From Libra Forde: Reflections of Gratitude and Possibility
Aloha WFO Community
As I reflect on FY2026, I find myself returning to a simple truth: the work we are doing at the Women's Foundation of Oregon is resonating in ways that continue to surprise and inspire us.
This year was not defined by a single program, event, or milestone. It was defined by a growing understanding that women leaders need more than resources to create sustainable change. They need space. Space to rest. Space to dream. Space to imagine a future that does not yet exist.
Over the past year, we continued building what I believe is one of the most important experiments in Oregon today: creating conditions where women leaders can step away from constant urgency and reconnect with possibility. Through two AWE Experiences, our Winter Gathering, community conversations, policy education, and the launch of The AWE Experience Podcast, we invited women across Oregon to engage in a practice that is often overlooked in systems change work…dreaming.
At WFO, we believe that dreaming is data.
Research helps us understand where we are. Dreams help us understand where we want to go.
When nonprofit leaders, advocates, entrepreneurs, educators, and community builders are given the opportunity to rest and reflect, they begin to imagine new solutions. They identify possibilities that cannot emerge when every moment is consumed by survival and crisis response. Those dreams become valuable information about the future our communities are trying to create.
This year, we saw that theory come to life.
We welcomed new investors into our work, expanded our fiscal sponsorship partnerships, launched new communications platforms, and deepened relationships across Oregon. We hosted two AWE Experiences that brought together leaders from across the state and we have a dedicated group of women building our 10-year research update report. We continued supporting policy conversations rooted in abundance rather than scarcity. We engaged thousands of Oregonians through partnerships, convenings, and community events.
We also experienced challenges.
Not every initiative unfolded exactly as planned. We learned important lessons about fundraising, staffing, and organizational capacity. But I have always believed that experimentation is part of innovation. Growth requires a willingness to try, learn, adjust, and continue moving forward. This year strengthened our confidence in both our mission and our ability to adapt.
Perhaps what I am most proud of is that we continue to live our values internally. This year two staff members completed their sabbaticals, reinforcing our belief that the care we advocate for externally must also be practiced within our own organization. Sustainable leadership cannot simply be something we talk about, it must be something we model.
As we look toward FY2027, I feel a growing sense of possibility.
We are moving from proof of concept to building a sustainable ecosystem. We are deepening the AWE Experience, strengthening our fundraising infrastructure, expanding partnerships, and exploring new ways to connect community dreams to research, policy, and investment. We are asking bigger questions about ownership, abundance, and what becomes possible when women have both the resources, the space to shape the future, and ownership to sustain their dreams.
The foundation has been built.
Now we begin the next chapter.
To our donors, partners, volunteers, board members, staff, participants, and supporters: thank you. Thank you for believing that rest matters. Thank you for believing that dreams matter. Thank you for investing in a vision of Oregon where women leaders are not only solving problems but helping imagine entirely new possibilities.
Because when women have the opportunity to rest, they have the space to dream.
When they dream, they create solutions.
And when those solutions are supported, communities thrive.
With gratitude,
Libra Forde
Executive Director
Women's Foundation of Oregon
Rest is strategy. Dreaming is data. The future is ours to imagine together.