Patty Katz

Patty Katz (1947-2021) was the Portland/Metro Organizer for Oregon Action, a statewide, multi-racial community organization dedicated to social justice. As a formerly incarcerated woman, she brought a wealth of experience to her work relating to reentry and recovery from active addiction. Patty led two successful Ban the Box Campaigns in Oregon in 2006 and 2007. She also worked with the Oregon AFL-CIO and the Urban League on city- and state-wide campaigns for the 2015 legislative session. Patty served on the Governor’s Reentry Council and on the boards of directors of Faces and Voices of Recovery, Oregon CURE, and Bridges to Change.

She was a founder of the Hands Across the Bridge Project whose mission is to provide leadership development for the recovering and reentry communities. Each year thousands of people from Oregon and Washington come together and join hands across the state lines to celebrate the courage it takes to fight addiction and the freedom and hope that come with recovery.

Read the JLUSA statement on her passing