Portland, OR – March 5, 2019 – Portland Diamond Project (PDP), the organization behind the effort to bring Major League Baseball to Portland, announced today that Johnell Bell will join the team as Chief of Staff, primarily overseeing PDP’s community and government engagement teams, and serving as strategic aide to President Craig Cheek.

Bell comes to PDP from the office of U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley, where he served as State Field Director. “In the march toward Opening Day, we are striving to envision a holistic effort that reflects all of Portland,” PDP President and Founder Craig Cheek said. “And to reflect the community, we need to be in the community. Over the course of his career, Johnell has developed strong relationships to address the challenges Oregon’s cities and towns face and move our state forward. He is a huge asset to PDP, and we’re extremely happy to have him on board to further our mission of listening, learning, and ultimately partnering with all of Portland to make it better with baseball.” During his tenure in Merkley’s office, Bell was responsible for managing the Senator’s outreach staff and outreach to constituents and stakeholders across all sectors, leading strategic efforts to help the Senator hear from and connect with communities across the state. Previously, Bell served as the Director of the Diversity and Transit Equity Department at TriMet, during which time the transit agency achieved record-breaking utilization of minority- and women-owned firms, awarding more than $170 million to these firms, the largest in the state’s history, and his passion for community engagement led him to create a grants program to help community-based organizations, youth, and low-income riders gain affordable access to transit.

“As a native Portlander whose grandparents survived the Vanport flood to raise a family in Portland, I have witnessed the transformation of our city and state,” Bell said. “This history— and transformative opportunity—are the reasons I am thrilled to join the Portland Diamond Project. Working in partnership with the community, we will not only build a world-class ballpark; we will also help advance social equity and ignite economic empowerment in intentional and impactful ways.”

Rounding out the team, Keith Edwards, Nathan Nayman, and Joe Esmonde have joined PDP as community engagement advisors.

Keith Edwards currently sits on the TriMet Board of Directors and has been a member of the Coalition of Black Men since its inception in 1988. He has been a member of APRI (A. Philip Randolph Institute) and was a member and past president of the Portland Chapter of the NAACP. He has served on the Board of the Columbia-Willamette United Way and was a co-founder of CAWS (Construction Apprenticeship Workforce Solutions), an organization formed to enhance by diversifying the construction workforce, where he served as its first president from 2005-2008. Edwards received the 2010 Emerald Award for his dedication and commitment to Community Service from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Zeta Sigma Omega Chapter.

Nathan Nayman, who recently moved to Portland after decades in the San Francisco Bay Area, has had an extensive career building coalitions and advocating for legislative, regulatory, corporate, community and industry initiatives. As a certified mediator from the Harvard School of Public Health in conflict resolution, his successes in forging diverse public-private coalitions are based upon building solid consensus around shared goals. Appointed by California Governor Jerry Brown, he has served on the Board of Directors of the California Workforce Development Board and Jefferson Awards Foundation Students in Action. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee selected him to serve on the Port of San Francisco Waterfront Land Use Planning group charged with setting forth land use and urban design policies for piers, shoreline and nearby lands under jurisdiction of the Port Commission.

Joe Esmonde, who handles labor relations for PDP, was the business representative for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 48, a labor union that represents active members and retirees who work in a wide variety of fields, including utilities, construction, telecommunications, broadcasting, manufacturing, railroads and government. Esmonde has been a part of the organization for 30 years. Originally from Philadelphia, PA, Esmonde received a Bachelor’s Degree from Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia. After moving to Portland, Esmonde completed a five-year apprenticeship with the IBEW training center and has been a distinguished member since. He has served on many boards, including TriMet and several health and pension trust boards. Esmonde and his family have lived in Southwest Portland since 1980.

Media contact: John McIsaac 503-481-9621 [email protected]