Hatfield Futures

September 22, 2022

Hatfield Futures Showcase 2023_SHORT (1)

Applications are open for Hatfield Futures 2025! Apply here.

Teams will gather in Portland for a one-week summer camp from June 23-27, 2025 to build community, dream up forward-thinking ideas and create 'artifacts from the future' that reflect their visions; and then present those proposals at the Hatfield Futures Showcase on June 28, 2025. The program is free and all travel and lodging costs are covered.

What future Oregon do we want to live in?

Today’s high school students will be at the height of their careers and family lives in 2050. Oregon’s Kitchen Table invites high school-aged youth and students to participate in the Hatfield Futures Project!

“The Hatfield Futures Project was definitely a highlight of the year! I was able to meet like-minded individuals and work towards a common goal, a goal that we were all passionate and excited about. Being on a Cross Regional Team was so invigorating, I loved being able to get to know my team through the project and go from being strangers to close friends. The project certainly prepared me for my future career and got me excited about making a change. The future is the youth!”

- 2023 Hatfield Futures Participant

The Hatfield Futures Project aims to engage students in generating innovative solutions for our most important societal, environmental, and economic issues. This can include proposals for social movements, curriculum, public education campaigns, and policy proposals.

Students collaborate in teams to create forward-thinking ideas and will present their proposals to community leaders, elected officials, and Portland State University Faculty and Staff at the Hatfield Futures Showcase on March 22-23, 2024. All teams will have their travel and lodging paid for, as well as a stipend for participating.

Interested in opportunities to support these inspiring students and join them in shaping the future? Contact us about sponsorship or volunteering!

Oregon's Kitchen Table and PSU's College of Urban and Public Affairs partnered to launch the Hatfield Futures Project in 2022-2023. As part of Hatfield Futures Project’s second year, teams presented their policy ideas to a panel of judges at Portland State University on March 23, 2024. Learn more about the 2024 teams and Showcase here and check out info about the 2023 Hatfield Futures Showcase here.

This project is named for Senator Mark O. Hatfield. Senator Hatfield represented Oregon in the US Senate for 30 years in addition to serving as Governor of Oregon, Oregon Secretary State, Oregon State Representative and Senator. Senator Hatfield believed strongly that Oregonians need to be engaged citizens if Oregon’s commitment to good government and active participation were to be fulfilled.

"Our problem is not the lack of knowing; it is the lack of doing. Most people know far more than they think they do."

- Senator Mark O. Hatfield