Hillsboro! Meet Your New City Councilor: Olivia Alcaire

You may not know Olivia Alcaire. She's lived in Hillsboro since 2001. She works as the New Student Orientation and Advising Specialist at Portland Community College's Rock Creek Campus. There she helps students understand academic requirements and financial considerations.

You will soon get to know her, though. She has been selected by the Hillsboro City Council to join them, filling the vacancy created when Steve Callaway was elected mayor in November.

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"Olivia Alcaire is a great choice to join the Hillsboro City Council,” says Callaway. “She brings a deep sense of commitment to our City and the many families that she has supported during her long history of community service, and she brings an important perspective to our community conversations.”

Alcaire was one of nearly two dozen residents of the city's Ward 3 to apply for the job.

“Hillsboro is a fantastic City with a very bright future – a City that cares deeply about the advancement of our youth – and I embrace the opportunity to serve and learn as a council member,” Alcaire said.

“I am a strong believer in community engagement and, in particular, helping our most vulnerable citizens become empowered through community service and civic leadership.”

The city says that Alcaire brings more than 20 years of community service experience to the job.

For the past six years, she has served on the board of Bienstar of Oregon, which provides fair housing to more than 600 farm-working and low-income families throughout western Washington County.

She also serves on the board of CREATE – a program assisting high school-aged youth complete their GED, and has served as an AmeriCorps Vista Volunteer assisting first-time Spanish speaking mothers in Washington County.

Alcaire received both her bachelor’s degree and her master’s degree in Mexican History from Portland State University, and earned a second master’s degree from Oregon State University.

She is currently working to complete her Doctorate of Education in Education Leadership from Portland State University.

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Photo: City of Hillsboro