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As director of the city of Portland鈥檚 Office of Government Relations, Martha Pellegrino spearheads the city鈥檚 federal legislative agenda and advances the city concerns at the state Legislature. She worked as a lobbyist for the city for five years before being hired as director in 2010, and her impact was felt in both capacities.

During the 2009 state legislative session, she played a 鈥渒ey role鈥� in pushing passage of bills to encourage settlement in condemnation cases and to reform state ethics laws, said Portland Mayor Sam Adams. And last year, Pellegrino led her team in a push for new laws to allow forfeiture of drug assets to pay for drug treatment, lower speed limits on neighborhood greenways, and protect the confidentiality of victims of domestic violence.

Community work played a big role in Pellegrino鈥檚 decision to study law in the first place. She was working in Boston as the development director for the Center for Teen Empowerment, which hires and trains inner city teens to be community organizers, when she decided to go to law school to better understand the system she wanted to change for the better.

She started changing things even before she graduated. While attending law school at the University of Oregon, Pellegrino helped create the Loan Repayment Assistance Program, which allows law students to take public interest jobs and have their student loan debt reduced. She was a Wayne Morris Fellow during school and also worked as an intern for Oregon Secretary of State Kate Brown, who was majority leader for the state Senate at the time.

Pellegrino has received a community service award from the Oregon Law Students Public Interest Fund and the Hometown Hero Award from the Eugene Human Rights Commission.

鈥淚 am not the least bit surprised that she has continued to show this leadership as a professional,鈥� said Michael Moffitt, dean of the University of Oregon School of Law.

What made you decide to become an attorney?

My mother went to law school when she was 44. Public service runs deep in my family and because of (that) and good mentors along the way, I decided to go to law school and pursue a career in public service.

What鈥檚 the most satisfying part of your law career?

Representing the city of Portland in both Salem and Washington, D.C., has exposed me to how different levels of government work in practice.聽 I am constantly learning new issues that have an impact on the city, plus I get to interact with smart and dedicated people every day.

What would you never wear?

A wedding dress.

What is your greatest fear?

Losing people I love.

Do you have any tattoos?

No, but if I did, it would probably be Portlandia聽 鈥� the statue, not the show.