Family Forward Oregon
Smart Policies for Today's Families
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Maternal economic insecurity is a huge systemic problem that has roots in institutional racism and sexism. At the center of the problem is how society completely devalues care work, often relying on the unpaid, low-paid or exploited labor of women. Mothers will continue to struggle to achieve economic justice until we value the work of caregiving and build the conditions that allow people to care for a family while also providing for one. An abundance of research shows public policies like affordable child care and paid family and medical leave would improve maternal economic security. But history shows us that our lawmakers will not act to resolve these problems without a demand. That’s why we are organizing mothers and other caregivers to come together — across race, gender, class, sexuality, ability and immigration status — to demand change.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Economic Justice Advocacy
Central to our work is the understanding that the lack of value for care and caregiving in our society is the root cause of economic insecurity among mothers and caregivers, and that this problem has roots in systemic racism and sexism. Most mothers and caregivers are struggling to find ways to both provide for and care for their families, and mothers and caregivers of color — who experience the negative impacts of both systemic racism and sexism — are most harmed by our system as it stands.
We are working to change systems to better support mothers and caregivers, which often means focusing on changing public policy. Our work indirectly serves all 400,000 mothers with kids under 18 in Oregon, and numerous other caregivers who provide care to people in our families across the age spectrum. Most impacted are the 38% of female-headed households with children in our state that are living in poverty. (or the 65.3% are below the self-sufficiency level.) (source: https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1123&context=metropolitianstudies)
Where we work
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of policy guidelines or proposals developed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Caregivers, Families
Related Program
Economic Justice Advocacy
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Policies and legislative wins our organization led on, had coalition support, or had a role in helping pass.
Number of training workshops
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Women and girls, Caregivers, Families
Related Program
Economic Justice Advocacy
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
Trainings we hold on advocacy, grassroots organizing, and women's economic security.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our goal is to pass public policy that addresses the importance of caregiving, advances gender and racial equity, and reduces maternal poverty. We are currently focused on paid family and medical leave, affordable child care, and pay equity.
We approach policy work with a laser focus on equity. We know from history that policy often ends up creating more inequity even while it is purportedly aiming to reduce inequity. What this means in practice is that we focus on policy details, and we fight for strong, bold, inclusive policies that will make a real difference in women’s lives.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We have several key strategies:
Policy development with an equity lens: We have high-level policy expertise on our staff, and focus on how policy will play out along racial, gender and class lines. We advocate for bold, strong, equity-centered policy.
Organizing: We organize impacted women to get involved in short and long-term campaigns
Coalition: We always work in coalition with other organizations including racial justice groups, women’s organizations, labor unions and even progressive businesses.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We have a track record of working in coalition to pass groundbreaking policies in Oregon. We led the fight for paid sick time in our state, making Oregon the 4th state in the country to pass a paid sick time law. We led the creation of the Fair Shot For All Coalition which has successfully fought for a higher minimum wage, retirement security, health care for undocumented kids, reproductive health equity, ending racial profiling, rent control and more. We have also worked to pass laws related to pay equity, domestic workers’ rights, paid family and medical leave and affordable child care.
We have policy experts on our staff, as well as expert organizers. We are a multi-racial team of women who have lived experience with the issues we work on. Collectively, we have over 100 years of experience in social change work.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We are an organization founded by and led by Oregon mothers. Over the past 10 years, we have become the leading organization in Oregon on issues related to the economic security of women and families. We have successfully passed laws ensuring all families have access to paid sick time, expanded employment protections for domestic workers, developed a public retirement program, and created additional legal protections that ensure equal pay for equal work. We also played a major role in raising the minimum wage in Oregon.
Just as important, we have supported women in getting involved in the civic process, learning new skills, speaking at town halls, hearings and community meetings, and engaging even more women in becoming civically engaged.
Our successes have been the result of robust policy expertise, strong coalition-building, and on-the-ground organizing among mothers. We demand that women’s voices be heard in policy considerations and we prioritize long-term, systemic solutions. These approaches have served us well.
We are currently leading the efforts in Oregon to pass paid family and medical leave, expand the definition of family, and to dramatically increase public investment in child care.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Family Forward Oregon
Board of directorsas of 2/25/2021
Rujuta Gaonkar
Rujuta Gaonkar
Sara Ryan
Anna Stiefvater
Katrina Yuen
Alice Gates
Samantha Lehman
Kathryn Weeks
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data