Transcript: Sarah Greenman's Remarks at Reunion 2024
The following is a transcript of Sarah Greenman’s remarks at ALF Oregon’s 2024 Reunion, which took place on May 18th at the Matt Dishman Community Center in Portland, OR.
BERK NELSON (ALF Oregon Board Chair)
thank ALF Oregon staff and Faculty. Also, thank you Myriam Loeschen for the beautiful food tonight. Thank you to all our Senior Fellow Volunteers. Thank you to my fellow board members. You all have created some serious magic in the past couple years. Thank you for the support, the vision and the ways you help us continue to bridge classes together.
Next, I’d like to welcome Sarah Greenman back to the stage to share about what ALF Oregon has been able to accomplish in the past year, and what lies ahead.
SARAH GREENMAN (ALF Oregon Executive Director)
Thank you Berk!
Berk Nelson is in his final months as board chair of ALF Oregon. And I want to take a moment to thank you, personally, Berk for your dedication to the organization and your support of my leadership. Deep bow of gratitude, friend.
Y’all, ALF Oregon has had a colossal year.
One: In partnership with ALF National, we launched our new directory and platform called ALF Connect. This was years in the making. If you haven’t activated your account, this is the time to do it! Our staff is here to support you if you have questions!
Two: We launched our new accessible website this year. It was a much needed glow-up for us. You can find us at www.alforegon.org.
Three: This year ALF Oregon provided more scholarship funding than ever in our 38 history. This was largely due to two record breaking grants from our funding partners at Meyer Memorial Trust and Ford Family Foundation. They believe in our work and invest in our leaders. Thank you Meyer and Ford!
Thank you Senior Fellows and ALF Oregon board for your renewed energy and for supporting these initiatives!
Let’s talk now about the coming year…
ALF Oregon’s super power is civic intimacy. What do I mean by that? We believe in getting close and bearing witness to each other’s stories. This expands our sense of what’s possible and fosters a culture of mutual care. Because when you get close to someone - you start to care about them. And when you care about someone, you’ll take risks for them. And that’s where change happens. In spaces of resilience and risk.
ALF Oregon invests in relationships because we know that relationships are the core element of systems change. ALF Oregon is a place where real and lasting collegial relationships are forged and tempered and tested.
The communities we foster are an antidote to isolation and burnout… an antidote to transactional and extractive leadership. The Fellows Program is a place of regenerative work, accountability, camaraderie, and a place to build, practice, and test trust.
US Representative Ayanna Pressley says, “The people closest to the pain, should be the closest to the power.” We understand that to foster the kind of generative dialogue ALF Oregon is known for we need engagement from leaders who serve communities most impacted by policy – communities closest to the pain. This means centering the voices of leaders of color, leaders experiencing disability, LBGTQIA leaders, leaders from rural communities, leaders from Indigenous communities, leaders from communities that have mixed citizen status, and other communities that have been historically underserved by our state.
Usually, this is the moment when we ask you to raise a paddle and donate. But we’re hoping to foster a different kind of relationship this year. I love a gala - I do. But the Gala is a coat that doesn’t really fit the body of our organization right now.
We still need the support of the Senior Fellow Network, now more than ever. So this year we’re embarking on a summer giving campaign. A mutual care model. In honor of our 38th year as an organization in the state of Oregon, we’re calling on past ALF Oregon Classes to each raise $3,800 in the summer of 2024. 100% of the funds raised will support leaders from Oregon's most impacted communities.
This year, ALF Oregon will provide 19 Fellows with tuition support. No one will have to decline an invitation to join a cohort due to lack of funding. But we need partnership from you to meet our goal.
How does it work?
Pull out your phone. Go to www.alforegon.org. You’ll see a button on the home page that says Class Giving: 38 for 38. Click it. Scroll down and you’ll see that each class has its own unique link to give.
You can give once. Or you can really make an impact with a monthly recurring donation. Choose a donation amount that is meaningful to you. If you still want to give big, as you have in past years, by all means do. But we are also hoping to foster wide-spread class participation. Many hands make light work. We can do great things when we do it together! Thank you for your generosity.
My own ALF experience was a potent reminder that we need each other. ALF Oregon has been here for almost 40 years. We are as needed now as we have ever been. Building networks of connection and empathy and dialogue across difference.
Thank you for support and most importantly,
thank you for your leadership.
We see you.
We love who you are
and how you move through the world.