IMS Faculty & Staff--Nancy Hales

Nancy Hales, Program Director, First Stop Portland

Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies
College of Urban & Public Affairs
Portland State University

A resident of the Portland metropolitan region for over 30 years, Nancy Hales leads the Institute's First Stop Portland program. 

The City allows a seamless blend of Nancy’s professional and personal life.  As a transit user, local farmer’s market patron, neighborhood volunteer, and citizen activist, Nancy lives one of Portland’s many stories.

She was a founding member of the Columbia River Gorge Commission and helped adopt the country’s first National Scenic Area Management Plan.  For almost two decades, she was the President of a major philanthropic foundation in the region, developing community-based grant programs to strengthen neighborhoods and support education, which are models used throughout the nation. She chairs several local non-profit boards, and serves on Mercy Corps’ Advisory Board. She holds a BA in Economics from the University of Vermont, and a Masters in Public Administration, with honors, from Lewis & Clark College. When not at work, she and her family are either biking the Springwater Corridor or sailing the Pacific Coast.

Nancy Hales

Program Director, First Stop Portland
Institute of Portland Metropolitan Studies
Portland State University
PO Box 751
Portland, OR 97207-0751
Phone: 503-725-5132
Fax: 503-725-5199
nhales@pdx.edu