Kaye O’Kearny

What brought you to ninety-nine girlfriends?

Linda Williams, a dear friend and amazing human, introduced me to ninety-nine girlfriends. At the time, I was working with the Intel Foundation and had become curious about approaches to giving. I also wanted to learn more about the Portland non-profit ecosystem and meet people, particularly women, who were outside the tech industry. I had been talking to Linda about all of that and she said “I think you’d really like ninety-nine girlfriends. She was right.

Why do you volunteer?

Many reasons. As an all-volunteer organization, I feel volunteering is a responsibility. If we don’t volunteer, the organization doesn’t run. On a deeper level, I love the opportunity to work with and learn from so many amazing women who have such deep experience and expertise in areas I often am just learning about.

What else do you want to share?

Ninety-nine girlfriends has been an amazing community for me. Over the past five years, I transitioned out of Intel, which was really hard for me. I’ve had a child leave for college, had serious elder care issues and, like so many others, felt isolated with the pandemic. There have been times when I didn’t have a whole lot to give and yet wanted to continue to be a part of something. Ninety-nine girlfriends welcomes me as I am and is truly a “guilt-free zone”. I have made some amazing friends. I continue to be inspired by the work our partners do - inspired to do more myself, to be more intentional about how I am showing up in the world and how I can make a difference.