09/03/2026
Feeling very nostalgic and incredibly grateful over here this morning as I learn of Ms. Gloria Steinem’s passing.
The gratitude for the impacts of her work on my life runs deep.
It was thru her foundation, The Ms. Foundation for Women, that OAASIS Oregon, a non profit org I co-founded 2 years earlier, received a three year grant to do the difficult and rewarding work of trying to build a movement to end child s*xual abuse.
It was thru her foundation that we realized there was a whole national MOVEMENT of folks already doing this work. In fact, there were pioneers in the field that were part of a cohort of freaking rock stars that we were SO fortunate to learn from and with.
It was thru her foundation that I got the wild chance of meeting, hugging, and thanking my childhood hero, Marlo Thomas, who’s 1970’s show “Free to Be You and Me”, somehow made me feel like I mattered. 🥹
RIP Ms. Steinem. ~ Post from Kristi Kernal-Phillips, Co-Founder of OAASIS