Spring fills us with a sense of renewal, rebirth, and growth. The world around us becomes green again, the sun peaks its head out more often, and the days grow longer. It is this Spring energy that we embraced all through April at Women’s Foundation of Oregon. We had a busy month that helped us to grow our perspectives and meet new people energized in the fight for justice. The new people, the new events, the new ideas were all part of our continued growth last month.

There is a beautiful African proverb that states, “If you want to go fast, go alone; but if you want to go far, go together.” At the Women’s Foundation of Oregon we believe in bringing folks together, united with the common goal to achieve justice, and we know that we want to go far and we want to go together. The issues that we face are numerous, complex and can feel overwhelming. However, we are encouraged by collective action, movements in solidarity, and grassroots organizing that has led to substantial successes across the nation. WFO began our fight in 1887 and we are still here fighting for gender justice. WFO is committed to being a positive force in Oregon through the movement of ideas and resources across our state.

Women's History Month is a great opportunity to continue to live and publicly express the mission of the Women's Foundation of Oregon. All month we have attended and supported events like the Leap into WHM with Girls Inc., the Women in Science Evening of Empowerment Dinner, the We Are More Than Conquerors event presented by our grantee, WomenFirst Transition and Referral Center, and so many more!

As we continue to celebrate Black History Month and leap into Women's History Month we are eager to share how we embrace and incorporate our intersectional frameworks.

Our vision for justice, recommendations for awareness, and action items for collaboration. We are honoring this special leap day by spreading awareness on how the inner-connectedness of our identities shapes our multiple realities.

We embrace and are inspired by Kimberlé Crenshaw's words, "The struggle against patriarchy and racism must be substantively robust and inextricably intertwined."

This Black History Month, and every month, we are proud of our intersectional consciousness and our intentional efforts to center women, girls and women identifying folks of color in our work and movement building.

Thank you for making 2023 an outstanding year. Together we did so much and we are ready to do more in 2024!

Thinking you want to get more involved with WFO. Here are some quick ways to engage:

1) Become a a monthly donor.

2) Join a committee or volunteer.

3) Follow us on social media and share our information with family and friends.

Before we welcome 2024, we want to share some highlights from 2023. We know that none of this would have been possible without the amazing community we have. Our collective efforts are truly transformative. As you make your New Years resolutions, we hope you will remember the great impact you have made in 2023 and aim to continue to advance gender and social justice into the new year. Check out highlights below and celebrate with us!

As we approach the holiday season, we reflect on the incredible journey we've shared throughout the year. 2023 has been a year of resilience, strength, and unwavering commitment to gender justice. As a community, we've been able to grant funds to organizations across Oregon, connect with incredible folks throughout the state, and support each other in countless ways.

This holiday season, let's come together to celebrate the spirit of unity, compassion, and progress. It's a time to express gratitude for the incredible work that’s paved the way for us and to honor the indomitable spirit of those who continue to break barriers.

Collective giving is at the heart of Women’s Foundation of Oregon. We believe in the power of all of us to make a meaningful difference in the lives of women and girls in Oregon. Your donation allows us to quickly move resources where they are needed.

Collective giving means that many small contributions can make a huge difference in the lives of women and girls in Oregon. Consider donating today and be a part of something big!

We are excited to announce fall 2023 grant recipients. Read to find out more!

Did you know only 1.9% of philanthropic donations support women and girls and less than .5% goes to supporting women and girls of color.

We are committed to creating philanthropic equity but we can't do it alone. In order to create this financial balance we need all of you!

As we prepare for 2024, we are proud of our community and the work that all of us do to create a more socially just and humane world. However, we are also frustrated that there are so many injustices that still exist; from threats to our reproductive rights to the staggering numbers regarding domestic violence.

We know that to change the world, to make an impact, we must keep fighting. We must keep fighting together. WFO is committed to being that space for folks to be in community to DO THE WORK and to SUPPORT OTHERS who are doing the work.

Every day we ask ourselves, how can we continue to advance our mission and dismantle sexism, racism, & structural oppression?

We know that to be impactful in this work, we have to use a variety of tools including: community engagement, grassroots support, increasing consciousness, broad advocacy, and so much more.

We also know that we can't do this diverse work without support from our friends and allies. We need people to invest in women. We need individuals to be part of our philanthropic community dedicated to gender justice in Oregon; where we come together in our vision of an equitable world where all women, girls and gender expansive folks are thriving and free from systemic oppression.

As we enter the last quarter of the year, we have one goal and we need your help. Our WFO team is committed to building a sustainable and impactful gender justice movement. Central to our success in doing this is growing our community of givers. Many of you who receive this email are already committed to giving monthly, but our ask is to think of three friends that you can invite to join you in this sustained commitment.

WFO is committed to advancing Gender Justice! We recognize that in order to have sustainable and effective impact, our work has to be done at all levels. We are proud of our local and statewide efforts, and now we are integrating ourselves into Federal opportunities. Last week, we participated in the first-ever Feminist Philanthropy Day! Advocating for pay equity, child care resources, and reproductive rights.

THANK YOU to everyone who has reached out to support our statewide efforts! We are still working to accomplish our goals, and will continue connecting with folks to ensure that we can advance gender justice across our state.

As a friendly reminder we have multiple grants open until September 26th. Below is additional information regarding each grant. Also, check out our website to apply and for more information. As always, if you have any questions, recommendations, or want to get more involved please reach out to us!

In community,

The Women's Foundation of Oregon Team

This is our "WHY"! We work to dismantle sexism, racism, and structural oppression through the movement of resources and those organizations in our community addressing domestic and intimate partner violence are urgently in need. We are gathering resources to help organizations providing vital services throughout Oregon.

We are so passionate about connecting with as many folks as possible to make a difference! We are asking our community to chip-in now to be part of our efforts to advance gender justice and put an end to intimate partner violence.

WFO is about the ENTIRE state of Oregon! There are over 4 million people who live in Oregon. We are a beautiful and amazing state that is full of diversity from our people to our geography. To meet our commitment to serve the entire state, we are leaning in to our WFO community.

Transformation and impact are our goals. We are already witnessing how our financial support from earlier this year is having tremendous influence. These outcomes make announcements about our new grants even more exciting. Help us spread the word about the opportunities below!

We recognize that the stripping away of the institutional protections and initiatives to address the historical and systemic realities for marginalized communities and individuals was a long-term and strategic effort. This recognition pushes us to continue the fight, to continue to build our movement. A movement that is sustainable, strategic, intentional, inclusive, compassionate, and just.

We are committed to always bringing people together to create a more socially just and compassionate society and state. We focus on these efforts because we believe in the power of people. We believe so strongly in this power because we have seen time and time again that people can resist, can fight, can win. Join us in this work and movement!

Dear Friends,

As we close the fiscal year at the Women's Foundation of Oregon, we also approach my first year as Executive Director at WFO. I am proud of our achievements and contributions. We have a brand new team that has defined our work and strategies with grace and confidence. We distributed over $230k in grant funds across the state of Oregon. We fundraised three times more than the average year of revenue at WFO and we awarded the organization's first multi-year grant. Not to mention a list of internal improvements that will help keep us in compliance, focused and advancing our mission of gender justice.

We are truly grateful for your support and your love of WFO and gender justice. This work is hard because it matters. We must continue to find ways to elevate our community in ways that fortify them and our deep respect of their right to joy, growth, integrity, liberation, courage, collectivity, and justice.