Share
From big policy wins and a growing library of educational resources to robust collaborations that are expanding access to justice through our courts, OCJ is advancing our mission so that all Oregonians can experience health, joy, and economic opportunity.
OCJ launched new statewide consumer resources, including our first Consumer Confidence Comic, and expanded legal services to provide more Oregon consumers with legal support when harmed by lawbreaking companies. At this time, we were also actively recruiting to expand the capacity and impact of OCJ's program teams.
Consumer Resources Rollout
In August 2024, we publicly announced the rollout of our new educational tools and legal solutions for Oregon consumers. With the launch of these resources, Oregonians now have greater support for protecting themselves from scams and schemes and taking legal action against law-breaking companies.
"Before the nonprofit's creation, there was no single group in Oregon focused solely on consumer justice and consumer protection,” said Emily Reiman, founding OCJ board member (Statesman Journal article, October 28, 2024).
Deepening our human-centered culture
OCJ was diligent in advancing our policies, protocols, and approaches to support and extend our human-centered culture this past year. The hiring of both new permanent staff last autumn, as well as gearing up to hire a Policy Fellow for this coming year, meant iterating on our hiring approach and onboarding practices to ensure we remain aligned and live into our organizational values. We also crafted a set of principles outlining how trust, transparency, and accountability are at the forefront of how we show up when collaborating. Additionally, our team engages in intentional social gatherings to strengthen our connections and develop ties among not only one another, but our families as well.
The hiring process has been one of the best I have ever experienced. I felt like my time was valued, my experience as a professional was respected, and everyone was friendly and welcoming in interviews. Thank you for such a warm process and welcome to the organization.
Following a robust hiring process that attracted more than 180 applicants across two roles, we welcomed a new Policy Analyst and two new Communications Associates. The addition of these employees expands our ability to make meaningful change for Oregon consumers, reflecting our commitment to building the future we all deserve.
At the suggestion of a community member, we outlined what collaboration looks like for us at OCJ, both the expectations we hold of ourselves and those we expect of partners. These principles support our ability to live into our values and strategically invest our time and resources in shared work.
Relationships are core to advancing our work, and that is critical to our internal team as well. Our biannual team get-togethers, whether at a park or the Oregon Historical Society, are more than a moment to relax and catch up; they provide essential time to build the strong bonds that help us move our mission for consumers forward, even in challenging times.
In autumn, OCJ gained three new employees and welcomed fall policy interns. Our statewide consumer survey provided insights, and we sponsored attorneys to develop consumer law skills at a national conference. We helped develop proposed bills with lawmakers and convened a coalition in preparation for the upcoming legislative session.
We celebrated the third year of OCJ’s policy internships, advancing our capacity to mentor aspiring advocates while bringing fresh perspectives to the organization. All three summer interns extended their engagement with OCJ beyond the originally scheduled program, contributing meaningfully to our legislative work through research and lobbying support.
Beginning this fall, OCJ is expanding opportunities to develop skills in consumer advocacy and policy by hiring a year-long Policy Fellow position. This new program is designed to provide emerging professionals with in-depth experience in policy research, analysis, and advocacy in the field of consumer justice.
Being an OCJ intern gave me valuable insight into the legislative drafting and revisions process and the consumer protection climate in Oregon. I believe these skills will be invaluable to my future as both a lawyer and advocate with a passion for prioritizing public interest.
Centering Oregonian voices through research
Through our ongoing statewide consumer surveys, conducted by the Oregon Values and Beliefs Center, we continue to learn about consumer experiences and marketplace issues across Oregon. The findings not only directly inform our advocacy and ensure our consumer resources are relevant, but also help to keep Oregon communities at the center of our work.
Similar to past years, scams and fraud were the top consumer issues reported by Oregonians. Respondents also shared the types of hardships they experienced due to medical debt.
During the 2025 legislative session, the Communications + Engagement team stewarded community storytelling efforts in support of OCJ legislative priorities, connecting with Oregonians who had shared their experiences through our statewide survey.
Read their stories:
SB 605 - Removing medical debt from credit reports
HB 3178 - Transparency and protections when financing a car purchase
Oregon Consumer Justice was very efficient and effective in helping to provide the best information needed to give a consumer's account of actual events to Oregon lawmakers. It was encouraging and heartwarming to see the people helping people again.
OCJ’s partnership with the University of Oregon continues through the allocation of the Consumer Protection Research Grant. This award distributes up to $300,000 annually to faculty and graduate student projects to enhance consumer protections across the state. The 2024 grants went to twelve projects, including examining the impact of sports betting platforms on consumer behavior and assessing the Impact of Mortgage Forbearance on Oregon Consumers and Communities.
In December, we convened advocacy partners for our first Policy Summit and launched the Consumer Alliance of Oregon. The summit set us up for an impactful legislative session, with significant wins for Oregon consumers. We also hosted an educational event on consumer debt and launched our second Consumer Confidence Comic on the same topic.
Consumer Confidence Comic No. 2
In early December, we celebrated the release of our second Consumer Confidence Comic, “Dealing with Debt Collection,” providing an engaging resource to step through a challenging topic. We welcomed more than 80 guests at the launch party for an evening of community and recognized consumer attorneys Kelly Jones and Michael Fuller for lending their expertise to this issue, and local illustrator Audra McNamee for bringing the comics to life.
Consumer Confidence Comic No. 3
In mid-June, OCJ released our third comic, "Navigating Debt Collection in Court," an extension of comic no. 2 with new characters, scenarios, and additional consumer resources. We have shipped more than 6,000 free copies of the comics in English and Spanish statewide. Do you have your copies yet? Plus, stay tuned—our fourth comic is already in the works.
OCJ's Communications and Engagement Director, Michelle Luedtke, discusses the growing collection of OCJ's Consumer Confidence Comics.
OCJ's Pre-Session Consumer Policy Summit in early December brought together community partners to offer a deep dive into key consumer issues that would help inform our shared work in the spring. We welcomed speakers from the Consumer Federation of America, Sugerman Dahab Law Office, and Oregon's Citizen Utility Board.
Megan Quintrell, OCJ's Advocacy Cohort Lead, discusses the formation of the Consumer Alliance of Oregon and its success advancing pro-consumer policy.
The Alliance champions the rights and interests of consumers across the state by building the broad support needed to pass pro-consumer legislation.
The Alliance showed up as a united presence advocating for more equitable consumer protection policies for our communities statewide.
This inaugural 2025 legislative agenda prioritized five pieces of legislation to improve and expand Oregon consumers' rights.
Supporting pro-consumer policy at the state and federal levels
OCJ’s policy work over the last year is marked by impactful state and federal lawmaker engagement throughout the 2025 Oregon Legislative Session, Consumer Advocacy Week, and during Oregon’s Legislative Days. Prior to the start of the 2025 Legislative Session, OCJ staff presented twice to the House Interim Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection about implementing interest rate caps on short-term consumer loans and promoting transparency in auto financing.
2025 was an unprecedented year for consumer laws, and OCJ played a major role in amplifying key issues facing Oregonians. In addition to advocating for or supporting pro-consumer bills, we were equally committed and prepared to oppose harmful or problematic legislation.
At the midway point of the session, all four of OCJ’s priority bills had passed key legislative deadlines, and the bills we flagged as problematic for consumers were no longer in play.
Upon sine die on June 30, OCJ had directly supported six successful bills with consumer-led enforcement through the Unlawful Trade Practices Act (UTPA, helped eliminate medical debt from consumer credit reports, successfully advocated for better transparency and protections when financing a car purchase, and helped Oregon lead nationwide with enhanced data privacy protections.
OCJ Policy Director Chris Coughlin discusses consumer wins from the 2025 Oregon Legislative Session.
Spring was significant for OCJ. Our policy efforts saw many successes, and our education library grew with a new comic, an online timeline, explainer videos, and data privacy resources. The legal landscape saw wins for consumers with the Tillamook v. Bohr ruling and a class-action lawsuit filed against Grocery Outlet affecting 100,000+ Oregonians.
Fostering Action and Interconnection through Relationships—OCJ’s new FAIR Learning Forums
This year, we renamed our bi-annual educational event series to "FAIR Learning Forums," incorporating the acronym "Fostering Action through Interconnection and Relationships." This refreshed title reflects our goal to center people and collaborative learning on our path to a more just and vibrant Oregon.
In winter, we explored new consumer protections against predatory debt collection.
Our spring event gathered community to discuss the role that trauma plays in our working relationships as well as strategies to help us restore ourselves and sustain a consumer justice movement, instead of burning out.
We released our Consumer Protection Timeline in May to show the evolution of consumer protections in the United States. This timeline provides Oregonians with a new way to understand and engage with their rights as consumers. Initially drafted by former OCJ policy intern Felix Knobel, the timeline flags more than 70 state and federal consumer cases and protection acts dating back to the 1700s. We will continue to update the timeline to reflect changes at the federal and state levels, bringing attention to the protections most at risk.
Shared Language
OCJ’s library of Consumer Issue Explainers is growing! So much so that we now have a dedicated page on our website featuring all of our short-form animated and filmed videos, which break down complex consumer topics and terms into a concise, easy-to-understand, and easily shared format.
Watch the three most recent videos:
Mandatory arbitration (narrated by OCJ Board Member Marcus Mundy)
What is a class action? (with consumer attorney Nadia Dahab)
OCJ Policy Analyst Hanna Osman explains the origins of our Data Privacy Cohort and the educational materials they created.
Our legal solutions work to advance consumer justice through various means. OCJ focuses on providing opportunities for Oregon’s consumer legal community to grow their skills and networks. We amplify meaningful casework that has the potential to shift the tide for Oregon consumers. Our impactful partnership with legal practice, OCJ Law, increases access to hands-on legal representation and consultation for Oregon consumers. Explore the links below to learn more about how these engagements further our consumer justice goals.
Each year, we make scholarships available to attend impactful national conferences. In FY25, we provided 65 scholarships that allowed private and public-interest attorneys, as well as law students, to attend conferences in the fall and spring hosted by our partners at the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and the National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA).
Galvanized by a shared mission, Oregon Consumer Justice partners with OCJ Law to provide direct legal services and solutions to Oregon consumers. This past year has seen their team grow as they continue to expand and strengthen a practice to help harmed consumers find justice through the courts.
OCJ celebrated a class action filing against California-based chain, Grocery Outlet, for its misleading and harmful consumer sales strategy that violates Oregon law. Our promotion generated a strong media response, resulting in 30+ news articles.
This class action is about doing right by consumers impacted by Grocery Outlet and holding the company accountable for their unethical and duplicitous pricing scheme that shuts down consumer choice.
OCJ prides itself on stewarding our dollars to have the greatest positive impact for Oregon consumers. While in our last annual report we noted that nearly 90% of our budget went towards directly supporting Oregon consumers, this past year we are thrilled to share that that percentage rose to 95%. Last fall also saw the completion of our inaugural audit process, as well as the development of new policies to guide our investing and gift acceptance. These documents, as well as our 990s, are all available to check out on our website. Cy Pres designations, including three new designations this year, have continued to support our initiatives, reflecting the confidence of plaintiff attorneys in our ability to further consumer justice across Oregon.
Sign up for our mailing list to stay connected to our work and be part of our movement for consumer justice in Oregon!
