When Cherise Orange took a job as a Planner with Santa Clara County’s Parks and Recreation Department in 2016, she knew that she would be working with vastly different populations from those she was used to in her previous life as a military planner. “Transitioning to the County … I had a huge learning curve...
On January 8, we kicked off our 9th annual Leadership Program cohort, a group of 22 community members who want to learn how to become more effective agents of change. Participants meet monthly to learn how to prepare and plan an environmental advocacy campaign for a local cause. Upon completing the program in August, the...
Chris Sturken applied to the Green Foothills Leadership Academy at the recommendation of his cousin, Andrea Savage (class of 2014). “It was right up my alley,” says Chris (class of 2017) who was taking a grassroots organizing course as an Environmental Studies major at San Francisco State. “I was excited and ready to soak up...
From climate resiliency teams in North Fair Oaks to the protection of Juristac, the 2021 Leadership Academy cohort shined in their efforts to create environmental protection campaign plans through a racial equity lens. As part of the training program, participants formed 5 separate workgroups around these current issues: Establishing Climate Resiliency Block Action Teams in...
The daughter of Mexican-born immigrants, Ofelia Bello knew at a young age that she wanted to make an impact through community organizing. She studied Urban Planning and achieved early career success as a regional housing policy analyst. But she felt that the work she was doing was too disconnected from her home and her community....
After a long career at the Environmental Protection Agency, Kathleen Goforth had a 35-year backlog of personal projects to do. Yet, she decided to add one more to her list: she applied to Green Foothills’ Leadership Academy. “I was just starting to consider retiring and thought it would kick-start my thinking about what I might...
Kyra Brown had been working at Youth United for Community Action (YUCA), a social justice and environmental justice organization, when her supervisor suggested Green Foothills’ Community Advocates Leadership Academy. “Oh, hey look. Is this something you’re interested in?” she quotes. “I had never heard of the program, but when I saw the words ‘community advocates,’...
Author: David Simon “You don’t just gain knowledge; you gain wisdom,” says Ray Larios of his experience in the 2020 Community Advocates Leadership Academy (CALA) cohort. Before applying to CALA, Ray was getting settled in his role with the Citizens Advisory Committee for Peninsula Clean Energy, and he thought CALA would be a good fit...
A self-described “worker bee,” Cheryl has a vision for getting across the climate protection finish line through small but mighty local actions. The advocacy skills Cheryl learned through the Leadership Academy in 2017 – including speaking to elected officials, creating coalitions, mentoring others to advocate – have been instrumental in her success so far.
Experiencing the rich diversity of views in her Leadership Academy cohort and learning about the importance of relationships in advocacy taught Kat how vital coalitions are. Since graduating from the Leadership Academy in 2018, she has done plenty of civic work as a community member and as a paid professional.
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