Do gender imbalances matter in a community’s seats of power?
For the past few years, I have been privileged to volunteer as a board member for a large, local nonprofit organization. The organization is complex and provides services that are an essential component of the surrounding community’s vitality. At the time I joined the 12-member board, there were nine men and three women. When the time came to replace outgoing board members, I suggested that we look for qualified women candidates. I advocated for a balanced board of six men and six women. As of this writing, there are still only three women board members.
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Community Vitality is a storytelling publication published since 2000. Send article ideas, questions or requests for past issues to communityvitality@tfff.org.
© 2000-2021 The Ford Family Foundation. Anne Kubisch, President; Mandy Elder, Editor; Megan Monson, Assistant Editor
Women and men in leadership positions
For the past few years, I have been privileged to volunteer as a board member for a large, local nonprofit organization. When the time came to replace outgoing board members, I suggested that we look... Read More
Leveraging strengths
When humanitarian Clara Barton made her mark on the world in the late 1800s, it was very different environment than it is today. At a time when few women worked outside of the home, Barton, the... Read More
Rancher carries on a family tradition
Carol Whipple has a long and distinguished record of community service on some of Oregon’s most influential panels, but she says one of the toughest positions she’s ever held was that of school board... Read More
'No one can have success alone’
Karen Pautz is a little uncomfortable in the limelight. At the heart of her personal philosophy is the belief that everyone in a community is equally important, no matter what their job or social... Read More
Capable and connected
As the the Ford Institute for Community Building looks ahead to the next 20 years, what it hopes to see are increasingly vital communities spread across rural Oregon and Siskiyou County, Calif.... Read More
Sawdust, gold dust and faerie dust
When I first arrived 16 years ago in Dillard, Oregon, it was winter. Everything was drab. Kenneth Ford had recently succumbed to cancer, but even as Douglas County and the state mourned his loss, his... Read More
'One or two jobs make a difference’
When Sally Bartlett was younger, her two biggest ambitions were to bake bread and write poetry. “I was never looking for a career,” she says today. Nevertheless, she got one. Read More
Taking charge of a dream
Vicki Jo McConnell was born and raised near the remote southeastern Oregon town of Arock, a rural community two hours from Boise, Idaho. She went to school in the Arock area, leaving to go to college... Read More
No degree, no job
In 1998, Lisa Brookshier had a well-paid management job. But everything changed for the single mom of two daughters when her company was sold and the division she worked in shut down. Read More
A century of women’s rights
The early American West demanded tenacity from the pioneers who crossed to settle the Oregon Territory. Farmers, ranchers, miners and trappers were eager to reap the bounty, and the population... Read More
An advocate for women
Author Anne Doyle thinks the United States has a problem. This country is home to the largest critical mass of educated, accomplished and politically active women in the world. So what’s the problem... Read More
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