New Faces in Leadership
For the Campus. For the City. For the Future.

Act Six is a leadership and scholarship initiative of the Portland Leadership Foundation, George Fox University, and Warner Pacific College that equips emerging urban leaders to engage the college campus and their communities at home.

The Need

Urban Portland is a place of wonderful cultural and economic diversity where people from different backgrounds, perspectives, and life experiences have regular opportunities to interact and communicate. It is also a place yearning for new generations of committed, visionary leaders who will build bridges across differences and respond creatively to the pressing challenges in our communities.

Unfortunately, too few of the colleges working to prepare these emerging leaders provide similarly diverse campus environments and too many potential campus and urban leaders face significant obstacles on the journey to a college degree.  People of color are still underrepresented in higher education and there remain significant disparities in college retention rates for students from different cultural and economic backgrounds. The Act Six Initiative was created in response to these concerns.

The Vision

Act Six believes that emerging urban leaders, with the right opportunity, support and inspiration, can combine their natural gifts and passion with a college education to create a new kind of bold, visionary leadership that will transform our campuses, our city and our collective future.

Marks of Success

The Act Six was developed and first launched in 2002 in Tacoma, WA as a partnership between the Northwest Leadership Foundation and Whitworth University.  Since then, the Tacoma program has grown into a state-wide initiative that has sent more than 140 students from three cities to five colleges across Washington.  Representing six continents of the world, scholars speak 13 native languages.  The vast majority of the scholars come from low-income families and are the first in their family to attend college.  More than 90% of the scholars who started the program are still enrolled or have graduated.

On campus, Act Six scholars are making a profound impact as they demonstrate their leadership in a wide ranges of venues.  Creating award winning programs in the residence halls, founding and leading clubs, and serving in the community, scholars are making a difference.  Indeed, Act Six has produced two student body presidents at Whitworth.  And as the first cadres graduate, most are bringing their passion and education back to their home community. 

Act Six in Portland launched in 2006. In keeping with the national Act Six trend, more than 90% of our scholars are still enrolled in school, and we are seeing deep change both on the George Fox campus and in the individual lives of scholars. Act Six scholars lead…it’s what we do.

Learn More

• Get to know the staff and organizational partners that make Portland Act Six work.