Few women in our state are as well known or as well respected as Alene Moris. A woman truly “ahead of her time” by decades and yet completely involved in today’s complex world, she has influenced thousands of individuals and countless organizations to think smarter, dig deeper, challenge unjust “rules” and expectations, and overcome disappointment and setbacks.
In the last 20 years, no one individual has influenced my professional and personal lives more than Alene. For all that she is and all that she does, I am honored to present the 2008 President’s Award to the incomparable Alene Moris.
Alene’s fascinating childhood partially explains her unique strength and “true grit” convictions. Born in Eastend, Saskatchewan in 1928 to Icelandic parents, Alene survived three years of life-threatening pneumonia and rheumatic fever during the Depression. A year of forced bed rest was a “year of spiritual growth,” a period in which she developed “a strong sense of obligation.”
Widespread poverty in the 1930s, her father’s involvement in local government and Canada’s entry into World War II provided the template for some of Alene’s developing baseline values: social and economic justice, the need to question “the establishment” and the value of peaceful resolution at individual, community and national levels.
When her father unexpectedly died in 1943, Alene’s mother, with little education but a good business sense, went to work. Shortly thereafter, Alene began her professional career in an isolated, one-room schoolhouse, walking several miles every day to teach 18 students in 10 grades.
After graduating from St. Olaf College in 1949 with majors in music and English, Alene Thorum Ingebjorg Halvorson married her devoted husband of 47 years, Walt Moris. Walt’s Lutheran seminarian training and assigned parishes required several moves to Minnesota, Iowa, Wyoming, Nebraska and Montana during the next 15 years. Alene happily (and dutifully) began her full-time “pastor’s wife” work during this period and, “between babies and relocating,” taught music in schools and churches.
Walt’s next assignment, to assist the Chinese Bishop in Sabah, Malaysia on the island of Borneo, profoundly changed Alene’s life. During the next four years, Alene raised four small children in a remote area (the bugs were huge!), taught at a Cambridge University entrance prep school, worked in the local community and continued her pastor’s wife’s responsibilities.
One night, as she left Singapore and was crossing the South China Sea, after seeking medical care for one of her children on the mainland, Alene “experienced an intense spiritual awakening when I realized that women leaders were absolutely essential if we were ever to have a peaceful world.” She realized that “war and violence would continue until women were fully partnered with men in leadership positions.”
In her last years in Southeast Asia, Alene agonized over our country’s involvement in the Vietnam War. She committed upon her return to the United States to challenge traditional power structures and to develop women’s leadership programs.
Walt’s next assignment brought the family back to the Midwest in 1969. The next year, Alene received a graduate degree in counseling from Northern Illinois University, while actively protesting the war with fellow students half her age. During one incident, which she fondly recalls, an arresting police officer tried to convince properly attired, middle-aged Alene to return home to her pastor’s wife’s responsibilities and four teenagers. After all, it was Mother’s Day! Instead, Alene remained confined with “several hippie kids.”
In 1970, Walt and the family moved to a Seattle parish. In 1971, Alene and Dorothy Strawn co-founded the Women’s Center at the University of Washington. The center’s purpose at that time was to assist and acclimate returning women to the rigors of a university setting. Shortly thereafter, she co-founded the Individual Development Center, a pioneering career counseling center for women and men facing major transitions in their lives and careers.
Alene’s reputation and “no nonsense, straight talk” approach to life opened many doors. From presenting with Gloria Steinem, to training governors’ wives (Hillary included), to counseling 22 orders of Catholic nuns “to understand and adapt to the rapidly changing expectations of women,” to national seminar leader and consultant, Alene has been a true pioneer over the last 35 years. Psychology Today taped her work at Weyerhaeuser, “Bringing Women into Management,” and used the training film in graduate classes and corporate educational programs around the country. The National Association of Bank Women retained her to design and teach career advancement classes for women bank officers. The Association of Junior Leagues hired Alene to design volunteer leadership programs around the country.
Perhaps some of Alene’s more gratifying work involved sexual harassment training at mines, factories, banks, insurance companies and other traditionally male-dominated workplaces in the 1970s and ’80s. In some towns, where Alene’s views on equal treatment were not welcome, union bosses or employers tried to intimidate her. On occasion, her car’s tires were slashed or windshield smeared with “Get out of town.” Alene never quit. Over the years, her strength of conviction and determination to live life fully and fairly has affected almost every professional group, including professors, physicians, corporate executives, social workers, lawyers, health care administrators, the clergy and teachers.
A few months ago, Alene published her autobiography, Awakenings: A Life Journey, and retired from consulting (almost!). She is traveling, spending time with her four children, seven grandchildren, other family and close friends, and continuing her straight talk. She remains active and visible with several groups and with several causes.
Alene recently described herself as “one of the fortunate people who has had spiritual experiences that have given my life direction and support. I have sought to bring women into positions where we can influence society to be more just, humane and peaceful. Not because we are more intelligent (we aren’t), nor because we are more virtuous (we aren’t), but because of our very different life experiences, we have very different priorities for public life.”
Alene sincerely believes that women and men must share the rights and responsibilities for holding up the sky. Her convictions, tenacity, courage and dedication to social justice are an inspiration to us all. Alene, it is an honor and privilege to be part of your life.
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