It's Your Oregon: Dan Schauer

Dan Schauer made the most of his volunteer work at OEC, researching a more sustainable farming and food-production system for Oregon. He spent 15 to 18 hours a week gathering information on how the Oregon Environmental Council could most effectively seed sustainable farming and food production in our state.

“At OEC, I saw how much progress can be made when you have motivated citizens and political will,” Dan said. “Of course, the challenge is to bring them together to improve the environment, and I was powerfully moved by OEC’s knack for that.”

Trained as a journalist and designer, Dan said OEC’s combination of program work and advocacy that spurred him to take a new step in his career, toward non-profit affordable housing development.  Now he’s working to build membership, marketing and fundraising at the Clackamas Community Land Trust.

Dan’s job is to build community support for the land trust, which provides homebuyer education and develops affordable homes for people of low or moderate incomes.

“I’ve been concerned for a long time about how people are struggling to find housing they can afford, whether it’s renting or owning,” Dan said. “Volunteering at OEC was tremendous, because I gained confidence in my ability to work for positive change.”

When he’s not working to build support at CCLT, Dan enjoys relaxing at his home in North Portland and doing “typical Portland stuff: reading at my favorite coffee shops, and soaking up the pleasures of summer.”