Charles Jordan was Portland’s first African-American City Commissioner and commitment to youth and education was always a priority during his career in public service. Perhaps the leading advocate of his time in the parks and recreation field, Charles Jordan is one of the architects of the city’s nationally renowned parks system.

After his passing in 2014, a conversation between the family of Charles Jordan and the Black United Fund of Oregon administration resulted in a redefinition of the Charles Jordan Legacy Fund to better capture his goals and desire to increase equitable education access and to better prepare high school students for higher education.

• Student must identify as Black, African-American, or of African descent.
• Student must be an incoming high school freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior attending a private school within the Portland metro area.
• Student must have a solid belief in the importance of service and a history of service in their community, with a minimum of 20 hours of community service performed each calendar year.
• Student must be in good academic standing, meaning not on academic probation or in an academic remediation program as defined by the private high school they are attending.