Casting Their Values into a Changing World

As trillions shift to women worldwide, the Wieden family’s next generations show how inherited wealth can become a force for meaningful change.

One day a man came home and asked his wife, “Bonnie, where’s the kitchen table?”

It was long before Dan Wieden co-founded a Portland advertising agency with David Kennedy. And before Wieden + Kennedy landed Nike as a client. And definitely before Dan coined the most famous advertising tagline in history: “Just Do It.”

“She said, ‘We had to buy groceries,’’ says Dan and Bonnie’s granddaughter, Ellie Wiedensmith. “No nonsense.”

When Wieden + Kennedy struck the equivalent of advertising gold with “Just Do It,” and accounts from other Fortune 500 companies followed, Bonnie stepped in again.

“They always had a retirement dream of creating a camp,” Ellie said. “When the wealth hit the ‘nonsense money’ level, she said, ‘It’s time.’”

Soon after, the Wiedens started Caldera, an arts education nonprofit and camp in Central Oregon that’s been operating for nearly 30 years.

As Dan’s vision built the business, Bonnie’s moral compass led the family to share proceeds of their success.

Women have historically worked behind the scenes in philanthropy, quietly influencing their spouses, who made the money, and setting up a system of social care in the process. But a massive shift is now underway. Women are about to directly control more wealth than at any other time in history — stepping into more power, influence and capacity to make meaningful change.

By 2048, $124 trillion will change hands as older generations pass away and leave their assets to surviving spouses and younger generations. Women will inherit roughly $100 trillion of that, according to Cerulli Associates, an asset and wealth management research and consulting firm.

Giving as a Platform to Create Meaningful Change

Over the next year, we’ll share the stories of women who give to and through Oregon Community Foundation. They're motivated by deeply held values and see giving as a platform to create meaningful change. They’re passionate about the causes and communities they support. And those who have children are thoughtful about how and when they include them in conversations about wealth and giving.

We spoke to two generations of women in the Wieden family who give through the the Wieden Family Public Foundation, a Supporting Organization of Oregon Community Foundation, and on their own: three daughters, one daughter-in-law and the eldest granddaughter of Dan and Bonnie Wieden. She died in 2008 and he in 2022. Dan’s second wife and widow Priscilla Bernard Wieden continues his legacy of supporting Caldera to this day and serves on its Emeritus Board. In fact, Priscilla's Donor Advised Fund at OCF is named after her Caldera camp name, The Moonflower Fund. She says she has dedicated her life to giving back.

Tami Wiedensmith, Cassie Wieden, Laura Blatner, Jessica Wieden and Ellie Wiedensmith are funding groundbreaking research, supporting immigrants, speaking on national stages, launching cultural celebrations — and making sure the Wieden legacy of giving continues for generations to come.

Tami Wiedensmith: On the Frontline of Lyme Disease Advocacy

Tami Wiedensmith still has the bound book of notes from Wieden family meetings of her childhood.

“Though we were young and the meetings often chaotic, our parents wanted to get us familiar with group family discussions and introduce us to the ideas of conflict resolution — all within all Robert’s Rules of Orders,” Tami says. “We also discussed our values, and a big part of that was always how to help others. We carried UNICEF boxes to collect donations for Halloween and sang Christmas carols at retirement homes. It planted the idea that we could be helpers anywhere we went.”

Tami came to think of the conversations she heard from the women elders around her as “knitting,” her word for the ways she saw women build connections and influence in their homes, businesses and communities.

“With the limitations that women had then, Mom was doing the knitting, continuing to communicate within the wider community. She was finding out about what the community’s needs were so she could give back and support wherever needed,” Tami says.

“For this she was well known and recognized. For instance, we’d drive through Newberg in her big orange Chevy pickup truck, called the Great Pumpkin, and people would just start honking and waving, ‘It’s Bonnie!’ We’d go to the grocery store for just a couple of things and that would take an hour because everybody wanted to talk to her.”

Life Changed in an Instant

Years later, Tami taught equine therapy at Caldera in its early years. The mother of three wore her youngest baby in a backpack in the arena and set up a changing table in the barn. She loved the campers, artists and leaders. “I would have done anything to be there,” she says.

However, in 2002, a tick bit Tami while she was riding at Caldera. Three years later, she was diagnosed with Lyme Disease.

“By the time I was diagnosed, I could barely walk,” Tami says. “Shortly after, I was in a wheelchair. Along with that came years of being in a dark, almost silent room due to my neuro sensitivity,” Tami says. “That was a kind of prison. When I felt healthy, like I was ‘out’ I wanted help others open those doors as well.”

An Advocate is Born

In 2008, Tami began visiting Lyme Disease research labs with her father, meeting researcher Dr. Steven Schutzer, who she now speaks to frequently. Donations from the Wieden Family Public Foundation have followed.

This year, Tami helped fund a Southampton conference on Long-Term Lyme and Infectious Disease. The topic was how to help caregivers, and Tami spoke about supporting the caregivers of patients like herself. She’s planning to speak at more events this coming year.

“This year was the first year I spoke publicly about my Lyme Disease journey, and I hope it won’t be my last. I will be honest and say of course there’s imposter syndrome,” Tami says. “Am I the person who can stand up and talk about this? But I’m still kind of amazed that I’m here on this planet, and I don’t take a day for granted. The more I connect with people, the more possibility there is.”

Cassie Wieden: Spotting Issues That Resonate and Ideas to Elevate

The Wieden Family Public Foundation has long supported creativity, Indigenous communities, wild and working lands and out-of-the-box, catalytic ideas.

Recently, family members felt called to broaden the lens to include farmworker housing, legal support for immigrants and basic human needs.

“It has always been near and dear to our hearts that everyone has a voice and deserves to be heard,” Cassie says.

What If Giving Felt Like Eating Push Pop Ice Cream?

Cassie, younger sister of Tami, started a fund in her own name at OCF and plans to bring her partner and their 10-year-old daughter into the process over time. She imagines the three of them discovering together what matters to them, and how their giving can serve like the stick on a push-pop ice cream, pushing up the great work of others.

Cassie has always taken a hands-on approach to giving. She still volunteers with her daughter assembling bags of socks and toiletries for people experiencing homelessness. But she’s also clear that “there’s more to do than the 50 bags you make.”

“That’s why it’s so valuable to work with OCF,” she says. “(OCF is) on fire when it comes to organizing and vetting. I know the process is complete, not random, not just adding a few dollars every time I go to the store.”

Keep Your Light On

OCF gatherings, forums and conversations with other donors help her spot issues that resonate and ideas to elevate.

At one OCF event, she heard a metaphor that has stayed with her: donors as lighthouses. “It makes a big difference,” Cassie says. “It’s important to keep your light on and not doubt its value.”

She feels that with every conversation, she and OCF are getting closer. “At first, it was overwhelming because OCF holds so much information,” she says. “But in the one-on-one and family work, I feel like I’m gaining more clarity. It’s super helpful.”

Laura Blatner: Funding Bold Research to Cure Multiple Sclerosis

For Laura Blatner — Cassie and Tami’s sister — giving began with a personal turning point, her multiple sclerosis diagnosis more than 30 years ago.

Not long after, her parents gave $1 million to create The Laura Fund at Oregon Health & Science University for MS research that was bold, risky and collaborative. 

Dan Wieden and Laura Blatner

Two years ago, Laura reorganized The Laura Fund as an independent 501(c)(3), complete with a board of directors and an Executive Director supported in part by leadership gifts from the Wieden Family Public Foundation. The first fundraiser at her sister Cassie’s winery, Finnigan Hill, brought in more than $80,000 for research. 

What began as a dedicated fund supporting projects at one institution has evolved into a global accelerator, uncovering and advancing MS research across the country and around the world. It targets “missing pieces” in research, where funding of $25,000 to $100,000 can unlock years of progress. One $50,000 grant for advanced imaging tools shortened a critical MS study by 18 months.

‘There’s So Much Promise for Others’

Laura’s giving is not driven by personal benefit. She focuses entirely on the future of the field. “None of this research is going to help me,” she says matter-of-factly. “I’ve had MS for 30 years. I’ve been in a scooter since 2012. I can’t walk at all. But it’s so exciting. There’s so much promise for others.”

She hopes to upend the notion that funding should reward caution and punish failure. “People are tired of throwing money at the same things,” she says. “Failures are valuable. One of Dad’s sayings was ‘fail harder.’ That’s what enriches us.”

Watering the Garden with Oregon Community Foundation

Laura’s work with OCF reinforces that vision. She volunteered as an OCF grant reviewer. “I was fascinated by the work,” she says. “OCF knows so many nonprofits across Oregon. They hold all that information and handle all those relationships with such grace.”

Partnering with OCF, she says, “feels like watering your garden. It feeds your community.”

Giving also keeps her grounded in the values she and her siblings were raised with — gratitude, humility and a clear sense of responsibility. “It’s about doing good with what you have, not because you have to,” Laura says, “but because you want to.”

Jessica Wieden: Bridging Generations and Cultures

Jessica Wieden’s love with Bryan Wieden bloomed quickly.

“He called me, and we were just hours and hours on the phone,” she says. “And it’s now been 13 years of being together.”

Jessica immigrated from Mexico at 15. She spent several years learning English and attending Portland Community College and Portland State before meeting Bryan.

“I’ve lived in the U.S. for more than half my life,” Jessica says. But “there’s a disconnection from our culture, our roots, our traditions. Even when we try to stay connected, there’s a gap.”

Jessica, now the mother of a 10-year-old, felt pulled to restore the connection for herself and her son and create a meaningful bridge between generations in Oregon’s Latino community.

That led her to create Catrinas Rising, a nonprofit community group that blends art, tradition and storytelling.

Inspired by La Catrina

Jessica immersed herself in the history and symbolism of La Catrina, the the iconic skeletal figure associated with Mexico’s Día de los Muertos. Originally La Calavera Garbancera, a satirical figure used to critique classism and colonial influence, La Catrina had traveled from the Mexican Revolution era to Diego Rivera’s murals and modern celebrations shown in films like Coco and Skyfall.

“A lot of my identity is attached to (La Catrina),” she says. “It started to feel meaningful.”

She noticed that while other cities hosted Catrina-focused celebrations, she didn’t find one in Oregon. “There were small things here and there,” she says, “but nothing that brought people together around the history, the craftsmanship, the meaning.”

Planting Something Meaningful

Throughout the year, Catrinas Rising gathers in libraries and community centers to learn makeup techniques, repurpose old clothing, craft headpieces and create elaborate Catrina attire using paper, fabric and recycled materials.

Everyone is welcome.

The year’s work culminates in a public showcase with living Catrinas. Jessica hopes, eventually, to stage a La Catrina parade in Portland. She says La Catrina has kept her grounded amid wealth she never expected.

Giving, she says, is “how we live our lives — always giving. If you have seeds — if you have money, if you have wealth — plant them in places that are meaningful to you.”

Ellie Wiedensmith: Carrying Forward a Legacy While Creating Her Own

Ellie Wiedensmith was raised with Caldera in her bones.

Daughter of Tami, she was two when her grandparents, Bonnie and Dan Wieden, founded the arts and environmental camp in Central Oregon. Each summer she returned to costumes and silliness, creativity and connection, a place where “everybody just cared so much about seeing you,” she says. “It felt like church. A community bigger than camp.”

Only later did Ellie grasp what her family had built — and the financing it took to sustain it. “I don’t think the puzzle piece fit until I was ten or eleven,” she says. “That was when I started to recognize the size of Caldera.”

Caldera Arts

As she grew older, she returned not as the founders’ granddaughter, but as a camper and counselor. “That was when I really understood the impact of Caldera — everyone was from completely different backgrounds, and yet we all felt that same sense of community and belonging. It's incredibly powerful.”

First of Her Generation

Now 31, Ellie is stepping into a new role: the first of her generation to join the board of the Wieden Family Public Foundation. 

“Once my grandpa passed ... all of a sudden, this whole world of wealth and giving and philanthropy opened up,” she says, “so we’re kind of wrapping our heads around the level of impact that you can really have.”

Caldera’s values and watching her mother Tami’s example has equipped Ellie with what she calls “love armor.”

“She’s the most giving person I know,” Ellie says. “She wears her heart on her sleeve. I mean, she’s fierce in it.”

Ellie’s Advice? ‘Balance the Books’

Asked what she’d tell another woman new to giving inherited wealth, Ellie doesn’t hesitate.

“This is a wild experience,” she says. "This isn't fair by any stretch. Resolve those feelings and use them as love armor ... Look for the person who hits you the hardest with the smallest megaphone. That’s what my grandpa would say. ‘Balance the books.’”

Join the Wiedens in Giving

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