WP Alum | Summer Fellow: Community Resilience

Vincent “Walle” Brown was a Summer Fellow, Community Resilience in 2020. He recently completed the Master of Urban and Regional Planning (MURP) program at PSU. Originally from Georgia, Walle arrived in Portland to study at PSU via a journey which started in the American South, jumped to Southeast Asia, and back to the south before moving north westward to Oregon.

Throughout his travels and multiple local professional experiences, he has gained an intricate appreciation for the complexity and intersectionality of water. He believes that it is our collective responsibility to act as responsible and active stewards of water in order to ensure that humanity remains relevant on earth moving forward. He is directly invested in the quality, sustainability, and affordability of water usage throughout the northwest united states and human settlements throughout the world. Walle worked with Willamette Partnership as a Summer Fellow focused on Community Resilience. He is now with Unite Oregon as the Economic Prosperity Manager – East Portland.

Walle is African American and comes from a family of academic high achievement and stunted professional growth due to race-based discrimination. Walle intends to break this chain by becoming a leader of public institutions, either through elections or merit. Learning before leading, he intends to gather knowledge before power so that once he is in the driver’s seat, he’ll be able to responsibly set course for a more sustainable, equitable, and accessible future.