AmeriCorps is a great opportunity to put your patriotism to work in local communities. When I found out that the Confluence Environmental Center had a position with Forth to do community outreach focused on electric, shared, and smart transportation systems I knew I had to apply.  

This year of service presented many opportunities to expand the mission of education and advancing engagement in Portland communities. Some of my highlights from this year of service are:

• Teaching a fourth grade class about sustainable energy and building toy electric cars for students to race,

• Leading an instructional class to Japanese exchange students on rentable e-scooters in town (P.S. they were excited to use them for the whole term), 

• Tabling events at City of Portland’s Fix-It Fair, where I taught over hundreds how to ride my Onewheel, an electric skateboard. 

Many of these conversations often connected the dots about the importance of micromobility, shared transportation and other new options available. I am most proud of supporting Forth’s partnership with Botanist, a local restaurant which used our electric vehicle fleet to deliver meals to service-industry workers and families furloughed due to Covid-19. We demonstrated teamwork, innovation, and equity through this opportunity.

Through all of this turbulent service year, I've been continually inspired and supported by the brilliant, passionate, and professional Forth staff. Thank you to my awesome supervisor Kelly Yearick. I learned a whole lot and hope to take the lessons learned from AmeriCorps, Confluence and Forth into advocating for a better sustainable future.  

 Thank you everyone, it was a blast!