Finding Joy in Resisting Together
By Melanie Morrissey Clark
Photo by Scott Dobry
It was once easy to take for granted how far we’ve come as women. How many rights we’ve gained, how free we are to vote, speak our minds and pursue our educations. To decide when, or even if, we want to have children.
We still have these freedoms, but lately I can’t help but feel they are being seriously threatened, that limits are being placed to take us backward instead of forward. To keep us in check.
As a feminist who has long been in the trenches, this shakes me to my core. I know that as a white woman, I move through the world with privileges that many others do not have—and I worry most about the women whose rights and safety are threatened first and most deeply.
What helps to get me through these challenging times is knowing that organizations like the Women’s Fund are still here, and that they will never stop fighting for us. For reassurance, I often return to my memory of the first day I heard about the Women’s Fund of Omaha.
I was in my early 20s, working for a magazine, and my boss asked me to attend a press conference. As I listened to Mary Heng Braun, the first executive director, speak eloquently about the founder’s goals for this new nonprofit called the Women’s Fund, I had chills, and I knew without a doubt that this was going to be a game changer for the women and girls of Omaha.
Since that day, I’ve been fortunate to have a front row seat to the evolution of the Women’s Fund over 35 years—as a board member and donor, and as volunteer editor of this magazine for 28 of those years. The four Women’s Fund executive directors, along with their teams and boards, have left a lasting impact on our community.
Their trajectory to success is easy to trace. Mary Heng Braun laid the foundation in the early years, educating and fundraising to establish the legitimacy we needed to make lasting change. Then Ellie Archer deepened the research on issues impacting women and girls, and leaned into leadership development, with the creation of Ready to Run, Ready to Serve and Circles.
Next came Michelle Zych’s fresh, young perspective, and her bold style expanded the team and launched more in-depth research reports, leading to initiatives around adolescent health, reproductive rights, domestic violence, sexual assault, STD testing, sex trafficking, public policy and more.
Now Jo Giles continues the march toward progress and equity, knowing she has the weight and support of many strong women surrounding her and her incredible team. The Women’s Fund of today is boldly fighting for reproductive rights across our state, increasing access to paid sick leave for Nebraskans, growing its donor and funding base and expanding its public policy work. Don’t miss the exciting announcement on page 10!
I know without a doubt that I personally have gained much from my long involvement in this organization. The things I have learned here have influenced how I’ve run my own business, how I’ve raised my sons and daughter, how I support other women, and how I interact with the world. I met some of my closest friends through my association with this remarkable organization—my ride-or-die friends. The ones I can truly count on. My community.
But most of all, the Women’s Fund taught me not only that joy is resistance—but that there is joy in resisting inequality, injustice, and indifference—especially when we do it together, as one. W