LOWENSTEIN TRUST
Recognizing those who are making a difference for the underserved
We are pleased to announce Alena “Leni” Tupper as the 2025 Lowenstein Trust Award recipient
The 2025 Steve Lowenstein Trust Award was presented at the Portland City Council Meeting on Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 9:45 am
City Hall, Council Chambers, 1221 SW Fourth Avenue, 2nd Floor, Portland OR 97204
Alena “Leni” Tupper
Recipient of the 2025 Annual Steve Lowenstein Award
The 34th annual Steve Lowenstein Award recipient is Alena “Leni” Tupper, Founder and Director of CLEAR Clinic in Portland, a nonprofit collective of legal workers. Motivated by principle, integrity, and service, Leni and her diverse team work hard to deliver straight-forward legal services to those otherwise unable to afford them, keeping programs as free and accessible as possible. Court Record Relief, Housing Justice, and Immigration Justice are the three primary programs, all tailored to reach people pushed to the margins in our society. Drop-in clinics are available throughout Oregon, including in each prison, and for every tribal nation in the state. Grants, contracts, partnerships, and donations sustain the organization as it evolves to address both individual and community needs.
Leni is propelled to do good for others, relieve people of their legal burdens, right historic wrongs, and facilitate change through justice. People who know and work with Leni use the same words to describe her: visionary, value-driven, inclusive leader, community-builder, focused, tireless, welcoming, and above all, stunningly effective.
A humble yet tenacious advocate, Leni has long been committed to using the law as a tool for social justice. An immigration attorney and former Portland Community College Paralegal Program Director, Leni recognizes the inherent inequities and barriers of the legal system. Her intention for CLEAR Clinic was to build an organization that combines access to legal services with achievement of social and racial justice goals. And she has succeeded.
Since its inception in 2020, CLEAR Clinic has served thousands of Oregonians, helping each person overcome complex legal obstacles and live safer, richer, and fuller lives in our communities. Clients have criminal offenses removed from their legal records, clearing their name and creating a pathway to greater opportunities, including gainful employment and secure housing. Tenants facing eviction receive legal defense and obtain immediate financial assistance, long-term housing stability, and eviction record expungement. LGBTQ+ and all other community members have open access to legal name and gender marker changes. And migrant communities can access free deportation and ICE detention defense legal services during this time when they are so desperately needed.
CLEAR Clinic has always been responsive to community legal needs, including the safety and legal rights of immigrants. “The moment we are in makes immigration the most urgent issue. ICE is tearing families apart,” states Leni. “This has pushed us into new territory, requiring different legal strategies such as federal habeas corpus petitions challenging unlawful detentions by ICE, and developing a rapid response intervention program for the brutal attacks ICE is conducting on our community members.”
Being able to access essential legal services and protections gives people who have long lived in the shadows second chances to emerge and thrive. This speaks to Leni’s conviction that CLEAR Clinic exists to uphold the value of every individual, fostering communities that respect all its members, and allowing each person to shine their brightest.
To learn more about CLEAR Clinic and its mission, programs, and partnerships, please visit their website: https://clear-clinic.org/
The press release can be read here.
Each year, the Lowenstein Trustees solicit community members to identify an individual whose contribution to people in need within Portland upholds the spirit of Steve Lowenstein’s memory. In his will, Steve specified that the recipient of the annual Lowenstein Trust Award “shall be that person who demonstrated (in the opinion of the Trustees) the greatest contribution to assisting the poor and underprivileged in the City of Portland, Oregon. “
We look for someone who has dedicated themselves to a particular cause that benefits others. Often this person has been working for years behind the scenes in a volunteer capacity or receiving low compensation. The recipient must be in need of these funds to help carry on his or her work and must use the award to further the type of work for which it was given. The $10,000 honorarium is typically given to the individual and funneled through the organization affiliated with the award recipient to strengthen and continue their work. A list of past recipients can be found here.
In his own right, Steve Lowenstein was a model of public service. Steve joined the Peace Corps after law school in the early 1960s and wrote a textbook on Ethiopian law. He worked in Washington DC for the Office of Economic Opportunity and in Chile for the Ford Foundation. He was founding Director of Oregon Legal Services, authored a groundbreaking history – The Jews of Oregon 1850-1950 – and at the time of his death in 1990, had served for six years as Executive Assistant to former Portland City Commissioner Mike Lindberg. Steve’s sense of purpose, integrity and perseverance inspired many of us who have worked on human rights and social justice issues.
For more information about The Lowenstein Trust you may email pdxmargie@gmail.com or write:
THE LOWENSTEIN TRUST
c/o Charles Williamson
1434 SE Umatilla Street
Portland, Oregon 97202
Trustees
Art Alexander, Jamaal Folsom, Monica Goracke, Michelle Harper, Margie Harris, Joe Hertzberg,
Marc Jolin, Paul Kelly, Adrienne Livingston, Destiny Magana-Pablo, Shelli Romero, Charles R. Williamson
Honorary Trustees
Sandra Haefker, Daniel Jacobs, Mike Lindberg, Chris Lowenstein, Lee Rosner, Kris Wilkinson
In Memoriam
Nick Fish, Gretchen Kafoury, Ron Paul
For the 34th year, the Trustees of the Lowenstein Trust have solicited nominations for the annual Steve Lowenstein Award.
Nominations for the 2025 Steve Lowenstein Award are now closed. Thank you to all who have submitted!
Nominations for the 2025 Steve Lowenstein Award are being accepted now through
November 10th.
Nominations are now closed.
Our sincere thanks to everyone who submitted a nomination! We continue to be impressed and inspired by the community building efforts of volunteers in the City of Portland. You can help support the work of the Lowenstein Trust on our Donations page.
Thank you!