Skip to main content
Street Roots Donate
Portland, Oregon's award-winning weekly street newspaper
For those who can't afford free speech
Twitter Facebook RSS Vimeo Instagram
▼
Open menu
▲
Close menu
▼
Open menu
▲
Close menu
  • Contact
  • Job Openings
  • Donate
  • About
  • future home
  • Vendors
  • Rose City Resource
  • Advocacy
  • Support
News
  • Social Justice
  • Housing
  • Environment
  • Culture
  • Opinion
  • Orange Fence Project
  • Podcasts
  • Vendor Profiles
  • Archives

Kaia Sand

Executive Director

Kaia Sand
Motoya Nakamura

she/her

Kaia Sand became executive director of Street Roots in late 2017, two decades after she worked as a staff reporter for the Burnside Cadillac, the predecessor to Street Roots. In those subsequent 20 years, Sand worked as a poet, artist, community organizer, and university professor, focusing particularly on economic injustice and homelessness — from a magic show she created about the financial collapse to the Right 2 Survive Ambassador Program she co-founded for housed people to learn from people experiencing homelessness. She taught at Portland State University, Pacific University, Willamette University and St. Mary’s College of Maryland; co-founded Vignettes & Verses, a writing and personal history institute; and performed and taught internationally, including in England, Ireland and Brazil. She has widely exhibited her artwork and served in residencies, from a public art commision at the City of Portland Archives and Records Center to the Despina International Artist Residency in Rio de Janeiro. A  member of PEN America, she is author of three books of poetry — interval (a Small Press Traffic Book of the Year in 2004), Remember to Wave and A Tale of Magicians Who Puffed Up Money that Lost its Puff — and the co-author of Landscapes of Dissent: Guerrilla Poetry & Public Space. Two books in Jim Dine's Hot Dreams series are comprised of her text. In 2019 she was awarded a Spirit of Portland award by Commissioner Jo Ann Hardesty; and in 2019, the regional Society of Professional Journalists small newsroom first prize for Best Column.

Articles by Kaia Sand

  • Street Roots
    Neon sign on the White Stag building. An outline of Oregon with a deer leaping in it with the words "Portland Oregon"

    Kaia Sand | This is our opportunity to reimagine a housing-rich downtown

    OPINION | I believe in a future utilizing vacant spaces downtown
    By
    Kaia Sand
    January 25, 2023
  • Street Roots
    Tina Kotek is smiling and sitting at a desk.

    Kaia Sand | Gov. Kotek’s executive orders provide a strong vision for state-wide action

    OPINION | Responsibilties of the state in addressing the homelessness crisis
    By
    Kaia Sand
    January 18, 2023
  • Street Roots
    Sign on a building that says "Multnomah County"

    Kaia Sand | Untangling the web of entities and officials responsible for addressing homelessness

    OPINION | A tour through local government responsibility regarding homelessness.
    By
    Kaia Sand
    January 11, 2023
  • Street Roots
    A collage of Street Roots issue covers from 2022. Some of the covers are in black and white and others in color.

    Kaia Sand | Good journalism is worth the investment

    OPINION | Street Roots editorial team continues in-depth coverage in 2023
    By
    Kaia Sand
    January 4, 2023
  • Street Roots
    Street Roots vendor Joseph “White Cloud” Smits and his dog, Gabriel.

    Kaia Sand | Despite inhospitable conditions, unhoused communities harbor hope

    OPINION | Urban prosperity pairs with homelessness
    By
    Kaia Sand
    December 28, 2022
  • Street Roots
    Rick Davis smiles for a photo and holds issues of Street Roots Holiday Zine while standing in front of the Street Roots offices.

    Kaia Sand | ‘All I want for Christmas is a smile’

    OPINION | After 20 years without teeth, Rick Davis begins the journey toward dental implants with a new friend
    By
    Kaia Sand
    December 21, 2022
  • Street Roots
    Josephine Allen speaks into a microphone held by another person. Dan Ryan and Ted Wheeler listen to her speak while sitting at a table.

    Kaia Sand | Portland City Council is using a red state playbook

    Opinion | Republican-led legislatures roll out bans and government-sanctioned camps that look eerily similar to Wheeler’s plan
    By
    Kaia Sand
    December 13, 2022
  • Street Roots

    Kaia Sand | Street Roots vendors have a lot to teach about ‘Finding Joy in Chaos’

    OPINION | Street Roots’ 2022 Holiday Zine provides readers with lessons, affirmations and challenges to common misconceptions
    By
    Kaia Sand
    December 7, 2022
  • Street Roots
    Maddy Brown-Clark is wearing a face mask and glasses while she poses for the photo. She is holding newspapers.

    Kaia Sand | Funding Street Roots means funding hope

    OPINION | Street Roots’ winter fund drive is a critical time for the organization, homeless Portlanders and local journalism
    By
    Kaia Sand
    November 30, 2022
  • Street Roots
    Two people smile for a photo in front of a mural.

    Kaia Sand | Multnomah County offers constructive contrast to mayor’s plans for mass camps

    OPINION | The Behavioral Health Resource Center adds drop-in, showers, laundry and shelter
    By
    Kaia Sand
    November 23, 2022

Pages

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • next »

1 of 20

▼
Open menu
▲
Close menu
  • © 2021 Street Roots. All rights reserved. To request permission to reuse content, email editor@streetroots.org.
  • Read Street Roots' commenting policy
  • Support Street Roots
  • Like what you're reading? Street Roots is made possible by readers like you! Your support fuels our in-depth reporting, and each week brings you original news you won't find anywhere else. Thank you for your support!

  • DONATE