We reset and we are back!

Dear Women’s Foundation of Oregon Community:

This September marks the beginning of something bold and beautiful at WFO, and we can’t wait to share it with you.

August was an intentional pause. We stepped back to more deeply engage with our community, which is what matters most. In June, we gathered thirty-one incredible nonprofit leaders in Sisters, Oregon for AWE. It was three days where we replaced panels, pressure, and performance with nature, nourishment, and rest. Space to breathe. Space to dream. Space to remember what wholeness feels like.

That experience affirmed that rest is radical. Without it, we can’t dismantle harmful systems or imagine the future we deserve. That future demands more than incremental change–it calls for transformation.

We’re evolving and deepening our roots. For years, WFO has led Oregon in grantmaking, research, and policy advocacy for women and girls, and that work remains at the heart of what we do. What’s changing is how we do it. 
 

Our theory of change states that, “if WFO centers community imagination, storytelling, and lived experience as sources of knowledge, strategy, and leadership, and if WFO builds funding, research, and policy advocacy that are flexible, trust-based, and co-created, then WFO will support the creation of a future where Oregon’s women and girls, especially those most impacted by injustice, not only survive oppressive systems but reimagine and redesign them.”
 

Guided by our theory of change, we’re transforming these core pillars into tools for justice that are flexible, trust-based, and co-created. That means our research will elevate lived experience as knowledge, our grantmaking will center community imagination and leadership, and our policy advocacy will be bold, participatory, and rooted in storytelling as strategy. 
 

WFO will provide grants that advance rest and reflection alongside research and advocacy to create the justice that Oregon has never before seen, but has always deserved.
 

Our commitment is to dream boldly, create spaces for rest and restoration, and invest in leaders who are building a just and vibrant Oregon for generations to come.
 

Join us. The work ahead is audacious, and it needs all of us.

 In solidarity,
 

The Women’s Foundation of Oregon