What makes us tick

As a white person I can never really know what it’s like to be Black in America. After a seemingly endless streak of wrongful deaths from state-sanctioned violence. After listening to all the rhetoric about the American dream only to find closed doors and rigged systems at every turn. And after navigating daily doses of micro-aggressions and the weight that comes with them.

Full on mushroom ravioli and white wine, as a reward after a long day, I ambled my way south through downtown Portland to Keller Auditorium. Solo and feeling uneasy, this night was as much about dinner and a show, as it was confronting my inner anxiety.

2020 – The start of a new year, a new decade, and the beginning of new opportunities. The CK team is back from our winter hiatus and sharing our visions and goals for the future.

Last Sunday, we loaded 10-month-old Emma Pearl in the back of the SUV and headed off for her first visit to 1000 Acre Dog Park on the Sandy River Delta. Non-stop, Chuck-it fetch madness ensued. Finally, having revved her engine to an ear blasting 200-RPM pant, we traveled two more miles down the road and back in time to Tad’s Chicken ‘n Dumplins in search of soothing sustenance. I first learned about Tad’s from my Uncle Norm, a no-frills traditionalist born in 1909—pre-empting the historic Columbia River Highway roadhouse by nearly two decades.

Our client, the Oregon Health Insurance Marketplace, helps people buy their own health insurance. In preparation for this year’s open enrollment campaign, we worked with DHM Research to learn more about our target audience of young, low-to-moderate-income folks. We conducted four focus groups in the Portland metro area focusing on communities of color and Spanish speakers and three around the state in Eugene, Medford and Redmond.

With this blog post we are announcing and publishing our first Certified B-Corp and Oregon Benefit Company Annual Report.  You can read it here.