Akasha Lawrence Spence is the first person in her family to be born in America. Her mother immigrated to the United States over 40 years ago with nothing but a dogged determination to achieve the American dream. She worked tirelessly as an 1199 SEIU nurse on the frontlines of our community and as a Lt. Colonel on the frontlines of the battlefield. It is upon her mother’s legacy of service to our community, and her country that Akasha is building her own. As a small business owner, working to create generational wealth in frontline communities, civic activist, working to expand our democracy, and public servant, Akasha is working to ensure that every Oregonian has the housing, healthcare, food, healthy environment, and security they need to live full-fledged lives.

Last year, our state confronted unprecedented need: a global health crisis, economic crisis, and the youth-led movement to demand racial justice and right historical wrongs. As Oregon House Representative for HD-36, Akasha worked to pass landmark police reform bills, landlord and tenant protections, and a holistic COVID-19 response for all Oregonians. Her collaborative leadership and strong advocacy background lead her to galvanize the community to provide direct economic support to farmworkers, immigrant families, small businesses, our indigenous communities, and Black Oregonians who would otherwise be left out of the equation.

Akasha championed The $62 million Oregon Cares Fund for Black Relief and Resiliency in collaboration with a statewide coalition of community members and community-based organizations who saw the need for direct economic relief to support Black communities who were facing both the destabilizing impacts of the pandemic and an existing legacy of discriminatory policies.

In her career, Akasha is the Founder & Principal Designer of Fifth Element—a conscientious community development firm helping small businesses own commercial real estate. Fifth Element works primarily with BIPOC women providing them with a pathway for collective ownership and the creation of generational wealth. Her work serves as an incubator for economic growth and the creation of economic sovereignty in frontline communities.

The work Akasha engages in, in community, in politics, and in business, stems from her belief that when communities have ownership and control of their resources, they are more resilient, self-sufficient, and dynamic places where people feel grounded, stable, and connected.

Akasha supports a simple yet impactful economic justice platform because no Portlander should be expected to negotiate between paying the rent and buying groceries, seeking medical care or going into insurmountable debt, or be unable to access the capital to purchase a home or start a small business for no other reason than their gender or the color of their skin. For Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color, the promises of freedom and justice have never been met, and no one verdict can ever lead to the justice, equity, and humanity that we all deserve without transformational change. Through community centered leadership, government centered on people can repair harm, transform lives, and turn trials into triumph.