Above: Portland Children’s Levy Director Lisa Pellegrino (right) presents the 2024 Community Report to Portland City Council. From left: PCL Grant Manager, Arika Bridgeman-Bunyoli, Portland Tennis & Education Director Campbell Glenn Garoznik, PT&E scholar athlete Alex, Councilor Dan Ryan and Pellegrino.

Portland Children’s Levy Director Lisa Pellegrino will retire in January, capping 22 years at the organization.

Pellegrino’s last day will be Jan. 16, 2026. PCL Assistant Director Meg McElroy will serve as interim director until a recruitment process for a new leader is completed.

“Thank goodness, Lisa Pellegrino has served our city for decades!” said Councilor Dan Ryan, who chairs the Allocation Committee, the oversight body of PCL. “Thank you, Lisa, for doing what’s right for the kids! There are thousands of children and youth who are now successful adults because of your mission-driven focus.”

Funding decisions for PCL grants need to be data-driven and objective, with a laser focus on results for the primary audience the investment is intended to impact, Ryan said. Transparent scoring of grant applications shielded from traditional lobbying efforts is integrity in action, he said.

“Lisa built that system for the City of Portland, and her program is the north star for all taxpayer-funded initiatives to emulate,” he said. “In my five years of oversight, I have witnessed Lisa and her team courageously implement improvements that were focused on children and families.”

Pellegrino started working at PCL in early 2004, shortly after Portland voters approved the first levy in 2002. Since then, she has led the organization through four successful levy renewals, with funding for the current levy set through June 2029.

PCL invests about $23 million annually in grants for community-based programs that support children, youth and their families so children arrive at school ready to learn, succeed inside and outside of school, and that eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in children’s outcomes.   

Grants support more than 90 programs serving approximately 10,000 children and youth annually in after school, child abuse prevention and intervention, early childhood, foster care, hunger relief and mentoring programs. 

During Pellegrino’s tenure, PCL granted nearly $400 million to local nonprofits and other organizations to support therapeutic services for foster youth, home visiting and parent education programs, school food pantries, after school music and sports programs and more.

Pellegrino led the organization in 2020 when it launched the small grants program for smaller local nonprofits, which boosts equity of access to levy funding. She also led the creation of the PCL Community Council advisory body to provide a continuous community voice on levy policies and processes.

Approximately 75-80% of children served by PCL identify as Black, Indigenous or children of color, about 35-45% live or go to school in East Portland, approximately 40% live in homes where the primary language spoken is not English, and more than 90% live in families with low incomes.  

In addition to leading the City of Portland bureau, Pellegrino directly managed grants over the years in the after school, child abuse prevention and intervention, hunger relief and mentoring program areas.

“Tens of thousands of children have had their lives changed for the better because of Lisa Pellegrino and her tireless leadership of the Portland Children’s Levy,” said Donnie Oliveira, deputy city administrator for the Community and Economic Development Service Area, which includes PCL.

“I could not be more grateful to Lisa and her team, and the legacy she has created at the City for our future generations,” he said. “Lisa, I wish you the absolute best in retirement, and I look forward to continuing this critical work with Meg McElroy as PCL’s interim director.”

Leaving a legacy

In the Q&A below, Pellegrino shares some observations and learnings from her tenure.

Q. What are you most proud of during your time leading the Portland Children’s Levy?

A.  I’m proud that we have worked hard to become more responsive and community- driven over time while not losing focus on quality and accountability. 

Q. In the last 20 years, what has changed the most about the local landscape that provides services for children, youth and families?

A. When I started at the Levy, the dot-com bubble had burst, and the state was cutting funding for youth services and K-12 education. There have been a lot of ups and downs in funding over the years, but I’m happy to see that overall, there are many more organizations providing a range of services to children and families, and culturally-specific services are much more widely available.

The other sea change I’ve witnessed is in early childhood. When I started, it was an uphill battle to get more public investment in early childhood services. Now there is broad community agreement that investing in early childhood services is hugely important, and there’s majority support for universal preschool. 

Q. What do you see as some of the most pressing current challenges facing children, youth and families in Portland? How might we work on those issues as a community?

A.  I see many challenges related to the affordability crisis in our city. So many families are struggling to meet their basic needs for housing, food and medical care, and I see huge challenges in immigrant communities grappling with the fear created by ICE. I see so many people and organizations in our community working every day on these challenges – and it will take political change at the national level to reverse policies that are hurting children and families locally.

Q. Anything else you’d like to add?

A. I have enormous respect and gratitude for the thousands of people working in non-profit organizations who are daily supporting children and their families. Thanks for teaching me so much, for putting up with mistakes we made, and for the work you do.  You have shown me the true meaning of community.