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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
    A miniature ship

    Kaia Sand | We should embrace ingenuity, not erase it

    OPINION | Too often, the city of Portland does battle with communities like Hazelnut Grove rather than building from the leadership on the streets
    By
    Kaia Sand
    January 27, 2021
  • Street Roots
    Exterior of the White House

    Kaia Sand | Ushering in a new era, together

    OPINION | At Street Roots, people can enjoy coffee while watching the Biden-Harris inauguration through the window
    By
    Kaia Sand
    January 20, 2021
  • Street Roots
    A heart-shaped rock found on an Oregon beach crumbled and re-organized.

    Kaia Sand | 2020 provided clarity. Now we build.

    OPINION | This year of suffering revealed so much about the work that lies ahead
    By
    Kaia Sand
    January 6, 2021
  • Street Roots
    People gather on an outdoor basketball court at Sunnyside Environmental School in Southeast Portland

    Kaia Sand | There is room for all in this circle

    OPINION | When housed and unhoused neighbors gathered at a Portland park to listen to each other, new opportunities emerged
    By
    Kaia Sand
    December 30, 2020
  • Street Roots
    Rick Davis displays the large memorial he is working on

    Street Roots vendor ensures his homeless peers are remembered after they die

    Rick Davis has been working on a memorial for Street Roots vendors for the past year. This year marks 30 years since Homeless Persons’ Memorial Day began.
    By
    Kaia Sand
    December 16, 2020
  • Street Roots
    Tina Drake holds Pancake, a Calico cat

    Kaia Sand | The ties that bind, even from 6 feet apart

    OPINION | It’s been a hard year, and yet, with you, Street Roots will emerge stronger
    By
    Kaia Sand
    December 16, 2020
  • Street Roots
    A vacancy sign shines bright outside of a motel

    Kaia Sand | Today, save motels. Tomorrow, housing.

    DIRECTOR’S DESK | Let's not wait for private equity firms to snatch up financially distressed properties
    By
    Kaia Sand
    December 2, 2020
  • Street Roots
    Max holds sweatpants with a drawstring and a pocket for a handwarmer

    Kaia Sand | ‘And then gangrene sets in, like it originally did on her legs’

    OPINION | Nurturing is Max's superpower; he's focused on keeping his wife warm outside
    By
    Kaia Sand
    November 18, 2020
  • Street Roots
    Sign reads: This is more than a bathroom. It's also a human right.

    Kaia Sand | Access to hygiene is a human right, and Portland is stepping up

    OPINION | The city deserves praise for placing portable toilets around town, but it's drawn ire — with one police officer reportedly assisting in a sabotage effort
    By
    Kaia Sand
    November 4, 2020
  • Street Roots
    Portland City Hall

    Kaia Sand | Demand that City Hall keeps its eye on justice

    OPINION | Commissioners Hardesty and Eudaly need one more vote for police budget cuts
    By
    Kaia Sand
    October 26, 2020

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