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(Editor’s note: This story has been updated to reflect the correct age of Nate McCoy, executive director of the National Association of Minority Contractors’ Oregon chapter)

A group of African-American design and architecture professionals shared their personal experiences in the industry Wednesday during a special panel discussion directed by local students.

Organized through Hacker and The CENTER, a Northeast Portland coalition-led hub for child and youth education, creativity and engagement, Vital Voices in the Built Environment brought together industry professionals, high school students and community members for a conversation on how to drive Portland development in a direction that encompasses all of the communities in the city.

鈥淚’m an Oregon native for all 36 of my years,鈥� said panel member Nate McCoy, executive director and operations manager of the National Association of Minority Contractors‘ Oregon chapter. 鈥淎nd for the last 30 years I’ve seen our city change and grow and modify and expand in so many ways, and it’s been perplexing.鈥�

Joining McCoy on the panel were architect William Hart, a founding partner in Carleton Hart Architecture; Joy Alise Davis, CEO and founder of Design + Culture Lab; and Anyeley Hallova, a partner at development firm project^. Together, the quartet provided their takes on not only working in their respective industries, but the struggles involved in preservation of existing communities and cultures in the face of ongoing gentrification.

For McCoy, who grew up in Parkrose, in Northeast Portland, it meant carving out his own path into his desired field. He engineered a transfer to Benson High School, with its technical programs, and eventually realized he could go to college and achieve his goals. This was a revelation for a teenager who was constantly told that certain paths were closed to African-American students.

鈥淔or folks of color who sometimes feel voiceless, sometimes you have to take that faith if there is not that opportunity then you have to create it,鈥� McCoy told the audience.

He earned a scholarship to the University of Oregon and eventually became senior construction coordinator for the Portland Housing Bureau. He helped oversee developments of the type he once depended upon, including North Portland’s New Columbia.

In Portland, gentrification of traditionally black districts has led to substantial cultural losses along Northeast Martin Luther King Boulevard and other thoroughfares.

One of the biggest challenges panelists are working to address is how to preserve and even re-grow that culture. Work with longtime property owners in the Albina area and others has been made more difficult by the distrust engendered by the burgeoning wealth and demographic changes that have happened there.

鈥淭oday, I’m still dealing with some of these community folks desperately trying to understand with all this zoning, where can we go to get developers and banks to come in and look at these areas,鈥� Hart said.

Engaging these people in the discussions around future development, he added, is key to ensuring that local communities remain coherent.

鈥淚 think it starts with making sure early and often for folks who don’t have a chance to get to meetings, giving them a chance to weigh in,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e have to be grassroots with this work and really make sure folks know what resources are out there.

鈥淭hey’ve got the land, but they don’t have the resources to do anything with it.鈥�

Hallova agreed, and said the widespread gentrification in Portland has left some property owners wary of trusting banks and developers.

鈥淭he trust issues, like you said, at this particular moment, if you want to get a property developed, you have to have a development partner,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e work with land owners all the time and that’s what they do. But in the African-American community, with all the broken trust that’s come before, I completely get why they don’t trust.鈥�