Sam Diaz JD '15

Sam Diaz JD ’15

10/07/2021

Sam Diaz JD ’15 was named executive director of 1000 Friends of Oregon in October 2021, after an extensive national search. Previously, he served as a senior policy advisor in the mayor’s office for the City of Portland. “Sam’s experience and credentials repeatedly demonstrate an ability to work with a wide range of human beings and success in building bridges. As Sam sets off to meet people around the state I am confident that communities big and small will be impressed with our next leader,” said Eloise Grout Koehler, 1000 Friends of Oregon board president. Diaz has extensive experience with Oregon’s land-use planning system and served as 1000 Friends of Oregon’s director of community engagement in 2014 and 2018, shepherding the organization’s land-use leadership initiative program and directing its residential infill project advocacy. He reformulated how 1000 Friends carries out community engagement, and worked on many of its program and policy initiatives. Diaz, who grew up in Redding and Red Bluff, California, has lived experiences in both urban and rural areas and an understanding of the farming community. He specializes in land use and its intersections with climate change, working lands, environmental justice, and housing availability.

01/31/2017

Is a senior intergovernmental program analyst in the California Governor’s Office of Planning and Research. Diaz writes that he would like “to connect with folks who are working on legislation to protect and advance efforts to combat climate change and ensure civil rights for all…we, in California, are continuing to partner with other jurisdictions, especially in light of the shift at the federal level.” He can be reached at samuel.diaz@opr.ca.gov.