & Russell Project Working Group, Prosper Portland’s N/NE Action Plan Leadership Committee, as a board member for NAYA, the Literary Arts Organization, and the Oregon Symphony. She is a former chair of the City of Portland Human Rights Commission, and former executive board member of the Portland African American Leadership Forum.
Vickers said, “I am grateful to work with a team that has such an extensive level of experience, expertise and commitment to amplifying inclusive economic development in our city. Raising my daughter in a place that my family has called home for generations makes this new involvement in Portland’s future a very personal step for me. The realization of economic justice and prosperity for our vibrant communities requires our work to strengthen community connections and partnerships to make Portland a place where everyone can thrive.”
