RRRISE In-Person Gathering April 29-30 at Bear River, Loleta
We were thrilled to meet with you at Redwood Region RISE's (Resilient Inclusive Sustainable Economy) In-Person Gathering* on April 29-30 at Bear River Tish Non Community Center, Loleta, Humboldt County. We will share a comprehensive follow-up packet with you in the coming weeks. For now, you'll find a high-level recap of our gathering below.
Event Information:
- Date & Time: Monday, April 29, 8:00 a.m.- 5:30 p.m. to Tuesday, April 30, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
- Location: 266 Keisner Rd, Loleta, CA 95551 (Bear River Tish Non Community Center)
- Invitees: Members of our Equity Council, Tribal Table, Sector Tables, Voting Members, as well as community leaders and residents from our Tribal Lands and four counties.
- Hotel accomodations and meals are included, and you will have the option to be reimbursed for travel and child care costs.
Recap of Our In-Person Gathering
- Day 1: Collaborative Business -
On April 29 and 30, over 150 folks from across dozens of organizations got together at the Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria’s Tish Non Community Center to connect face-to-face and ideate for a more equitable and prosperous future for our region. Throughout the event, many expressed the power in coming together and making valuable connections that will last far beyond the California Jobs First initiative.
“Everybody's talking about what the funds are going to provide, but the true resource that is being provided here are the people, friendships, and the doors that are being opened from this network.”
The Bear River Band of the Rohnerville Rancheria graciously hosted us on their Land, and held an opening ceremony with a traditional song of love, reminding us that love for our communities and our land is what brings us together in this work.
After the opening ceremony, the Tribal and Sector Planning Tables, Equity Council, and the Voting Member Block organized into break-out sessions to finetune draft strategies and collaborate on how to best move forward, followed by report outs to stay up-to-date on each governing body’s progress.
Folks from the Working Lands and Blue Economy Sector Table shared ideas for a more successful future, “tired of watching people go out of business doing what they love.” Health and Caregiving Sector Table members talked about the wonderful community that inspired them to stay in the workforce, and raised the important question of “how do we bring that community to workers new to the area to inspire them to stay?” Arts, Culture, and Tourism Sector Table members emphasized the power of creative placemaking and place-nourishing.
“We need to guide investment our way, while nourishing what is already here. We don’t want gentrification causing disadvantaged communities to get squeezed out.”
Members from the Renewable and Resilient Sector Table discussed potential program ideas on workforce training, off-grid solutions, waste-to-energy, and community resilience initiatives. After their individual breakout sessions, the Sector Tables met for an overarching meeting, where the importance of cross-sector collaboration was underscored, and potential opportunities to collaborate across industries were discussed.
While progress is being made amidst our Collaborative to address regional issues and uplift our strengths, there was also a resounding sentiment that “We need consistent advocates in Sacramento.” Next, members were invited to view the infographics of a pop-up Data Walk, which provided a snapshot of the people living and working in the Redwood Region, using their own words combined with data research from the California Center for Rural Policy (CCRP).
The Foggy Bottom Boys provided some delicious ice cream while folks networked before we turned to workshopping each other's projects with the Equity Planning Toolkit prototype—which we will share with you soon—filling in any gaps to ensure these projects can reach their full potential.
- Day 2: Developing our Regional Strategies + Project Fair -
Day 2 started off with a California Climate Assessment presentation by Dr. David Narum, Director of Community Development at Cal Poly Humboldt. David challenged our Collaborative to think of new ways to create jobs in the face of climate change. Next was a panel discussion led by Thomas Nicholson Stratton from Foggy Bottom Boys about regional food insecurity, where we asked hard questions and explored solutions-based approaches for utilizing our collective resources.
“How do we diversify what’s being grown to overcome the 15% per year crop failure?” someone asked from the crowd. The panel raised some actionable points: climate-resilient farmer training, and making food systems more resilient by increasing land access for small family farms—if inland farms face a heat wave, then coastal farms can fill the gaps.
“Everyone has a right to high quality food.”
Afterwards, Danna Stroud, Regional Community-Based Solutions (CBS) Manager in Central California for the California Community & Place-Based Solutions (CPBS) Team within the Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz) joined us to talk about the State’s vision for California Jobs First’s “Regional Investment Initiative” (formerly CERF): “The goal of this $600 million state program is to ensure that as California’s economy grows and adapts to climate change and other challenges, good-paying jobs and prosperous communities are created for the benefit of all Californians.”
“Key to the program is empowering the diverse communities to meaningfully participate as leaders in this process.”
While Collaborative members prepared for the final activity of the gathering, the Project Matchmaking Fair, the Voting Member Block and Sector Tables got together to discuss cross-collaboration and incentivizing regional collaboration. Day 2 ended with the Project Matchmaking Fair, where folks shared their project proposals and got connected with important partnerships as well as receive constructive feedback.
With dozens of projects shared, it’s amazing to see the drive for positive change within our community! If you haven’t submitted your project idea in our Project Directory yet, you can do so here. Your submission serves as a “letter of intent” and will invite a regional project workshopping process.
