Doing it
differently
By daring to rest, daring to dream
& taking dreams seriously
The world urgently needs fighters for justice.
But without rest, we lose vision. We lose hope.
SOCIAL JUSTICE IS HARD TO IDENTIFY.
Do we even know it when we see it? It’s vague and fuzzy, and advocates for justice don’t share the same definition, or the same vision.
JUSTICE WORK IS RELENTLESS.
It’s a constant hustle, two-steps back and one-step forward. Fighting to make just environments, communities, cities, schools, hospitals - it never ends. There is so much to do. We can’t slow down when we always feel behind.
But when we don’t share a common vision of justice, and when we are too busy to slow down and imagine it, we burn out. We lose hope. If it’s all impossible, why keep fighting? When the flow of energy is constantly against you, letting go can seem like the best idea.
But we can’t let go. We can, however, rest.
We believe rest is essential.
It’s not a break from justice—
it’s a requirement for it.
When the world demands more, rest is radical. At WFO, we’re doing things differently.
A world of gender justice is still our north star—but we believe the way forward is through:
REST, VULNERABILITY, AND DREAMING.
We offer space, resources, and support for justice workers to rest. To exhale. To soften. And in that softening, something radical happens: we dream again.
When we dream, we rediscover the vision: a just school, a just neighborhood, a different way forward. Possibility shows up in a new light. And sometimes, that light illuminates the exact path we couldn’t see before.
We don’t know when transformation will come. But we know this: if we’re too tired to see it, we might miss the moment that changes everything.
WFO’s Theory of change
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.
Core Assumptions
Those closest to the challenges are closest to the solutions and the dreams.
Healing, rest, and cultural power are preconditions to sustainable change.
Data is more than numbers: dreams, emotions, and stories are legitimate forms of evidence.
Every Thing is Possible /Scarcity is not the leader
Structural change happens when systems are willing to be redesigned by those who have historically been excluded from them.
Outcomes
Justice index (Equity practices driven by community-defined success)
Greater public and institutional accountability to community vision
Inputs
Flexible funds for Non-profit leadership rest which provides space for clarity of community stories and dreams
Time, space, and trust
Rural leadership
Culturally Grounded Leadership
Different Ability Leadership
Activities
Intentional non-profit resting spaces (AWE)
Dream-based research Coalitions (Dream Justice Coalitions)
Outputs
Research supporting dreaming as data
Policy platforms authored by lived experience (Podcast, White Papers, Webinars, Op-eds, Convenings)
Impact
A reimagined Oregon where justice emerges from cultural restoration, community voice, and shared dreaming.