FALL REFLECTIONS AND UPDATES FROM WFO
What happens when we stop long enough to ask a different question?
Not, “What is wrong?” Not, “What do we need to fix?” But instead…"What do we dream is possible?”
That question is guiding us into this new season at the Women’s Foundation of Oregon.
This year, we continue to believe dreaming is data and that data will build the justice we all deserve. We are gathering the dreams of women and girls across Oregon, turning those dreams into data, and using what we learn to inform our research, policy advocacy, and investments in community.
October feels especially exciting because so much of what we have been building is beginning to take shape. We are preparing for another year of Winter Gathering ( Save the Date - December 3, 2026) with our Dream Tree, more AWE Experiences for non-profit leaders, deepening our research and delivering the public a ten-year update entitled “Policy, Power & Possibilities”, creating new opportunities for community engagement, and continuing to ask who gets to imagine, decide, build, and lead. And in 2027, we are preparing for our 140th year anniversary of serving women and girls of Oregon.
There is a place for you in all of it.
Dream with us. Learn with us. Invest with us. And most importantly, help us imagine an Oregon where women and girls don't simply survive our systems, they have the power to redesign them.
With gratitude and possibility,
Libra Forde
Executive Director
Women's Foundation of Oregon
Rest is strategy. Dreaming is data. The future is ours to imagine together.
In Case You Missed It - Abundance, Equity & Democracy: A Toolkit for Voters
We were honored to host our first Policy Advocacy Lunch and Learn of the fiscal year this September. We spent the summer expanding our Our Abundance for All Voter Toolkit and created an Abundance and Equity Rating guide in collaboration with the Clackamas County Equity Coalition, which acts as an additional tool to support your decision-making process when determining which candidates or measures to support.
Watch the September meeting here: https://youtu.be/upJrFesGcpc
Abundance for All Web page: https://www.womensfoundationoforegon.org/abundance-for-all
Link to Abundance and Equity Rating Guide: Revised Equity rating guide (to make changes to suit your needs, please make a copy of the guide into your own Google drive which will allow you to edit the document directly.)
Join us in October to dive deeper into the tool as you prepare to vote in the upcoming elections.
Wednesday, October 21, 2026
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm
Register to join us: https://qrco.de/wfopolicy
Coming Soon - Policy, Power & Possibilities: A Ten-Year Gender Justice Update for Oregon.
In 2017, Women’s Foundation of Oregon published Count Her In, the most expansive, actionable, and inclusive analysis of Oregon’s women and girls to date. Ten years later, WFO is reinvesting in this critical research. Our 2027 report, Policy, Power & Possibilities: A Ten-Year Gender Justice Update for Oregon, will build on the foundation of Count Her In while taking a fresh look at where Oregon is today and where we want to go next.
The Policy, Power & Possibilities report asks the question, “What are the significant sexist, gender-based disparities that affect the lives of all people who identify as women and girls in Oregon?” Our work is grounded in a simple but important belief: there is no single experience of womanhood or girlhood. We’re intentionally examining experiences across race, class, sexual orientation, disability, gender identities, geography, age, and more to learn about the challenges, obstacles as well as hopes and dreams of women and girls throughout our state.
Stay tuned! Policy, Power & Possibilities: A Ten-Year Gender Justice Update for Oregon is coming in late 2026