photo of what do you do with an idea book

Our Vision + Story

We imagine a world without racism and poverty. The Multnomah Idea Lab (MIL) was formed by the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners in 2015 in response to this vision, and is located within Multnomah County’s Department of County Human Services. 

The MIL is charged with seeking approaches at the intersection of poverty and racism.

We use the principles of Equity- and Human-Centered Collaborative Design, Critical Thinking, and Applied Research to provide consultancy services — including facilitation, thought partnership, research and design expertise — to Multnomah County and other public jurisdictions. The MIL works with the community to co-create and test ideas to eliminate the racial wealth gap.