Bobbie Doré Foster

Executive Editor of the Skanner News Group, she was born in Abbeville, LA, a Creole-speaking town. She attended a segregated high school and graduated valedictorian of her class. She moved to the Northwest as a young married woman and while raising her children took liberal arts and business courses at the University of Washington and Western Washington University. In 1979 she moved to Portland and joined Portland's Skanner newspaper, while taking journalism courses at Portland State University. She later graduated, with honors, from the University of Portland with a major in Communication, while continuing to be editor of the newspaper. The Seattle Skanner was launched shortly thereafter. A lifetime member of the NAACP, she has been determined to do all she can to make life better for others; she sees the Skanner as an important tool for social change. The paper played a pivotal role in the struggle to rename Union Avenue for Martin Luther King, including going to the Oregon State Supreme Court when the City Council's decision to rename the street was challenged. She is active in many professional and community organizations including the National and Portland Associations of Black Journalists, the Association of Women in Communications, Inc., the Urban League, Rotary Club of Albina, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc.