Jonathan Ostar

Licensed in Oregon

Civil Rights and public interest attorney and advocate empowering clients in Oregon to build equity and write their own stories.

Jonathan is an attorney with a passion for Civil Rights, community organizing and cooperative enterprise. He is returning to the practice of law after many years exploring alternative pathways to social change. Jonathan first cut his teeth as a plaintiff's employment lawyer with Dolan Law Group, specializing in racial discrimination and sexual harassment litigation. He then shifted gears to co-found and serve as the Executive Director of OPAL Environmental Justice Oregon, a community-based nonprofit focused on transportation equity, inclusionary housing and climate justice in low-income communities of color in the Portland metro region. During this time, he was appointed a member and served as Vice Chair of the Oregon Environmental Justice Task Force, and oversaw clinical legal work as an adjunct professor at Lewis and Clark Law School and Willamette University School of Law.

Jon served brief stints as the Civil Rights Administrator for Multnomah County and the Director of Operations for the August Wilson Red Door Project, a nonprofit theatre company focused on changing the racial ecology of Portland through the arts, followed by a year in the Bay Area as a consultant for Street Level Advisors, developing expertise around housing policy and limited equity housing cooperatives, leading to this fellowship opportunity. A graduate of Lewis and Clark Law School and the University of Pennsylvania, Jonathan feels blessed to find a new political home with SELC and is excited to launch a new law and policy venture to promote housing co-ops and other strategic action for clients invested in creating a cooperative economy in Oregon.


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  • Mwende Hinojosa
    published this page in Legal Fellows 2022-03-10 15:03:02 -0800

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