BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//hitPDX//Events//EN NAME:hitPDX events X-WR-CALNAME:hitPDX events REFRESH-INTERVAL;VALUE=DURATION:PT1H X-PUBLISHED-TTL:PT1H BEGIN:VEVENT UID:event-7562-1794884400000@hitpdx SEQUENCE:0 DTSTAMP:20261031T124627Z DTSTART:20261117T030000Z SUMMARY:Consider This: Trust and Political Institutions LOCATION:The Old Church\, 1422 SW 11th Ave.\, Portland\, OR DESCRIPTION:Join us in Portland on November 16—two weeks after election day—for a conversation about trust\, elections\, and our political syste ms and culture with Paul Gronke\, director of the Elections & Voting Infor mation Center at Reed College\, and Susheela Jayapal\, a former Multnomah County Commissioner and current fellow with the North Star Civic Foundatio n. Polling of voters in the US shows that confidence in elections and poli tical institutions has fallen over the past two years. In this onstage con versation\, moderated by Adam Davis\, we'll dig into the factors that affe ct the public's faith in our democracy and how that declining trust shapes how we vote and how we govern ourselves. The conversation will take place at The Old Church in Portland (1422 SW 11th Ave.) at 7:00 p.m. on Monday\ , November 16\, 2026. The event is part of our 2026–27 Consider This ser ies\, What Do We Trust? About Our Guests Paul Gronke is the founding direc tor of the Elections & Voting Information Center (EVIC)\, an emeritus prof essor of political science at Reed College\, and a senior fellow at the Ce nter for Public Service . Gronke is a nationally known scholar of American politics\, elections\, and research methods. Under his leadership\, EVIC has become a national center of excellence for policy research and publicl y engaged scholarship into election administration\, election reform\, and electoral integrity. A major focus of Gronke's current research is the Lo cal Election Official (LEO) Survey\, which EVIC has been undertaking since 2018. Gronke received a PhD in Political Science from the University of M ichigan and has been a member of the faculty of Reed College since 2000. I n his spare time\, he is an avid gardener\, cook\, and he likes to ski\, h ike\, and experience the great outdoors. Susheela Jayapal is a lawyer and community advocate whose leadership has spanned the public and private sec tors. Born in India\, she grew up in India\, Indonesia\, and Singapore and came to the US at the age of sixteen to attend college. As a lawyer\, she was a litigator in private practice and served as general counsel of Adid as America\, Inc. She has served on the boards of directors of a wide rang e of nonprofit organizations\; and served for five years on the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners\, representing North and Northeast Portland. As a Commissioner\, Susheela’s priorities included homelessness\, commu nity safety\, and public health\, all with a focus on racial\, social\, an d economic justice. She currently consults on and leads projects focused o n building a truly participatory and equitable democracy. Tickets Tickets are $15 and available from The Old Church. To ensure that everyone who wan ts to attend is able to\, a limited number of tickets are available for fr ee. To get free tickets\, use the code CONSIDERTHIS100. Other ways to part icipate Can't make it in person? Tune in from anywhere! The conversation w ill be streamed live\, for free\, on our YouTube channel \, and will remai n available for viewing after the program. About the Venue\nThe space : Th is event will be held indoors at The Old Church in downtown Portland.\nPar king : Metered street parking is available around the venue. It is free af ter 7:00 p.m. There are disabled person parking spaces two blocks away\, o n SW Mill St. between 10th Ave. and Park Ave. There is a paid parking lot next to the venue on 10th Avenue that costs $4 per hour\, and a garage thr ee blocks away at Portland State University that costs $2.50 per hour: PSU Parking Lot #3 on SW 12th Ave. between Market and Montgomery.\nFood and d rink : Light concessions are available at the venue. Outside food and drin k is not allowed.\nLighting : The venue is well-lit inside. Lights will be dimmed during the program.\nVideo and Sound : The program will be amplifi ed. There will be no loud music.\nMobility access : There is an accessible entrance next to the main entrance on SW Clay St. There is designated sea ting for patrons with mobility devices\, other assistance requirements\, a nd their companions. Seating consists primarily of church-style pews and s ome high-back chairs without arm supports. All of TOC’s restrooms\, incl uding accessible restrooms\, are located below the main level and are reac hed either by two sets of stairs or by elevator.\nQuestions : You can read more about accessibility at The Old Church here . With further questions\ , email staff@tocportland.org.\nThanks to our sponsors Consider This is ma de possible by funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH ) and the Oregon Cultural Trust.\n\nhttps://oregonhumanities.org/events/co nsider-this-trust-and-political-institutions/ URL;VALUE=URI:https://oregonhumanities.org/events/consider-this-trust-and- political-institutions/ STATUS:CONFIRMED LAST-MODIFIED:20261031T124627Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR