"The Abundance For All (Policy) Framework Was An Easy Bingo," with Libra Forde, on Being An Explorer, Pivoting in Life, and the Abundance For All Framework in Policy Making.

Zhou Fang: [00:00:00] Recording. Excellent. Okay. Uh, here we go. Um, I am smiling because I'm so thrilled to have my guest here today. We've been trying to get some time together for a while because, uh, life, um. So yeah. Hello everyone. This is the Intersection podcast where we center intersectionality and our intersectional identities, intersectional journeys, and sharing our stories together.

And today I'm just so honored and have the absolute. L pleasure to welcome my guest. Her name is Libra Ford. She's the executive director of Women's Foundation of Oregon, and I still remember the day when Libra and I met, it was actually, we went to LSU [00:01:00] Garden for lunch. And we talked about pay equity, pay transparency, and what we could do to change the landscape in Oregon.

It was a beautiful day.

Libra Forde: Beautiful day. Yeah.

Zhou Fang: So, uh, welcome Libra, and would you like to introduce yourself to audience?

Libra Forde: Sure. Well, thank you for having me first and foremost. Uh, Libra Ford. Uh, I've been, um. Walking this plant for 50 years. Pretty proud of that. And my, uh, I'm the daughter of an Broadway actor and a runway model in New York City.

Zhou Fang: Wow.

Libra Forde: Um, something that I love to say when I introduced myself, 'cause it gives people context of what type of childhood I had. Mm-hmm. Uh. Very free spirit parenting, uh, but also activists in New York City, um, during the time that gentrification was intense in the seventies and eighties. Mm-hmm. Um, and so I kind of learned, uh, from them [00:02:00] creativity as well as systems change.

And so that is really who I am and, uh, it's because of them that I am that. So I love to tell people that 'cause it's, I'm pretty proud of my childhood.

Zhou Fang: Of course. And I didn't know that. And thank you for sharing. I mean, the seventies in the, in New York City, um, my guess is, and from what I learned, it was like very experimental.

Like a lot, was that the right word? Yeah,

Libra Forde: experimental is a great word for it. I, I, I tell people all the time, I didn't have grammar in school. Like my kids had grammar, right. And it was like everything was an experiment. I guess they thought we would just figure it out by talking. Um, I mean, I feel like my grammar's okay, but there are definitely things that my kids say to me and I'm like, I did not learn that in school.

It was, I was the era of no grandma experiments. So I think experimentation is a great word as well as. I think my parents being actor and [00:03:00] model during a time where it wasn't a lot of black actors and models. Mm-hmm. They were doing a lot of experimenting. Right. They were doing a lot of trailblazing. They were doing a lot of kind of pushing against the system, pushing against what is normal, right?

Mm-hmm. And so it was that in New York City and there was a lot of energy around that that was welcomed.

Zhou Fang: Yeah. That's amazing. And I mean, if, for folks who have met Libra, you all already know, like Libra is a fashion, right? Like you show up with a statement. That's true. Yeah. And for folks have not met Libra either in person or virtually.

Definitely look up Libra Forward. And I wanna say, um, you said free spirit when you grew up.

Libra Forde: Mm-hmm.

Zhou Fang: Um, was your, were your parents are like that because your name is Libra?

Libra Forde: No. Yeah, my parents were very free spirited, I think because they were creative [00:04:00] people. That made them innovators and they were just creative minds.

Uh, and all of their circles were creative. So my mother's best friends, uh, were people like. Uh, Gloria Baldwin. Gloria Baldwin was James Baldwin's sister. Right. And managed all of his estate. And then, uh, connected to her were people like Tony Morrison and Alice Walker, and so

mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: How the circle was very creative and also very powerful, um,

Zhou Fang: right.

Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: And how he lived and how they saw things. And then my father, same thing. He was, uh, during the Black exploitation movie time, that's when he was acting. And so his friends were. Producing TV shows and producing movies. He was the understudy for James L. Jones. So all the people that we kinda look up to now were my parents' circle in New York City.

Um, and so that made them very free spirited, very bold. Mm-hmm. Um, that's what they, that's how they [00:05:00] raised me, right. To be very. Open to everything and creative as well as educated and ready to, you know, break the system if it needs to be. So. Mm-hmm. Yeah, we were definitely free-spirited and my name comes from, my mother's first job was for Bob Mackey.

Uh, I'm sorry. Bob Mackey was later in life. That's what, that was her modeling job. But her first job when she went to move, move to New York, 'cause my mother's from Philadelphia. Mm-hmm. But when she moved to New York, before she had me, she worked for, um, Peter Max. Peter Max was like a seventies, sixties, seventies activist artist.

And so back then there wasn't computers. And so in order to. Sign all the prints that he was selling. They would hire people to copy the signatures. So my mother would sign the prints for Peter Max and Peter Max's daughter's name was Libra, and so she loved it and so that's How

Zhou Fang: Are you in touch with the other Libra?

Libra Forde: [00:06:00] I have reached out to her. I actually have, um, her father unfortunately is going through some, uh, elder medical like abuse and so I've been following that online. It's very interesting to see that. But I did reach out to her and I let her know who I was, 'cause I had a picture of her. With her father and like all the print signature people.

And my mom was in it, and it was an era where he was also creating clothing and my mom had some of his clothing on. Uh, and, and so I said, Hey, this is a picture my mom showed me. This is you. My name is Libert because of you. And she was so excited. She texted me back and was like, that's incredible. I remember your mom.

Um, yeah. So she's probably, I would say 20 years my senior. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, but uh, yeah, yeah, definitely have texts with her. I haven't met her or talked to her on the phone.

Zhou Fang: I could imagine a dinner of two Libras sitting at a table. Can you imagine?

Libra Forde: I know. One more. One more. I know. One more. Yeah. My, I'm a part of a sorority, Delta Sigma [00:07:00] Theta, and um, there's another Libra in the sorority now.

It's her middle name, but she goes by Libra. So yeah, there's another one.

Zhou Fang: I can just feel the energy at that table.

Libra Forde: It's a def, it's definitely a different name. I love my name. It's unique.

Zhou Fang: Oh, it's a wonderful name. Um, so thank you for the backstory. Um, I loved it. And my cure curiosity leads me to this question is then why did you leave New York City?

Libra Forde: Oh, I live for college. So I went to a school in Boston, well, outside of Boston, Brandes University. And so, um, when I left New York, it was the first time that I'd experienced kind of different, living New York is a, is a, it's an experience, right? Mm-hmm. And growing up in that, I never even fathom that people live differently than me.

Um, it's very [00:08:00] diverse in New York. It's creative, it's scientific, it's technology, it's earthly, it's all the things, anything you want you can find there. Right. And so, leaving New York, I, I learned that people live differently.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: I learned that there were homogeneous places. I learned that there were, um, safer places, right?

I had grown up in Harlem, New York, where to pay for something. There was bulletproof glass and most of the places that I frequent and then going to school in, in Walham, Massachusetts. Um, it was the first time I could touch a register clerk. I had never experienced that before, and so I was very curious about it because.

I realized that maybe I was missing something, uh, which most New Yorkers don't think that when they're in New York, right? Like, we're, we are the world, we're not missing anything but the safety [00:09:00] part of other places. I, I was very intrigued by and I wanted to learn more. And so after that, I started to travel.

Zhou Fang: Did you feel safe in Boston?

Libra Forde: I mean, there were things that were unsafe, but I, I never. The Bulletproof Glass everything, or bars on everything in New York.

Zhou Fang: Hmm.

Libra Forde: That was not my existence in Boston. Hmm. Um, so that was different, right? Mm-hmm. Like, I didn't, I I never recognized it as a, um. A challenge like almost being a prisoner in New York City, right?

Being bars on my windows, in my apartment bars, on the windows of grocery stores and stores that I frequent. Like I didn't, I get to touch things in stores and while famous, so that was very interesting for me to see. What I thought was everything. Might've had some, um, you know, pieces to it that were, uh, really [00:10:00] harmful.

And so I wanted to learn more.

Zhou Fang: I definitely wanna go back to that because I feel some of that experience you had growing up, I don't, I, I mean, it doesn't make me happy to say this, but I think it's happening again. Um, you know, in our city, in Portland right now, you see all the bars, you see all the boards, et cetera.

Yeah.

Libra Forde: Yeah.

Zhou Fang: Um, I know it's a different version compared to New York City. But I do think it's a concern. So, so you moved to Boston for school and then you mentioned you started to travel the world. Yeah. So tell me more about travel the world and then how did that shape you?

Libra Forde: Yeah. Uh, so I played basketball overseas and so that was pretty incredible 'cause I was exposed to new cultures and new languages.

Um. People on [00:11:00] my team didn't even speak English, which was as an American, really interesting, right? Because most people in America speak English. Um, so learned a lot about kind of my privilege in the, on the globe. Um

Zhou Fang: mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: It was also during a time that, uh, bombing was pretty serious overseas, pretty normal.

Uh, something that I had to become accustomed to. Airport travel was dangerous. It was also not a welcoming place for Americans in some of the countries we would go to, right? So my passport became. A challenge when we would cha travel. Um, and so all those things were really new for me and opened my eyes to the fact that there was this global experience that people had with America that was not the one that I had, even though I also had came from a long line of challenges in America.

It was different to go to another country. And those folks felt that way against [00:12:00] me. Hmm. Um, so that really kinda shaped my mind in trying to see. You know, what does that mean and what do we do about it? Mm-hmm. Um, and then I came back to America after a couple years of doing that and I moved to Vermont, um, which was like rural, rural, rural.

And I mean, we lived on 150 acres of. Uh, apple orchards and beautiful family, uh, that was adopting children that were not wanted by anyone, especially when these kids were at this home. There was 18 kids there at the time, so I was helping to raise them. Mm-hmm. That also shaped me because I was an only child and so I had never, I had never been that close up to a foster or adopted child that was really challenged by America's system.

Um. And, you know, needed care in a different way. Whether, whether it was physical disabilities or mental [00:13:00] challenges or just abuse that they came from. And it was trauma. Mm-hmm. I had never been around other kids like that. 'cause I, that was, I went to really good schools in New York with, um, a lot of wealthy people.

And so I had never experienced children that were. Really harmed. Mm-hmm. So living with them, again, added to this kind of like, wow, justice is. An interesting fight for many different types of people.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: Um, and I had always had a justice heart when I was a kid. Like fairness was important to me, so it was already in there.

But then seeing these, I think just kind of just elevated it. Vermont was way too cold for me, and so. I started to move south first. Okay. I really liked the south, and so then I started to move west. Um, I lived in Arizona for many years. Uh, it was warm, it was dry and asthmatic, so I thought that would be really cool.

Then I moved to California because I [00:14:00] thought I wanted a bigger city. California was different for me and then I moved to Hawaii and I stayed there for 12 years and so Wow. That was a beautiful kinda homestead for me. It kind of brought together. A lot of the things that matter to me. Hawaii has some serious justice problems in terms of sovereignty.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: Um, as well as they are really challenged in terms of education because tourism becomes their major economic kind of push. Right. Like that is their machinery is a tourism.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: A lot about the local people. Um, and there I was able to. Based on my own chil my own children's challenges, who at that point I had had children in Hawaii.

Um, education was something that really bubbled up for me as, as a disservice to our youth in Hawaii. And so, uh, [00:15:00] started a school there, um, and really thought I was like. I was trying to build roots.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: And I wanted to be there, so I wanted to build roots for the local community so they could see that it wasn't just about me moving into their area, but I wanted to be a part of a solution.

Mm-hmm. We created a hybrid school, um, because there's places in Hawaii that are so remote or so geographically, distance kids drop out in fourth grade. Um, and so I learned that and really wanted to help. Um, mm-hmm. So we started hybrid school, which I had learned about in overseas, right, because that was normal.

Overseas, hybrid schools were normal, so I wanted to bring that to America. And that was before, way before the pandemic, right? So people thought I was crazy. It was also during the time that there were a lot of deployments in the military. And at the time I was married to a Marine who was deploying a lot.

And so the military children were having challenges with education too. And so, um. [00:16:00] First we started a nonprofit. The nonprofit was to help military kids stay in online school with no cost, no matter where they lived, and so they wouldn't miss their education. That then that expanded into like going to Congress and trying to change rules around hybrid public schools.

And then we were able to work with a, a for-profit company to fund us opening a, a, uh. Charter public school in Hawaii, which now goes across four islands. It's the largest charter public school in Hawaii. Um, we started with just K through nine and then we were certified, uh, after three years of being open to graduated class.

And yeah, it's been a great school ever since. So that was fun. Um. That was challenging though because my kid was the age of starting the school and so graduation, I started to think about how do I get her into [00:17:00] a good college with a school that's brand new and no one's ever heard of it, and it's a hybrid model and America doesn't really know what hybrid models are.

So I started getting a little nervous about putting my oldest in college with that. Um, and the company that had seeded us to open at school hired me eventually. And so I was working with this global education company and so I could live anywhere working for them. And I knew a lot about education across the country 'cause we were in global.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: Oregon bubbled up as a really good school district and so I decided to move my kids here to try to educate them, um, or at least my oldest, and get her into college. Um.

Zhou Fang: And

Libra Forde: that's how I got here.

Zhou Fang: What year was that when you started the schools in Hawaii?

Libra Forde: Um, so we started fighting for it in 2004, and then it, the doors didn't open until 2007.

Okay. Um, and then I left in [00:18:00] 2014. 15.

Zhou Fang: Yeah,

Libra Forde: 15.

Zhou Fang: That's like way before the pandemic, of

Libra Forde: course. Oh wait. Yeah. Wait. No one knew what we were talking about. They were like, what? What?

Zhou Fang: Hmm. That's super fascinating because, 'cause you mentioned the school still is running now and it's expanded to all four islands.

Libra Forde: Yes.

Zhou Fang: Um, so I'm guessing their model is running well in Hawaii.

Libra Forde: Yeah. We started with three islands. Um, and then we knew it would expand, but the three islands were the main islands. So Kauai not the main islands, but the islands where we had the most interest. And so Kauai, Maui and Oahu were our main kind of places, really easy to find teachers.

'cause part of our budget was you get to travel to another island all the time.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm. Um,

Libra Forde: part of the hybrid model was having a highly qualified teacher. Right. That because it's a public school that would come to your area. To teach you. Um, and [00:19:00] then they just rotated. And then you had online school when they weren't there, you had online courses that you had to take.

Zhou Fang: Hmm.

Libra Forde: Um, and so yeah, it was a high functioning model and, and it's, it's really popular overseas, but in America we just have this kind of one way of teaching. Right. And, um, it doesn't work for everyone. And it wasn't just the military kids and then the local kids with no schools, medically fragile kids became our big client for us.

Um mm-hmm. Another one was surfer, like professional surfing kids. Big climb for us. 'cause the time that they had to be in school was when they needed to be surfing. Um, we had some equestrian kids that were like highly competitive. They, so it became like a thing where like kids that were young professionals, like good at something early, could do the school because they didn't have to be in a classroom all day.

Mm. It became really popular for a lot of different kids, but we initially started it for local Hawaiian kids that in Ha Maui, there is a three hour job drive to the top. There are [00:20:00] not schools that go through graduation through 12th grade up there, and so you have to drive three hours to get to the school that would help you graduate and yeah, they just drop out.

It wasn't a point in finishing if I could read, I just. You know, didn't go to school. So yeah, they were the first that we thought about and military were also who we were thinking about.

Zhou Fang: I feel that's a great example of how to bring intersectionality into actual work, like say education and justice and, um.

Uh, eq uh, equity, right? It's like how do we make education accessible and equitable?

Libra Forde: Mm-hmm.

Zhou Fang: And like you mentioned, for a lot of young people following the conventional, um, routine. It's just challenging.

Libra Forde: Mm-hmm.

Zhou Fang: Um, how can we create a model that can be suited for them?

Libra Forde: Yeah.

Zhou Fang: Um, I'm curious, like have you thought about or try [00:21:00] to do that in Oregon at all?

Libra Forde: I mean, I have moments where I think about it. Um, I mean, I was on a school board during the pandemic. So we were doing a lot of hybrid online education during that time in public schools because that was the only way you could keep kids in school. I think during that time was probably when I thought about it the most because I was really.

Practiced in it. Right? Like I knew how to do it. Mm-hmm. And so I shared a lot of examples of like what our challenges were, how we overcame them for the school district that I was on the board for. Uh, and sometimes I would think like, maybe I should start this school. I every now and then think about it.

It was a lot of work. Um, I just think,

Zhou Fang: yeah,

Libra Forde: and it, it, I mean, you start small and you grow it out. It's, I don't think that it's a gone thought for me, but it definitely comes and goes in my [00:22:00] mind, like, maybe we should have one in Oregon. There are online schools in Oregon, but there aren't hybrid schools in

Zhou Fang: Oregon.

Yeah, I, I feel it will be very, very beneficial. I know it's a lot of work. I'm also thinking about, I mean, you know, this Libra, we have so many rural communities in Oregon. Yeah. Yeah. And it's just very challenging for pe for kids

Libra Forde: mm-hmm.

Zhou Fang: To have a high quality education without going through a lot of hassles.

Libra Forde: Yes.

Zhou Fang: Um, so I was just thinking about that. So thank you for sharing that. I think that's really cool. Um. And I actually, you know, hearing you talking about you going from New York to Boston, ver overseas Vermont, and through the states, Hawaii, and then Oregon. I feel every time you move somewhere else is one step closer to the true self, right?

Mm-hmm. [00:23:00] It's like self exploration. Mm-hmm. And you are also very good at, uh, pivoting and evolving. My guess is that's why you kept moving and, but you have been Oregon for such a long time.

Libra Forde: Yeah.

Zhou Fang: Uh, do you think, this is where you said when you, when you said you were growing roots, or this is a pause, like a long pause.

Libra Forde: Um, I, well, I think my kids' age really made me stop, right? Because they were at a point where being stable and being consistent in, in a consistent environment mattered for developmental reasons. So it definitely made me think about the movement that I so easily made in the past. Probably wasn't always my option in the moment.

I think I pivot in other ways in my life, um, because you're right, I, [00:24:00] I am definitely an explorer and I think that's part of. Growing up with creative people, you are always looking for the next or the most interesting or growing or just recreating, right? Um, and I'm also a singer, right? So I am also a creative in my own way, but I don't sing anymore.

So I do think what you're seeing is. Me being creative. Right. But it just looks differently. It doesn't look like a song or a performance. It looks like me pivoting based on the systems that I'm in or the, the moment that is in front of me.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: I've also, I think leaving New York and seeing that New York was not the world, it really created curiosity in me.

I just thought all people were like New Yorkers, and they're not. Um, and so I've always been really curious to learn more about it and I love traveling, but, [00:25:00] um, I love traveling where I can learn the culture.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: So the best way for me to do that I've learned is by being there as a, like a resident. Um mm-hmm.

And so many of my pivots have been that, right? Like, oh, I'm interested in that. Um, my father was, um, Fijian, part Fijian, and so he was black and Fijian, his, his father was from the Fiji Islands.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: And had never really explored that 'cause my. Father's father was apparently a criminal, and so he left like on bad terms, and so he never really exploit it.

And so I was very fascinated by the Polynesian part of my life. Mm. And so why he kind of came in and it was like, yeah, I wanna go s. See for myself. Um, but living in environments is important to me. I will pivot one more time. I believe in my life, I'm waiting for my kids to finish col uh, finish school and get pretty much through most of college.

And I believe my, my last [00:26:00] pivot will be Thailand. Um, I've been doing research on it for the last three years. Um. My oldest cousin, who's like a brother to me, has lived in Asia for the last 31 years. And so I want to be closer to him. Um, and I wanna be in a place that I believe will love me back. Um, and so, hmm, that's why I am deeply researching Thailand.

Um, and, um, I, I'm pretty sure that will be my final pivot in my life.

Zhou Fang: Uh, I really appreciate that because, uh, Thailand is on my top list, like top on my list as well. And my guess is the, the, the art on your wall, the elephant art, was it from Thailand?

Libra Forde: Uh, no from the Middle East, actually, my, when my cousin deployed out there, someone made it for me.

Mm-hmm. Um, but yes, I'm also a Buddhist and so many people don't know that I'm a practicing have been for over [00:27:00] 25 years.

Zhou Fang: Mm.

Libra Forde: And really proud of that part of my life. And, um, Hawaii was a big part of me finding that that part of me and America's been, um. It's challenging in the States to find places that I can do that fully.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: And so I'm excited about Thailand. Right. And what that can mean from my spiritual side of my life.

Zhou Fang: Yeah. I love that. Um, I, I really honestly think the time we have today is not enough. I have so many questions, um, like have, I'm reading the book, uh, the Book of Joy.

Libra Forde: Mm.

Zhou Fang: And it's just so, it's so good for the mind and it's very good for the heart.

It's not just about Buddhism, of course, it also, uh, talks about Christianity and how spirituality can. Help us find that joyous [00:28:00] status. Mm-hmm. Um, so, and uh, so I was thinking about that and I'm also, and this is kind of a joke, but did you watch Y Lotus season two?

Libra Forde: No, I did not. But everyone keeps telling me I should.

I haven't even watched season one.

Zhou Fang: I think you will laugh when you get to season two.

Libra Forde: Okay.

Zhou Fang: Um. And because I'm not gonna give you away, 'cause you mentioned in Thailand you may be able to find a place where you can practice, you know, your Buddhism mind in like real life.

Libra Forde: Mm-hmm.

Zhou Fang: And you will get it When you watch season two while Lotus, why is it that it's absolutely hilarious and.

I think you find a lot of joy, but it's not always bright. You know, there are some very dark moments. Right. But still the, uh, [00:29:00] the, the Buddhist practice part definitely makes me laugh when I was watching that. Um, so, uh. Again, I have a lot of questions, but I really want to get to your leadership in Oregon.

Mm-hmm. Um, you have been the leader of Women's Foundation of Oregon for quite some time since 2017. Wait,

Libra Forde: no, since 2022.

Zhou Fang: Since 2022. Yeah. That's when we met. And so, uh, almost five years almost.

Libra Forde: Yeah.

Zhou Fang: So the last few years, how has it been for you leading a very historical foundation? We know it's been around for a very long time, and my follow up question is in times like this, organizations having to pivot again like over and over, and right now, [00:30:00] um, you are leading the foundation through, you know.

The abundance framework in policy making as well. I'm very curious to learn about your, um, internal journey.

Libra Forde: Hmm. Yeah. I came to WFO Women's Foundation of Oregon during an interesting time in my life. I had just lost a pretty big, uh, political race. I ran for Clackamas County Commissioner. It was an 18 month race.

Wow. Um, and I needed like 80, 80 something thousand to win. I lost. But I had 81,000 people who said yes, right? So I worked really hard to get really close. And, um, in my life I have done a lot of things that would be considered a win. And this was a pretty big loss for me. Um, [00:31:00] I put a lot of my energy into it.

I had. A lot of people supporting me. We did a lot of work and to lose after 18 months was a, a physical and mental challenge for me. So I was really on a break. Um, I had left my last job, I was Chief Operating Officer for a legal large nonprofit here. I left that and I was just kind of breathing. I was the interim.

Ed for Western State Center for a while, and I kind of was floundering. I didn't really know what I wanted to do. 'cause like I said, it was my first big loss in my life and I was trying to heal from that. Um, and so I got a call from Women's Foundation of Oregon. They said they were interested in me and I had never heard of it.

Right. And so, um, it was interesting going, I went through the interview process 'cause like. I've always been open. I'm never gonna close from anything. 'cause when I'm open I usually find out something really brilliant about myself. Mm-hmm.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm. Um,

Libra Forde: and so I was open to the interview. I didn't know if I wanted the job, but when I [00:32:00] did the interview, the board had made it really clear they had done some internal work and kind of cleaned up their board and they were interested in, um, kind of revamping WFO, which really intrigued me 'cause I'm, I like that.

Uh, and they, after about the third round, they sent me a, a W nine, an I nine, and they wanted to pay me. And I said, well, I haven't been hired. And they said, well, we wanna pay our interviewees, uh, for their time. Hmm. So that was the first time that I was like, whoa, that's different. Um, women definitely don't get that, and they're intentionally being different, and I'm, I'm interested in this group.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: So I started to pay attention more. Then they hired me, and they hired me because I had a lot of kind of pivot ideas, right? Like, how can we make this organization more viable? How can we move it forward into the century? All those things. Mm-hmm. It was a blank slate. There were no employees. We had two donors.

Um, and so we were [00:33:00] recreating from the very, from nothing really. Uh, and so then in that there's a lot of learning when you're recreating something. Just organization's been around since 1887. This has lots of inter iterations of itself. There's a lot of things you learn that work and there's some things you learn that are absolutely, you need to get rid of it.

And so we were going through that process for several years and then. With the administration that came and then the process that we were going through, I think it was just a perfect equation for us to come up with the theory of change that we currently have, which was. We wanted to be impactful during a very intense time.

We are a foundation with some funds, but we don't have huge funds, so how do we use our little bit of money in a way that's has a big impact? Mm-hmm. And so we found this gap, right? That we knew people were gonna work super hard during this time. We knew people were gonna be exhausted. We knew that they were just gonna be killing themselves, trying to make this a viable [00:34:00] time.

And so we thought, well, what if we provided rest for people during this time? We need them. Right. We need them to keep working. And if we provide rest, what would it do? It gives 'em space if they have that space and they can dream again, if they're dreaming again, maybe we can come up with some solutions.

'cause this seems really awful this moment, but we need some answers, right? Mm-hmm. And so that was the pivot. I went to the team. And I showed them this kind of theory of change. I had like all these pieces of paper. I mean, my team is really used to me doing stuff like this. 'cause I've always got ideas and I'm a creative, right?

And so mm-hmm. They're like, okay, what we doing now? And so, but when I presented this to them and I presented many things to them in the past, it was like, instant bingo. This is it. Um, because it really came from a place of let's not look behind us. Let's look in front of us and let's help us do that and let's fund that.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: Let's get a plan that we all can be proud of. And then we started sharing that with others outside of organization. And everyone was just like, [00:35:00] bingo. Bingo. Bingo. Bingo. Like everywhere we went, whereas before that, when we were pivoting, it wasn't a bingo. It was a lot of talking and lots of people weren't convinced.

It was like, okay, this is not it. But this was a bingo easy. Um, and so we just kept pushing forward. We kept growing it. We came up with the policy framework, the abundance for all from it. Mm-hmm. But it's gathered from the dreams that we're collecting from folks. Everything is generated from our theory of change, and it has been the most brilliant.

Time of our time at Women Women's Foundation of Oregon. 'cause we're actually helping mm-hmm. With, with our little bit of money. Mm-hmm. Um, and that feels good.

Zhou Fang: Yeah, I definitely think that's brilliant. Um, I mean, I, uh, talk about the abundance mindset all the time and that, and to your point, if we don't have, uh, the space and uh, kind of head space to allow ourselves to rest, then we can never dream.

[00:36:00] And without dreaming, we will never reach abundance. Never. And I think that same thing applies to policymaking, especially policymaking because that has such huge impact on people.

Libra Forde: Yes.

Zhou Fang: Um, so I, I think that's absolutely a bingo and, um, it's just so brilliant. So thank you for bringing that framework to life.

Libra Forde: Yeah. We're excited about it and we hope that we can continue to do it for a very long time.

Zhou Fang: Yeah, that is awesome. And, um, so definitely encourage folks to check out the framework mm-hmm. On, uh, women's Foundation of Oregon's website. Um, and I also want to, I think I made a mistake. It wasn't season two while Lotus, I think it's season three.

Libra Forde: Okay. Season three. Well, I haven't watched. I'm gonna watch it.

Zhou Fang: Yeah, because the first season is Hawaii, actually. Oh. And then, yeah, first season, Hawaii. Second season. Italy, third season, [00:37:00] Thailand.

Libra Forde: Oh, I'll watch it. Yeah, I'm definitely gonna watch it. I'm going to Thailand in August for my sabbatical. I'm pretty stoked about it.

Zhou Fang: That's awesome. August. August. Mm-hmm. Um, if you have the opportunity, go to the Elephant Sanctuary in Northern Thailand. I have Mai, I think it's near Chang. Mai. Yeah, Mai. Okay. I haven't been, but I dream to go there talking about dream.

Libra Forde: Yeah, I definitely, I watch so many Thailand videos. My kids are over it.

They open our YouTube and they're just like, mom, really? I'm like, that's all I watch. That's, I'm making my play. I, I'm hoping that I wanna live in Huen, which is three hours south of Bangkok.

Zhou Fang: Mm-hmm.

Libra Forde: Um, that's my goal. But if I get there, and it's not that I'm open, I'm gonna look everywhere.

Zhou Fang: Do you like flip flops?

Libra Forde: I love flip flops. I lived in Hawaii for 12 years.

Zhou Fang: That's what I thought. So I can totally see you in your flip [00:38:00] flops now. Oh yeah.

Libra Forde: I cannot wait.

Zhou Fang: Same, same. I I just love that. Um. Gosh, I feel I really, I would love to, uh, keep talking, but I know your time is very precious, so.

Libra Forde: Well, we can do again, just send me some times and we will reconnect.

Zhou Fang: Yes. 'cause I have so much that, um, I want to learn about and invite you to share. Um. Especially in education as well. I feel that's a really big thing right now, and talking about abundance for all right, it's like taking care of our children, our next generation, et cetera. Um, but we will save that for next time.

Libra Forde: Sounds good.

Zhou Fang: And if people want to learn more about you and connect with you and your work, where do they find you?

Libra Forde: Well, women's Foundation of Oregon, we are always there. And you can also send us [00:39:00] an email if you wanna talk to us directly@infoatw.org and LinkedIn. You can find me personally. Um, I always respond to those.

Zhou Fang: Fantastic. And, uh, thank you so much Libra and um, I am going to hope for our next conversation is you in Thailand.

Libra Forde: Oh, that'd be great.

Zhou Fang: We will do a recording then and maybe something

Libra Forde: That would be great. I would love that. Thank you so much. I'm happy I had this time with you.

Zhou Fang: Me too. I'm gonna stop here.

Libra Forde: Okay.

Zhou Fang: Stop recording.