Women's History Month 2024 - Daphne Cissell

Hello! I am very excited to be included in Lake Oswego’s Women’s History Month campaign where we get to celebrate the wonderful work women have done in the past and continue to do.

Currently, I work as an Associate Planner for Lake Oswego, but started out in Code Enforcement a little over five years ago. What originally drew me to the Code Enforcement job was the opportunity to do tree protection inspections. With my background in urban forestry work and tree identification, I thought it would be a great skill to build on. What I didn’t know at the time was how much I would enjoy working here.

I had a bit of an unconventional childhood. I was born in the Azores, Portugal on a military base and moved a lot when I was a kid. My dad’s military career eventually moved us to Oahu, Hawaii when I was six. We lived on a military base until my parents split up. After that, my brother and I stayed in Hawaii for a few more years with my mom, moving from place to place. Living off base and attending local schools introduced me to the real history of the Hawaiian Islands from a Polynesian perspective. It was eye opening. I remember feeling ashamed and embarrassed because of my white privilege (though it was not called that then), but I also remember being amazed at the Hawaiian people’s resiliency and strength to maintain their history and culture. That time in my life was a major turning point for me. Living alongside strong Hawaiian people was a learning experience that shaped me in ways that I didn’t understand until later in life. It gave me a deeper understanding of history and made me realize that it is important to know who is telling the stories we learn in history books.

When I was ten we moved back to Washington State, where my mom grew up. We continued to move from town to town, eventually landing in Bellingham. My relationship with my mom was difficult and I ended up moving out at a very young age (14!). Because I was so young, I stayed with my aunt and my friends’ families, who opened their home to me and gave me one rule: Stay in School. Looking back on that time and thinking about all the people, mostly women, who took me in or gave me job opportunities, I feel very fortunate. They saw something in me I couldn’t see in myself and supported me so I could graduate from high school.

I can’t think of only one woman I’d like to honor. I have been very lucky to have had strong, funny, intelligent women guide me through much of my life. Some of them have stood in as mothers, but it has been my chosen family of friends that have inspired me the most.

In my late teens and early twenties, I got introduced to the punk community in the Bay Area, which was mostly comprised of critical-thinking men and women who were dedicated to public service in their own way - cooking for Food Not Bombs, doing outreach work to homeless youth, starting needle exchanges, volunteering time and energy making their community a better place - all while the background of music guided us to think for ourselves and question authority. Within that group of women whom I have stayed friends with, there are moms, nurse practitioners, engineers, business owners, musicians, hairstylists, aestheticians, library workers, artists, therapists, teachers, and veterinarians – many of them doing more than one of these roles. These women inspire me every day to be the best version of myself, to do my work with pride and to treat people with dignity. My friends have watched me grow from a punk kid to a college graduate (with honors!) and given me the emotional and mental support I needed.

Although I do not have a close relationship with my mom, the two things she taught me were the importance of hard work and the joy of a good book, both of which have served me well in my life.

If I had any advice to young women growing up now, I think it would be that it’s okay if you don’t know what you want to do right after high school. Travel if you can or volunteer with groups that interest you. Take a moment to talk to people that are different from you. Find a job that you enjoy, work hard and treat everyone with kindness and empathy. Life doesn’t always go in a straight line and you need to be open to opportunities and experiences that broaden your world view.

Story behind my photo: 

I was living in Oakland, CA in a house full of people and this dog just wandered out of the lumberyard across the street. She pranced straight up the stairs and made herself right at home. We looked for an owner for a few weeks, but finally I realized that she was mine. I named her Mabelline and she was my first dog that I was responsible for all on my own. She taught me a lot about patience, living in the moment, and unconditional love. She was one of a kind.