"Denyse has been a community activist for most of her life and career. Involvement in the community is important to her and she has worked tirelessly to enable a variety of voices to be heard. In 2019, Denyse was elected to the Oregon City Commission, the first person of color to serve in the city’s history. In August 2022, she was elected the first Black mayor of Oregon City to serve out an unexpired term & reelected to a 4-year term in November 2022. Denyse is currently one of three African American mayors—and the only African American mayor who is female—in the state of Oregon." Submitted by Julie Rawls