Coffee with Megan Loeb

Fifty Cups of Coffee #8: Megan Loeb
Date: February 15, 2024
Location: Never Coffee, SW 12th Avenue, Portland, Oregon

How we know each other

Megan and I first met in middle school and have been friends ever since. She has always been one of the kindest, most generous, most thoughtful human beings I’ve known. She continues to amaze and inspire me, and I’m excited to share a little bit about this the important work she is doing.

What Megan is doing now

Currently, Megan is the Senior Program Officer of Economic Vitality and Housing at the Oregon Community Foundation. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her husband (whom we both went to high school with). They have three children together: a 19-year-old daughter in college, a 17-year-old daughter, and a 12-year-old son. 

Three questions

During these Fifty Cups of Coffee chats, I ask each person the same three questions. The reasoning behind each is as follows:

Question 1 – Social media makes it easy for other people to think that they know us, when truthfully, we all only see a small sliver of someone’s life and who they really are. This is the interviewee’s chance to share something that is important to them that, for whatever reason, other people may not know.

Question 2 – We all have fears, no matter who are are or where we are in life. This helps connect us and show we are all more alike than we are different.

Question 3 – I believe the answer to this question helps show each person’s true values, passions, and their why in life.

There are no right or wrong answers to any of these. I’m including each person’s answers in first person. Their answers have been edited from my notes for length and clarity, but these are their words.

What is one thing you wish more people knew about you?

I wish people knew I was a strong housing advocate in my job. I have become evangelical about housing as a human right and the need for more housing across the continuim. It’s fundamental to the stability of everything else in our lives. I interact with a lot of people who struggle with housing and stability across our state. I’m kind of a radical – but I don’t think it’s radical to want everybody to have housing. But it feels like it’s radical sometimes.

What is your deepest fear?

Spiders. Always spiders. Snakes are okay, a bear in the forest is ok. But spiders? No. That’s my superficial fear.

My deeper fear is failing my kids. I want my kids to be happy and successful and thriving. I hope we’ve provided that foundation for them. My fear is that they won’t be happy in their lives. Are they healthy? Are they happy? Are they safe?

If you had unlimited funds, what would you do with your life?

This is an easy question for me, because I would create my own charitable foundation and do exactly what I am doing now – but with a lot more flexibility and freedom.

I would also open a bakery where I would hire great bakers. We’d offer chocolate-hazelnut everything because that is the best flavor combination on the planet. 

Lessons Learned

I always love catching up with Megan. She’s an amazing human being who makes the world a much better place. And this coffee chat reinforced that! Here are some of my biggest takeaways from her answers.

• Be radical. It’s topsy turvy to me that we live in a world where considering housing a basic human right for everyone can be seen as radical. But if that’s where we are in society, then let’s all be radical! Be so radical until it becomes the norm. I’m so proud of Megan and the work she has been doing to fix the housing crisis in Oregon.
• We all have superficial fears. I’ve known Megan for more than 30 years, and I had no idea she was scared of spiders. There’s something comforting in knowing we are all afraid of something.
• Find work that is meaningful enough to you that, should you have unlimited funds, you would do more of that work. That’s a great sign that you are in the right profession.

Learn more about Megan

Learn more about the Oregon Community Foundation.

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