Introducing… INTERSECT

Welcome! INTERSECT is a gender justice collaborative in Oregon that connects and strengthens the gender-focused field and leadership through an intersectional lens. We are a values-driven organization rooted in serving the gender justice field and evolving to meet emerging needs. We support and celebrate existing leadership in all its forms, while nurturing space for new leadership to emerge. We believe that connecting a strong intersectional analysis—linking gender to race and other forms of oppression—for key leaders and organizations will create positive and lasting change for Oregon.

Our mission is to deepen knowledge, skills, and relationships to advance intersectional gender justice leadership in Oregon.

Our vision is a world where gender doesn’t hold anyone back, where all people live free from violence, and where all living things thrive.

OUR STORY

Oregon and the Native Nations that share this geography need an organization dedicated to strengthening the intersectional gender justice ecosystem in our state. A diverse group of people came together to launch an organization to fill this gap—creating opportunities for values-aligned leaders and organizations to connect, recharge, strategize, and imagine new possibilities together, wherever and however that work needs to happen.

  • Grounded in intersectional feminism, Black feminist theory, reproductive justice principles, and anti-racism, INTERSECT serves two essential functions:

    • Build and strengthen the understanding and application of intersectional gender justice for leaders and decision-makers—recognizing that in today’s political climate, some will be ready to lead boldly in public, while others may need quieter, behind-the-scenes pathways to deepen their work.

    • Build purposeful connections between organizations, leaders, and decision-makers to increase collaboration, influence, and impact.

    In a moment when the national climate has made some organizations hesitant to name or deepen their commitments to equity, there is still a core group of leaders and institutions determined to move this work forward. Others are looking for safe, strategic ways to re-engage as conditions allow. INTERSECT partners with both—offering learning opportunities and collaborative experiences, formal and informal, that meet leaders, teams, and organizations where they are. We support organizations in expanding their understanding and practice of intersectional gender justice, and our offerings are designed to be flexible, responsive, and grounded in purpose.

    It is powerful for gender justice organizations and leaders to be in relationship, sharing strategy and building solidarity across approaches. They also deserve stronger relationships with funders and decision-makers at all levels. We address the incredible need for stronger connection between those on the front lines of gender justice and the people making decisions that will deeply impact them.

    Because of the unique history of race and racism in Oregon and the resulting contemporary demographics, we believe it is essential to both hold and support BIPOC folks AND specifically engage white folks to shift their understanding of—and commitment to—intersectional justice.

We fully acknowledge that ours is not the only answer to the issues and questions that face our region on its path to justice, but this is our answer—one that continues to evolve to meet the needs of the moment.

OUR VALUES

We support the flow of knowledge.

Maya Angelou taught us, “Do the best you can until you know better. Then, when you know better, do better.” We convene leaders to share knowledge and skills in the service of doing better for people who live in Oregon and related sovereign tribal nations, and the land on which we depend. We believe everyone is both a teacher and a learner.

We work on more than gender.

Audre Lorde said, “There is no thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.” We recognize that how we’re treated in our current culture depends on the overlapping identities we have—like gender, race, class, ability, and more (a concept called intersectionality). This means our work cannot focus on gender alone.

We advance liberation for all.

Ruha Benjamin tells us, “Remember to imagine and craft the worlds you cannot live without, just as you dismantle the ones you cannot live within.” Improving conditions in the unjust systems of today is important but not enough. Gender justice requires the dismantling of all oppressive systems. We seek the total transformation of current systems to a world where all living things thrive.

We bring and invite open hearts.

In a culture that values individualism and is designed to perpetuate oppression, it’s a choice to embark on a transformative gender justice journey. We invite people to join us on this journey, and welcome them with compassion wherever they enter. Recognizing that everyone stumbles, we also invite and expect repairing harm with open hearts.

We honor the wisdom of past and future leaders.

We honor the wisdom of past and future leaders. We would not be here if it weren’t for those who came before us, both the ones whose names we know and whose we don’t. We merge their teachings with the visions of leaders emerging today. We recognize that leadership knows no age or rank—anyone can lead.

We exist in service to leaders.

We are a haven, a home, a hub for leaders in the gender-focused field to connect, learn, recharge, and strategize. This is a crucial role in any successful social change ecosystem.

“This Place We Call Oregon…”

We at INTERSECT know that land acknowledgements are a fraught conversation and Native Nations are not monolithic in the ways they want to be represented. Similarly, land acknowledgements ring hollow without meaningful action.

AND yet, we chose to name the white supremacy that has - and continues - to harm and destroy the well-being of land now known as the United States, the original stewards of that land, and those who were brought here by force to extract from the land.

This country is built on stolen Indigenous land, built by stolen African people, and continues to be built on the exploited labor and contributions of immigrants from the global majority. This land was not stolen and people were not enslaved or exploited by ambiguous entities and actors. The land was stolen by, and African peoples were enslaved by, white settlers who had government support.

 
Image credit: Native-Land.ca
This map does not represent or intend to represent official or legal boundaries of any Indigenous nations. To learn about definitive boundaries, contact the nations in question.

This place we call Oregon exists on the traditional land of the Chinook, Cowlitz, Multnomah, Chelmela, Winefelly, Nez Perce, Cayuse, Walla Walla, Clackamas, Kalapuya, Molalla, and Atfalati Peoples and includes the Warm Springs, Coquille, Umatilla, Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians, Grand Ronde, Siletz, Burns Paiute, Klamath, and Coos, Lower Umpqua, and Siuslaw Reservations, as well as and many other Indigenous nations, tribes, and bands who made their homes along the confluence of the Columbia and Willamette Rivers. We also want to honor the members of over 400 tribal communities who live in Oregon.

We honor their legacy and strive to center the Indigenous voices in conversations about reconciliation and LANDBACK movements.

CONNECT

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