DEI Coalition / How to Get Involved

How to Get Involved in the OR-MEP DEI Coalition

The OR-MEP DEI Coalition is still recruiting members who are affordable housing residents, rural residents, or members of Oregon Tribes. View the Call for Applications and our introductory webinar for additional information, including the scope of work, qualifications, and the selection process. The previously listed seats have open enrollment until filled, and the dates in the Call for Applications are not applicable. To learn more about joining the Coalition, please email OHCSMultifamilyEnergy@trccompanies.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

The following FAQs refer to the OR-MEP DEI Coalition application and selection process. If you have any questions about the Coalition, please email OHCSMultifamilyEnergy@trccompanies.com.

OR-MEP is recruiting individuals who meet the selection criteria – we are not seeking representatives of companies or organizations. The selection committee will evaluate applicants based on their individual characteristics, experience, and interests not their affiliation with any particular group. Anyone interested in participating in the DEI Coalition is encouraged to apply.

The Coalition will meet monthly for the first six months, then every other month. Meetings will be two hours long. Some members may spend more time than others on this work, but all should expect to participate each month for at least 3-5 hours and up to 10 hours.

We are specifically looking for WFD specialists who focus on the building trades. One of the greatest barriers to participation for rural customers is easy/local access to applicable trades. WFD specialists have far better insight into this systemic challenge and how to solve it than our implementation team does, so we want their input. OR-MEP wants to empower a diverse workforce to serve our participants – to strengthen local and regional economies, increase employment opportunities for people who are underrepresented in the trades, and to enable participants to work with installers and contractors who they relate to (e.g., from the same part of the state, or who speak the same language, etc).

To receive OR-MEP incentives, a project must:

  • Be an existing or new construction multifamily property with at least 5 residential units per building,
  • Receive electricity from Pacific Power or Portland General Electric,
  • Be heated by a hard-wired electrical heating system,
  • Meet program affordability requirements, where residents in at least 50% of units are at or below 80% area median income (AMI) and units must remain affordable for at least 10 years

View the project map located on our case studies page to see the geographic distribution of OR-MEP projects. Due to the funding requirements, eligible OR-MEP projects must be in Pacific Power or Portland General Electric service, which results in most of the properties being predominately located along the I-5 corridor and more volume in the Portland metro area.

Meeting schedules will be determined once the Coalition has been formed based on the individual needs and preferences of the Coalition members. OR-MEP’s primary objective is to find the right people for this work without excluding any candidates based on potential scheduling barriers. If you do want to share a note with the selection committee about your availability, please feel free to include this in your response to question 12 at the end of the application.