Three Portland city councilors say they’re troubled by Home Forward CEO Ivory Mathews’ travel expenditures after WW reported that she spent more than $100,000 on agency-funded travel between 2023 and 2025. Three other councilors say the agency’s finances and practices merit a closer inspection.
Their statements add to mounting pressure on Mathews and Home Forward’s board; since WW revealed Mathews’ dozens of trips to housing conferences across the country, the union representing more than half of the housing authority’s employees has said it has “no confidence or trust” anymore in Mathews’ leadership, even as the agency’s board has largely defended Mathews’ travel.
An October 2024 trip that Mathews took to Hawaii—she says to attend an insurance conference—remains obscured from public view after Home Forward declined to provide any concrete details to WW about Mathews’ attendance—including any notes she took during the conference, her itinerary, or a list of specific conference events she attended while there…