Dan Malone is a board member for the Portland Workforce Alliance, where he is currently the co-chair for the Equity and Access committee. He joined the board of directors in 2016.
Malone has worked in education for 37 years, including 27 at Roosevelt High School in North Portland. He had taught subjects such as English and economics, and he has coached a variety of sports including golf, soccer, and cross country. He is now the vice principal at Roosevelt, where he says he thrives on the “strengths and challenges of having many students with different backgrounds and stories.”
Malone brings to PWA his tireless enthusiasm for helping students find inspiration and develop career goals.
What inspired you to get involved with PWA?
DM: I got into PWA because of Kevin [Jeans Gail, founding director of PWA]. I really got hooked into the type of work that we do [at PWA] by first working with Roosevelt Renaissance 2000, a nationally noted school-to-work program.
What do you bring to PWA?
DM: What I think I bring is passion about students needing to become passionate about their future, which is the key.
What have you observed about the impact of caring adults in students’ lives?
DM: If we can help student find what they’re passionate about, a whole lot of other things that get in the way of life, no matter big, go away. I’ve seen it time and again that as a stranger, you have more input, especially if you have the job they aspire to.
What is your advice to those students?
DM: Not everyone needs to go to college in order to find success. Not everyone has an easy path to get to the chair they sit in, and not everyone has to take the same path. I think PWA does so well showing students those paths and opportunities, and it’s what gets me up and to school every morning.
For more information about the PWA Board of Directors, go here.
For more stories on the PWA Board Members, go here.
Some quotes were edited for length and clarity.