Linda Lybecker, AAUW Oregon President

A Note from the President

Welcome to the 2023-2024 AAUW year! Thank you for joining around 1,000 other Oregon members in supporting a vision of equal opportunity for all.

AAUW of Oregon held its conference and annual members’ meeting in person in Ashland in April this year. At the luncheon, the annual Breaking Barriers Achievement Award was given to Andrea Reeder, vice president and executive director of the Asante Foundation in Medford. 

More information may be found here.

At the first Oregon in-person statewide event since 2019, conversations centered around the future of our organization and branches, the efficiencies of virtual meetings versus the energizing effects of in-person gatherings, and continuing the important work of advocating for women and girls. National AAUW Board Vice-Chair Malinda Gaul sparked many discussions with her video comments. See the interview on the AAUW of Oregon YouTube channel: Comments from Malinda Gaul

We marked the end of an era during the business meeting by asking delegates to hold up the voting paddles one last time. Bylaws were approved to allow any member in good standing and in attendance to vote for officers and bylaw changes at the annual meetings. Next year’s annual business meeting is planned as a Zoom meeting. We are planning an in-person meeting in 2025.

Besides having fun at the conference, members shared leadership tips and program ideas. Each Branch President sent a written annual report filled with good ideas. I encourage you to read them along with state officer reports here

Thank you to the many volunteers who made this year’s conference and meeting a wonderful experience, honored a woman leader with the Breaking Barriers Award, tracked state legislation and wrote testimonials, helped us learn more about diversity, equity, and inclusion issues, supported our activities with technology and helped women college students attend NCCWSL in late May. 

I am impressed by the commitment, passion, and intelligent discussions I have found with other AAUW members. Keep up the good work this coming year, and if you are interested in helping one of these projects, contact me for more information.

Linda Lybecker

Andrea Reeder of the Asante Foundation

2023 Breaking Barriers Award

The 2023 AAUW of Oregon Breaking Barriers Achievement Award honored Andrea Reeder.

Andrea Reeder is currently the vice president and executive director of Asante Foundation in Medford, OR. 

She received a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Western Governors University. Prior to her career in health care philanthropy, Andrea developed fundraising programs and capital campaigns for private schools across the country, impacting women and girls early in her career. She also spent 12 years as a restaurateur. 

Andrea was hired by Asante in 2014 as Director of Development. In 2018, she was named Campaign Director, leading the strategic planning and execution of AsanteForward, a capital campaign to support Asante’s expansion efforts—the largest philanthropic effort in the region's history. Promoted to her current position in 2022, she now advocates and mentors women working and going to school.

Training for Branch and State Officers on YouTube!

A Wealth of YouTube Resources

Our brilliant Events Coordinator/Zoom Guru, Nancy Brown, has recorded (and carefully edited!) and posted over 35 sessions on the AAUW-OR YouTube channel. 

To help you determine what you might be interested in, we have arranged the YouTube presentations by general category. Besides the training events, there are videos of annual meetings, awards celebrations, special branch programs and lobby events.