Portland City Councilor Tiffany Koyama Lane is a public school teacher, union organizer, Japanese American (Yonsei), activist, and mama of two. She represents District 3 (inner SE and parts of NE Portland), where she is proud to live and work. She is the first Asian American woman ever elected to city council in Portland. 

Councilor Koyama Lane earned her BA and MA in Education at the University of Oregon (go Ducks!), and has spent her entire professional life in public education, teaching kindergarten through fifth grade in schools ranging from under-resourced Title 1 schools to magnet programs. Prior to holding office, she taught third grade at Sunnyside Environmental School. Teacher Tiffany loves Portland and the beautiful Pacific Northwest. In her free time, you can find her biking around the city, dancing, thrifting, and adventuring outdoors with her husband, Tim, and their two boys.

You can read Councilor Koyama Lane’s policy priorities for the new Portland City Council here, and see her list of endorsements from organizations and elected officials here.

As a fourth-generation Japanese American, Councilor Koyama Lane stands on the shoulders of generations of people working for change. Her approach to teaching and community work is informed by her family’s experience in WWII-era Japanese incarceration camps. An engaged member of the local AAPI community, Councilor Koyama Lane has served on the Teacher Advisory Councils at the Portland Art Museum and the Japanese American Museum of Oregon. Through the National Endowment for the Humanities, she’s participated in powerful landmark programs at the Japanese-American National Museum and the Wing Luke Museum.