Goodbye from Chris

Dear 350PDX friends and community,

I’m writing to let you know that I’m moving to the East Coast, and on from 350PDX, at the end of June. I’ve loved my 6 years at 350PDX and will miss the work, my colleagues, and the community (all of YOU) so much. With my family 5,000 miles away in England, and my wife Edin’s family on the East Coast, Portland was always going to be a temporary place for us, and now with our baby boy Leon here, it is feeling more important than ever to be closer to family.

What’s next for me

We’ll be moving in with my wife’s mum in Truro, MA, where I’ll be applying for a job as the town Climate Coordinator. We’ll likely spend a few years there and hopefully have a second baby, and then the longer term plan is to move back to England. I grew up on a dairy farm in the West Midlands of England, that was also a bed and breakfast. When I was young my mum converted the handful of derelict 17th century farm buildings into 8 holiday cottages, and my dad has run that business ever since. Our plan is to move back there and turn it into an activist retreat and training center, and to change the land into a rewilding / English version of a Land Back project. Of course there’s a chance it won’t happen (especially with family dynamics in the mix), but it’s such a good opportunity to create something new and powerful in that part of the world, we have to give it a try. Of course you’d all be welcome to visit if you ever find yourself in that part of the world!

What’s next for 350PDX

We have hired an excellent replacement, Katie Hutchinson. Read her intro blog post here. She’ll be continuing my work of building the climate movement community in Portland, so please reach out to her at katie@350pdx.org for any questions or to just introduce yourself!

We have a truly brilliant team right now, with Dineen, Brenna, and Cherice holding down our campaign work, and Anissa, Denise, and Irene holding down the rest of the organizational work. I’m glad to be leaving at a time when the organization is thriving.

I feel like a lot of times when people leave an organization there is an underlying other reason that isn’t named, whether that’s some big conflict or dysfunction or something. So I just want to name that this is truly not about that, nothing would make me happier than staying at 350PDX for another 6 years if I were staying in Portland.

Thanks to those of you who joined me for my leaving party, it was so wonderful to see your faces one last time before I head off.

Lastly, I’ve loved my time at 350PDX and I’m always looking to grow as an organizer. I made a quick feedback form in an effort to grow from and reflect on my time at 350PDX. If you have a few minutes I’d really appreciate you taking the time to fill it out.

Thanks all,

Chris, 350PDX Volunteer Manager, 2018-2024

 

P.S. My personal email is cta.palmer@gmail.com, my phone number is 971-712-4152, and I’ll always be happy to stay in touch!

 

The dairy farm in England, with main farmhouse and cottages