Investing In The Soul

How the technology firm is working to help a historic Black business district in N/NE Portland reinforce their cultural identity.

WORDS BY | FAWN ABERSON

Headquartered since 2015 in a modern, fourstory, secured building complex on North Williams avenue, and smack dab in the middle of one of Portland Oregon’s most starkly documented gentrified business districts(once referred to as “Black Broadway”) resides a creative team of technologists at a company called Instrument. With over 200 employees strong and a client roster that includes onepercenter corporate firms like Nike, Intel and Google, they “use the power of design and technology to solve complex problems and transform businesses.”

“We met with the developer of our building back in 2013 in consideration of being the anchor tenant so we were a part of the design discussion. We all agreed that we didn’t want a building that was this one giant box or big behemoth structure that fills a hole. We wanted to create a community oriented space with a courtyard in the center that could be a place for gathering and events.” Shared JD Hodge, Founding Partner and Chief Creative Director of Instrument. Instrument internal culture mirrors the stylish, chic corporate climates that tech-style companies have come to be known for, i.e. bring your dog to work, coffee or beer breaks, health care that covers acupuncture and etc. It’s a culture that helps keep employee morale and productivity on a high vibe.

Jessica Hartley Pictured:

Jessica Hartley, VP of Strategy, felt immediately at home when she joined the company last year. Her feelings were reinforced when Covid-19 hit and in the span of just one weekend, 200 employees relocated to home offices “It was really the human element, how they take care of their people that drew me to Instrument and I am seeing that literally manifest. You know how well a company cares about their people during a big crisis you did not even plan for. It is the same care we give to our clients and why they are still with us.”

Not as common are tech firms that prioritize community engagement, and perhaps that is some of the reason why there has been such a disconnect between technology and under-resourced communities. The team at Instrument is committed to changing that.

“Everyone isstarting to wake up to the fact that women and minorities were left out, pushed out even of the fast moving rocket ship of Silicon Valley and the innovation world,” JD stated. “We know that the most innovative ideas are not going to happen from a bunch of the same people from the same place with the same mindset. It is going to come from a melting pot of ideas that are coming from all different backgrounds, points of view and experiences. We have been vocal advocates of trying to cultivate diverse points of view so we can be innovative because it feels like that is a responsibility of ours and also it’s a way to do our job better, just straight up,” stated JD.

Community Climate and Culture

During the same time period Instrument’s owners were discussing design and expansion (2013-2015), the Black Lives Matter movement was born out of the acquittal of George Zimmerman for the killing of a Black teenager, Trayvon Martin. Black communities across the country became highly charged and vocalized and Portland was no exception. Not only was the social justice movement a mounting concern, the economic and physical foothold of the Black community in inner N/ NE became a major topic of contention with the City’s office of urban renewal, Prosper Portland (then PDC). As wealthy developers were digging in, the heightened demand for equity from the marginalized Black community historically rooted in the area dug in even deeper, demanding to be included in the boon of prosperity, rather than casualties of displacement. The struggle of Portland’s Black community to have a space and place that fosters generational wealth creation (home, land and business ownership) is well documented. These burgeoning issues did not escape the leadership at Instrument.

“From the onset, we were asking ourselves how we could integrate into the community, make relationships and what could we bring as a benefit.” added JD.

For their team, this meant immediately reaching out to their next door neighbors, a predominately Black-attended Church and the Kairos elementary school. They also engaged

with other N/NE groups like Benson High School, Open Signal Community Media and the Soul District Business Association (SDBA). They offered the use of their super-hip, hightech, creative design headquarters to hold events for Black-empowerment programs like Green Lighting BLM Youth Media Project and Pitch Black. They prioritize staff volunteerism in community events like the MLK Dream Run and Juneteenth and they foster relationships between their staff and community, hosting regular sack lunch listening sessions so that community speakers can share their history and their projects with their team.

Considering the current state of racial relations, it was an invitation from the Executive Director of the SDBA, John Washington, in 2019, which may have been a divine intervention. Mr. Washington’s invitation proposed that Instrument work with the Black leadership in N/NE Portland to help revitalize the district’s moniker, “The Soul of Portland” aka “The Soul District”, an identity given to this inner N/NE Portland area in the mid-1990s as a symbol of Black cultural pride and community resilience. JD describes his initial reaction to this request. “John seems to have a sense of openness to work with anyone who is down for the cause and also wanted to help me on this journey. Also, I got a sense he was moving this project forward, that seems to me his M.O., a reverence and a clear awareness of the past while moving forward, and that felt like an invitation for us to step in and be involved and be welcomed in some part of the journey.”

When JD brought the opportunity back to his team and asked for a show of hands from those who wanted to be involved, he received a strong show of support from staff, including Jessica Hartley.

“My husband will tell you that my hand is permanently raised,” Jessica laughed. “Wherever I go , whether it is the organization or a new city, I am all about leaving where I am planted better than when I came into it. I think there is something really powerful about the story of the Soul District.”

This incredible infusion of support represents a huge game changer for the SDBA who has been working to build good will in the community for this campaign for nearly a decade. As one of the few areas in Oregon where Black people could rent or own homes and businesses, seek medical attention, worship or gather socially, The Soul District has been a central area to Portland’s Black community since before the Civil Rights era. Today, it represents the highest density of Oregon’s Black community, although it is a shadow of what it was in terms of Black property ownership and economic development. Calculated, and many would say systemically racist, choices made by decision makers holding persuasive City and State governing positions from the 1940s well into the 2000s, slowly splintered and displaced a once cohesive footprint of Black harmony. More than physical separation, these insensitive development decisions triggered a pattern of psychosocial stressors that still today dramatically impact the Black Oregonian’s perceptions of their own capability, significance and influence.

“Both historically and present-day, there are spaces that were never made for Black involvement in our City and or State,” stated John Washington. “Be it intentional or unintentional, systemic practices of racism in Oregon have fed the perceptions of fragmentation within our Black communities. Unethical displacement practices have created long-standing obstructions in our quests to rise in health, education, wealth and the amassing of influential representation at decision making tables. Despite all of this, however, we still rise.”

JD Hodge Pictured:

The resurgence of the Black influence in the Soul District identity is growing more evident each day. The Black community is unifying around Black-led developments projects like Pathway 1000, the Williams & Russell PWG and Albina Vision; all strategic plans to elevate Black wealth creation within the district. You also see Black inspired and created artscapes on the buildings of the businesses and you see Black families and Black-led community-based organizations gathering for cultural community events or to simply stand in solidarity with one another.

“The Soul District identity is already being elevated organically and now is the time to give it the polish it so richly deserves,” Washington points out. Over the past six months, Instrument has been assisting the SDBA with organizing the brand rollout strategic plan. This consists of documentation and historical storytelling, creating district identity markers and touchstone designs, integrating community partnerships and developing fundraising strategies to cover associated costs.

“Our Mission is to try to shape a better way of living using technology. We feel like the best businesses are profitable because they solve problems that shape a better way of living for everyone. When businesses are out to benefit only the one percent, themselves and their shareholders, then they are missing the boat, because it is short term thinking that’s not going to last. Our North Star is picking clients who believe in this too, and then we go this journey with them. When we feel we have a positive impact on the lives of people, it motivates our employees and this is what creates businesses that are profitable,” shared JD. While money will be an important part of making the Soul District identity project come to life, the folks at Instrument know that they are part of the bigger picture in helping the community get there. Hartley added,

“The knowledge, experience and expertise we [Instrument] can leverage for this project, that’s our currency…getting together, and making that personal connection. It’s this brain space knowledge that will help to reach those million dollars and give this project a foundation that will pay dividends in the future.”

Will the relationship example between the Soul District and Instrument be a trend for technology firms going forward? Washington shared his perspective. “To some degree, technology set the precedent in a lot of the gentrification and other issues we are seeing today. Those who got out of the gate first were generally young white cats [men] who had the means to figure it out and then run into millions of dollars. But they forgot to, or didn’t want to, integrate with others. They are just now starting to realize what kind of impact that had, because youcan’t have a great society if you are leaving a portion of it behind. The community work that Instrument is helping us with is an example of what that should have looked like coming out of the gate.”

For the team at Instrument, it is already something deeply entrenched into their company philosophy.

“Technology has been this thing that makes our lives better, more convenient. Historically, though, people have been using it for things like organizing family photos and making it easier to get to a San Francisco Giants game. When we use technology and think about who really needs it and not just how it can make my life a little more convenient, we can actually change people’s lives,” JD concluded.

This article was written from an interview recorded on the Black Beat podcast. To listen to the interview in its entirety, you can use the augmented reality feature activated on this page as described on page 8 or go to https://anchor.fm/blackbeat/episodes/AConversation-with-Instrument--Black-BeatPodcast