Public Service: Reflections on the Military, Nonprofits, and Local Government

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Join us as we welcome Beach Pace, Mayor of the City of Hillsboro, Oregon, for a discussion of public service, advocacy, and social change. A light lunch will be served at 11:30 am; the presentation and discussion will begin at noon. 

About the Speaker

Beach has a passion for leadership. She loves the challenge and excitement of building teams & collaboratively overcoming challenges. 

She is originally from New Jersey and holds a B.S. from the United States Military Academy at West Point and an MPA from Northern Michigan University. Beach served in the US Army in the Ordnance branch both domestically and overseas as a Bomb Squad Executive Officer and Commander. As a commander, she led her unit in highly sensitive explosive disposal operations, improvised explosive device operations, and State Department security operations for the US President, Vice President, Secretary of State and other dignitaries both foreign and domestic. While in the Army, she served in the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy era. This policy said that military servicemembers could be discharged from the military (lose their job and career) on the basis of being gay if they made a statement outing themselves, engaged in physical contact with someone of the same sex or married someone of the same sex. 

Her corporate experience comes from the pharmaceutical industry where she worked in sales and marketing for 9+ years.  She was a regional manager and led a highly successfully team of 26 covering the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii. She inherited a last place team and led them to first in the company within 6 months. Afterward, her team routinely led the company in sales performance in several products spanning various medical specialties. She worked “closeted” in order to keep her job. 

In the non-profit sector Beach served as the Vice President and Executive Director of City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley. Her organization served at-risk youth in San Jose schools and executed large-scale service projects all around the Bay Area.  She was also the VP of Sales at Roadtrip Nation which brought career investigation curriculum, in gaming and video form, to youth nation wide. This was the first job where she was able to work openly.

She currently serves at the CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) of the Columbia NW.  Its mission is to ensure all children achieve their greatest potential via 1:1, professionally supported, long term, and consistent mentorship.  BBBSCNW serves 500 youth and their  mentors in the Portland and Vancouver Metro Areas.  It is part of the 120-year-old BBBS Federation of sites serving youth worldwide.  BBBSCNW was voted as one of the top 5 Non-profits in PDX region and has earned the BBBS National Gold Standard Award  placing it in the top 1% of the 230 affiliates nationwide for overall performance. 

Beach was elected to the Hillsboro City Council in Nov of 2018 with 67% of the vote in an opposed race. She was reelected for a second term Nov 2022. She was elected as Mayor of Hillsboro in Nov of 2024 with 73% of the vote and was sworn in in Jan 2025, and is currently serving in that role. In Hillsboro’s 150 year history, she is only the second female identifying mayor and the first gay mayor of Hillsboro. 

Beach also served on the League of Oregon Cities (LOC) Board to which she was elected in October of 2020. The LOC supports city leaders and state legislators in building a strong Oregon by connecting with all Oregon cities, sharing vital information and advocating on their behalf. She successfully finished her term in Dec of 2023.

Beach is one of the founding board members and for the Westside Queer Resource Center which works to create & sustain an environment where everyone belongs and is supported on their journey. The mission of the WQRC is to foster a welcoming, supportive and safe environment for the LGBTQAI+ community, their families and allies by providing programs, education, advocacy and resources. They strive to embrace intersectionality and adapt to the needs of our diverse community through collaborative efforts. 

Beach currently serves on the Westside Economic Alliance, Board, Hospital Facility Authority Board for Hillsboro Medical Center,  Metro Future Vision Commission and other regional committees. 

She resides in Hillsboro, Oregon. She and her wife, Jincy, have been married for 24 years and have two adult children and a rescue dog named Jack. Beach and Jincy have married each other 4 different times as they navigated different state and federal marriage laws. 

This event is sponsored by the SBS Democracy Project, School of Public Policy, and the Cardinal O’Leary Fund.