ALF Oregon Names Sarah Greenman as Next Executive Director
A note from the American Leadership Forum of Oreon Board of Directors:
The Board of Directors is pleased to announce Sarah Greenman, Class XL, as ALF Oregon’s next Executive Director!
Sarah is a collaborative and visionary leader whose relationships both in and outside the Senior Fellow Network will be key to advancing our goal of strengthening and leveraging the Network to meet the challenges and opportunities facing Oregon now and in the future.
Hailing from Halfway, Oregon, Sarah is ALF Oregon’s first rural Executive Director. She is deeply connected to Oregon’s land and is uniquely positioned to expand ALF Oregon’s mission to bridge urban and rural Oregon communities. (Watch Sarah’s appeal video from the 2022 ALFO Gala.) Sarah’s work is rooted in a core framework of justice, inclusion, joy, right-relationship, and anti-racist praxis. She has deep experience as a nonprofit leader, community organizer, project manager, facilitator, and storyteller, and she brings 15 years of experience across a wide range of administrative roles. She is a dynamic communicator, skilled at engaging with people from many different backgrounds and walks of life.
Prior to ALF Oregon, Sarah served as Operations Director for StateraArts, a national advocacy organization for women and non-binary artists, and as a facilitator and lead consultant for Joy Facilitation. She is currently working in partnership with the Rural Engagement and Vitality Center at Eastern Oregon University. Sarah also serves on the Board of United Community Partners in Halfway, OR and on the Steering Committee for the 2050 Pine Valley Vision & Planning Commission in Eastern Oregon.
Sarah is a curious learner and notes that her leadership is always evolving. "As ALF Oregon continues to grow and adapt, you can expect my leadership to be flexible, resourceful, and vulnerable to radical listening," she says. "I prioritize process, transparency, accessibility, and accountability. I am thrilled to be collaborating with the ALF Oregon staff, faculty and board as we continue to resource leaders across Oregon to build stronger, more just, more equitable, more compassionate communities. And I look forward to connecting with fellows and facilitating emergent experiences that activate the core of ALF Oregon’s mission.”
As a point of transparency, it’s important to name that Sarah is a white, cisgender, queer, able-bodied, woman of size, with Celtic ancestry and descends from Scottish stone masons, Irish laundresses, and midwestern homesteaders. Part of her work to be in right-relationship with her home state of Oregon is not only to honor the wealth of knowledge from Oregon’s original people but to unlearn the devastating tools of their colonizers, from which she descends. Sarah engages in reparations by donating time and a portion of her monthly income to Native-led organizations who work to rebuild indigenous culture and sovereignty.
To help you get an idea for just how stellar Sarah Greenman is, we reached out to some of her colleagues and asked them to reflect on their previous work with Sarah. Here’s what they had to say:
“I could not imagine a more perfect fit for ALFO. I first nominated Sarah to participate as a Fellow because of her commitment to intersectional leadership, her investment in rural Oregon, and her collaborative approach to her work and her life. Now as a Senior Fellow I think Sarah brings an even deeper understanding of the work of ALF and the impact and implications ALF has in the state. Having a leader that is committed to rural Oregon will only continue to deepen the original vision the founders had for a statewide focus.”
Samantha Swaim, ALF Senior Fellow Class XXX and Founder of Swaim Strategies
“Sarah Greenman is a visionary who brings tremendous creativity and imagination to any project she tackles. She is extremely gifted at building alliances and channeling her passion for social justice into meaningful actions.”
Martha Richards, Executive Director of WomenARTS
“It is a privilege to co-create and facilitate along-side Sarah Greenman in our commitment to interrupt harm and catalyze change in organizational cultures. She is a strategic thought partner, and radical listener, who centers compassionate accountability.”
Myriam Loeschen, Founder of Joy Facilitation
“To work with Sarah is to be in sacred community. To share space with her is a love language and a gift I cherish in my ecosystem.”
Yusef Seevers, Performing Artist, Educator and Entrepreneur
“Sarah is a gatherer of people, skills, and talents. Creativity races through her veins looking for ways to be well used!”
Melinda Pfundstein, Executive Director of StateraArts
"There's no one I'd rather hold hands with to face the challenges of this world than Sarah Greenman. She looks injustice in the eye and leads with compassion, sensitivity, strength, vulnerability, and love."
Thelma DeCastro, Playwright
As Sarah steps into her new role, the Board of Directors would like to thank Kelley Whitmore, who served as Interim Director for the past 5 months, as well as former Executive Director Lisa Watson and Operations Manager René Bordelon for their incredible effort during this transition.
Sarah’s first day as Executive Director is October 13th. Please join the ALF Oregon Board of Directors by welcoming Sarah Greenman as our next Executive Director.
Warmly,
Berk Nelson, ALFO Board President
And the ALFO Board of Directors