August 15 marked the final day of Sarah Greenman’s tenure as Executive Director of the American Leadership Forum of Oregon. Today, we pause to honor Sarah’s remarkable legacy and to offer our deepest gratitude for four years of phenomenal leadership, vision, care, and stewardship.

Sarah is a member of Class 40 and joined ALF Oregon as its first rural Executive Director in October 2022, bringing a perspective deeply rooted in rural Oregon and a commitment to bridging communities across the state. Over the course of her tenure, Sarah put more than 120,000 miles on her car—quite literally traveling the roads of Oregon and visiting every county in the state to build relationships, listen, convene, facilitate, and connect people.

And what a journey it has been.

During her four years with ALF Oregon, Sarah supported seven ALF classes, welcoming and accompanying 127 Fellows, and helped usher in Class 48, whose orientation began on August 14. Her leadership helped make ALF Oregon’s statewide mission tangible: creating meaningful relationships among leaders across geography, sector, experience, and difference.

One of her most lasting contributions has been her vision for reconnecting Senior Fellows from earlier classes with one another and with ALF Oregon. Sarah helped create a new era of programming centered on accessibility, transparency, relationship, and accountability to communities across Oregon. Through Network Dialogues, community gatherings, peer-led spaces, and renewed opportunities for Senior Fellows to connect, Sarah helped strengthen the network that sits at the heart of ALF Oregon’s mission.

Sarah also partnered closely with ALF National to build out ALF Connect, our new directory and communication portal designed to make it easier for Senior Fellows to communicate across classes, chapters, and the national network.

Under Sarah’s leadership, ALF Oregon’s Board of Directors developed and delivered a new strategic plan and built greater capacity to support and strengthen the organization’s foundation for the future. She raised and thoughtfully allocated more than $2 million in operating funds and leaves ALF Oregon with something the organization never had before: a $120,000 reserve fund.

These numbers tell only part of the story.

Sarah brought a profound sense of possibility to ALF Oregon. She challenged the organization to evolve while honoring what came before. She helped the organization become more accessible and responsive, expanded its statewide reach, strengthened its infrastructure, and continually asked what it means to be in right relationship with the people and communities ALF Oregon serves.

And she did all of this while continuing to make space for her own creative life—as an author, artist, storyteller, and facilitator. In 2024, we celebrated as she published her first book, The Creative Alchemy Cycle: Activate Your Creativity to Wake Up and Get Free.

For those of you who wish to continue working with Sarah, she can be found at www.sarahgreenman.com. Additionally, Sarah and her facilitation partner Myriam Loeschen are hosting a four day retreat for creatives and change-makers in the St. Helens area this coming October 8-11. Click here to learn more about Return Rooted.

Sarah’s influence on ALF Oregon will live not only in the programs she shaped, the resources she raised, or the miles she traveled, but in the relationships she nurtured and the people she encouraged to see themselves and one another differently.

We are also grateful that this is not a goodbye.

Sarah will continue working with ALF Oregon as a consultant and she is directly supporting our new Executive Director, Jessica Mole Heilman, as she steps into this next chapter. Jessica, a member of ALF Oregon Class 45, brings her own deep leadership experience and is building upon the strong foundation Sarah leaves behind. Sarah will also continue serving as a peer-facilitator with ALF Oregon’s White Leaders for Racial Justice and will continue her term as Board Chair of ALF National.

Sarah, thank you.

Thank you for the miles, the elegant questions, the hard work, the laughter, the listening, the vision, and the unwavering commitment to doing this work with integrity.

Thank you for showing us that relational leadership works, that rural voices belong at the center of statewide conversations, and that organizations can grow while remaining accountable to the communities they serve.

Thank you for the remarkable legacy you leave with ALF Oregon—and for all that you will continue to contribute to this community.

We are forever grateful.

Honoring Sarah Greenman: A Legacy of Leadership at ALF Oregon

© 2024 ALF Oregon

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