35 Innovators Under 35: Meet Marissa Madrigal

Marissa Madrigal realized early on that she wasn’t professionally fulfilled from her academic training in biology. She spent some time in the world of marketing. Didn’t stick. Then Madrigal landed a position with the Clark County (WA) Commissioner campaign of Betty Sue Morris, a friend of Madrigal’s mom.

That experience brought about a newfound passion for politics. Next stop: a 2005 campaign for creation and funding of the Greater Clark County Parks District in unincorporated Clark County.

“Clark County has a reputation of being an anti-tax area, but we pulled out a victory,” Madrigal said of her work on the county’s Proposition 1. [The measure passed by 27 votes.] “By election day, I was growing a bit tired of campaigning, but it was great to do something that really changes things. We worked hard for the creation of new parks that will be around for 100 years or more.”

Madrigal then met Multnomah County Commissioner (now County Chair) Jeff Cogen. She soon became his Chief of Staff.

“It’s great to work for an innovator like Jeff. He encourages new ideas and is always seeking ways to benefit the community,” Madrigal said of her boss. “We saw people struggling with hunger and food insecurity and asked ourselves, ”How can we help?”

Realizing that the County had vacant property near Troutdale, Marissa had the idea to create the program ‘County C.R.O.P.S.’ (Community Reaps Our Produce and Shares) - an effort to turn an unused plot of land into a community vegetable farm and donate 100% of the harvest to local charities.

The program proved a wild success in 2009 (its first year), with over $25,000 in contributions, hundreds of volunteers, and over six tons of fresh, organic produce donated to the Oregon Food Bank.

“It’s really been a dream come true,” Madrigal says of the garden adjacent to McMenamin’s Edgefield property. “I am happy with what we’ve done and excited to have more opportunities to work on food security and land-use issues.”

Madrigal sees community involvement as key to good citizenship. “I took my seven-year-old to the farm to volunteer one day,” she said of her daughter. “When you get children to do something for others and explain the importance, then over time you start to develop interested and involved teenagers.”