Join the City of Hillsboro, City of Beaverton, and Washington County for The Latino Experience in the Pacific Northwest, a conversation with Emeritus Professor Dr. Erasmo Gamboa and Maria Rubio, Executive Director of Centro Cultural de Washington County. View the event flyer.

This event supports the Consolidated Plan and Analysis of Impediments plan development, which will guide funding policies and actions related to housing and community development.

Parking and Transportation:

• From Portland/Beaverton: Take the TriMet MAX Blue Line to Hatfield Government MAX Station and walk west one block to the Hillsboro Civic Center.
• From Forest Grove/Cornelius: Take the TriMet 57-TV Highway bus to the SE Washington and 2nd Street stop and walk half a block north to the Hillsboro Civic Center.
• Parking:
  • Visitor parking is available at Hillsboro's Lincoln Street Lot between NW Lincoln Street and NE Jackson Street, or at Washington County lots P11, P7, or P8.
  • Accessible parking spaces are available in the Civic Center Parking Lot and Underground Garage as well as along both sides of East Main Street. These spaces do not have time restrictions.
  • View the Civic Center Visitor Parking map.

Event Agenda: 

Dr. Erasmo Gamboa

Emeritus Professor Erasmo Gamboa is a leading national scholar of the Latino experience in the Pacific Northwest after publishing journal articles and award-winning books, directing statewide oral history projects in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington and helping to produce several film documentaries. His work has received recognition from the governors of Idaho, Oregon, and Washington. In addition to other honors, University of Washington presented Professor Gamboa with the 2007 Distinguished Public Service Award for his decades-long dedication to providing college scholarships to the children of farm-working families. In 2015, the University of Washington’s College of Arts and Sciences choose Professor Gamboa as one of the top 150 alumni over the last 150 years to receive the 2012 Timeless Award.

Maria Caballero Rubio

Maria Caballero Rubio is Executive Director of Centro Cultural de Washington County, a nonprofit that delivers workforce, business, and youth development services for low-income and Latino residents in Washington County. Maria came to Hillsboro and Washington County in 1969 with her migrant farmworker family from Sonoma County, California. Her career includes 30 years in local, state, and federal government service primarily in public safety. She was a Policy Analyst at the US Department of Justice during part of the Clinton and Bush administrations overseeing 35 community policing institutes based at universities across the country designed to bridge the gap between communities  and police. Other jobs include Executive Director of the Institute on Community Policing at Western Oregon University, Policy Director for Public Safety for Portland mayor Tom Potter, and Vice-President of Equity and Inclusion at United Way of the Columbia-Willamette in Portland, Oregon. Her career has focused on systems change and organizational learning.