Voters Elect Herman Greene, Gary Hollands, Julia Brim-Edwards To Portland Public Schools Board

Press release from Portland Public Schools:

May 21, 2021

Winning seats on the PPS Board of Education in the May 18 special elections were (from left) Herman Greene, Gary Hollands and Julia Brim-Edwards.

Winning seats on the PPS Board of Education in the May 18 special elections were (from left) Herman Greene, Gary Hollands and Julia Brim-Edwards.

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Two new members will join the Portland Public Schools Board of Education in the 2021-22 school year, and a longtime director will return, after they won their races in the May 18 special election.

Herman Greene and Gary Hollands will join the board for the first time after their election victories, and incumbent Julia Brim-Edwards will return to her seat after winning re-election. The results will become official when they are certified June 7. The winners, who were elected to four-year terms, will be sworn in during a ceremony in July.

They will join four sitting members – Andrew Scott, Michelle DePass, Amy Kohnstamm and Eilidh Lowery -- who will have two years left on the terms they earned by winning elections in 2019.

A look the three election winners:

Herman Greene, Zone 4 (see map): An ordained minister. Greene describes himself as "North Portland proud," with the core of his work his passion for equity, unity and hope for his community. He is the father of four graduates of Portland schools, including a daughter who is a teacher a Roosevelt High School.

Greene says his passion for community justice motivates his work with gun violence prevention and counseling of the incarcerated at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. He serves as a mentor and parent advocate in PPS.

Greene, who received 73.18% of the vote, will assume the seat held by Rita Moore, who did not seek re-election. Moore won the position in the 2017 election, and in 2018-19 served as board chair.

Gary Hollands, Zone 5 (see map): A businessman and community activist, Hollands brings educational board experience, having served on the Multnomah Education Service District Board. Building on the opportunities he got as a student and athlete at Whitaker Middle School and Benson High School, Hollands founded the Interstate Trucking Academy, which became the first African American truck driving company to obtain a state-approved trucking apprenticeship program, and serves as executive director of the Albina Sports Program.

Hollands has two daughters currently enrolled in PPS, and his wife, Dr. Aisha Hollands, works for the district's Human Resources department. He also serves as a track and field coach at Benson.

Hollands, who won 84.37% of the vote, will assume the seat held by Scott Bailey, who did not seek re-election. Bailey, who was elected in 2017, currently serves as board vice chair.

Julia Brim-Edwards, Zone 6 (see map): Brim-Edwards will return for her third term on the board, having originally served in 2001 to 2005 and being elected again in 2017. She has twice served as board chair.

A longtime executive at Nike, Brim-Edwards grew up on Mt. Tabor in Southeast Portland and attended Glencoe Elementary and graduated from Washington-Monroe High School. As a PPS parent from 1998–2016, she participated fully in her the school communities of her three children.

Her professional career also includes 20 years of public policy experience, including service as a professional staff member in the U.S. Senate and the Oregon Legislature. In 2005, Brim-Edwards started the “10 Great Fields” project, which successfully installed a new synthetic turf field and premium track at every PPS high school. A former high school athlete who lettered in six sports, Brim-Edwards was inducted into the Portland Interscholastic League Hall of Fame in 2015.

Brim-Edwards won with 80.7% of the vote.

This press release was produced by Portland Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.