PORTLAND — City Councilor Pious Ali has been elected to the National League of Cities 2020 Race, Equity and Leadership Council.

“I look forward to the sharing of ideas and learning some of the successful best practices used by other cities to eliminate racial disparities, advance racial equity and build an equitable thriving community, where everyone feels they are welcomed and belong to our city,” Ali said.

According to the city, “though training and online resources, REAL helps NLC members build safe places where people from all racial, ethnic and cultural backgrounds thrive socially, economically, academically and physically.”

NLC is a resource and advocate for 19,000 cities, towns and villages, representing more than 218 million Americans.