Smart Growth California

SGC Funder Summit Detailed Agenda

DETAILED AGENDA 

PRE-SUMMIT: MONDAY, MARCH 4

6:30 pm    Smart Growth CA Pre-Conference Dinner (Centro Cocina Mexicana 2730 J St.)

 

DAY 1: TUESDAY, MARCH 5

(Sierra Health Foundation, 1321 Garden Hwy., Sacramento)

8:00 am      Breakfast and Networking (Breakfast @ hotel; coffee/light fare @ SHF)

9:00 am     Welcome, Land Acknowledgement and Introductions

  • Christine Tien, The California Endowment and Mark Valentine, ReFrameIt Consulting, Funder Summit Planning Committee 
  • Ron Milam, Director, Smart Growth California/The Funders Network
  • Dion Cartwright, President and CEO, The Funders Network  

9:30 am      Panel: The Climate is Speaking. What’s our Answer? 

Storms, wildfires and weather extremes serve as an ongoing reminder of the dire need to cut carbon emissions warming our planet. For the last decade-plus, regions have been tightening their carbon belts under the state’s greenhouse gas reduction laws. But is the pace fast enough? With the hardest lift ahead, some observers say regions simply can’t bring down their carbon emissions enough without dramatic, and politically unpopular, policies such as state control of land use. So what’s the plan? And how will our most vulnerable communities be impacted? Join us for a conversation with some of California’s leading climate experts and advocates for a Q+A on the pathway forward.

  • Susan Handy, Prof. Environmental Science & Policy, UC Davis 
  • Veronica Garibay,  Co-Founder, Co-Executive Director, Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability. 
  • James Corless, Executive Director, Sacto Area Councils of Government
  • Chanell Fletcher, Deputy Executive Officer of Equity, Communities & Environmental Justice  CA Air Resources Board
  • Nailah Pope-Harden, Executive Director, ClimatePlan (moderator)

10:30 am    Welcome from from Mayor Darrell Steinberg, Sacramento, with remarks by Kaying Hang, President, The Center at Sierra Health Foundation 

11:00 am    Break

11:15 am    Highways Are Still Growing – Who’s Paying the Price?

The destruction wrought by highways in the mid-20th Century fell mostly on the backs of BIPOC communities whose neighborhoods were torn apart in the name of progress. Today, highway expansions continue to disproportionately impact people of color, despite an emerging set of state policies making that practice harder and harder. Whether it’s in Fresno, San Bernardino or elsewhere in California, many regional leaders still view highway expansion as a must for “economic development,”  regardless of the health impact on frontline communities. Join us to hear from the state’s leading experts in strategies to roll back highway expansions, and from advocates who are working to shift who pays the cost of highways.

  • Jeanie Ward-Waller, Dir. Transportation Advocacy, Fearless Advocacy, Inc.
  • Darwin Moosavi, Deputy Secretary, Environmental Policy and Housing Coordination, CA State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) 
  • Hana Creger, Climate Equity Senior Program Manager, Greenlining 
  • Stuart Cohen, Senior Policy Advisor, Resources Legacy Fund (moderator)

12:15 pm   Lunch

Since its founding, Smart Growth California has partnered with ClimatePlan, a statewide coalition of advocates for equitable environmental policies.  ClimatePlan’s leadership will join us to share their knowledge and experiences at lunch. 

1:00 pm     Keynote: The Honorable Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, with welcome from Sierra Health Foundation President Chet Hewitt

2:00 pm     Grounding in Place: Sacramento 

  • Artist Interlude/Video, Sacramento 
  • Comments from Kerry Wood, Executive Director, Sacramento Region Community Foundation and Christine Tien, Senior Program Manager, The California Endowment

2:10 pm     Power Building for Sustainable Communities

This panel will explore capacity-building initiatives that offer models for creating and sharing power. Join us to learn about the Fund for an Inclusive California, where funding decisions are made jointly by grantees and funders; we’ll also learn about a grassroots policy effort, IHHEEL, that takes funding direction from a council of residents and advocates, led by the Sierra Health Fund in Fresno, plus other models. 

  • Bryan Osorio, Program Officer, Sierra Health Foundation
  • Jazmin Segura, Director, Fund for an Inclusive California, Common Counsel Foundation 
  • Gisele Fong, Program Manager, The California Endowment 

3:10 pm     Networking / Walking Break

3:40 pm     Lightning Talk: CA Budget Briefing 

Money is an expression of values. As state legislators scramble to fill a $38 billion budget gap, join us for a tailored briefing on where negotiations stand and what programs are at risk.

  • Chris Hoene, Executive Director, California Budget & Policy Center
  • Dave Weiskopf, Senior Policy Advisor, NextGen Policy Center

4:10 pm      Empowering Communities Through Land 

From San Francisco to San Bernardino, Visalia to Humboldt, a growing number of funders are supporting efforts to put control of land back in the hands of community members. Whether it’s community land trusts, agricultural coops or other models, these projects represent an effort to empower community groups to take some control over their destinies by acquiring tangible assets in the form of land or buildings. Join us for a conversation about what funders, and practitioners, are learning in the growing equitable land movement.

5:00 pm      Closing Reflection / Announcements 

5:15 pm      Adjourn

6:15 pm      Reception @ Mulvaney’s Building & Loan (1215 19th St.)

7:00 pm      Dinner @ Mulvaney’s Building & Loan (1215 19th St.)

We’ll have networking, conversation and great local food. This will also be an opportunity for funders active in various Smart Growth California and TFN groups to reconnect, including TFN PLACES alum, and funders active in Smart Growth California Working Groups including the Statewide Steering Committee, San Joaquin Valley Funders Collaborative, Los Angeles Funders’ Collaborative, Climate Funders’ Collaborative (Baja/Imperial/San Diego Region), Rural Urban Interface Learning Group

                     

DAY 2: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6

(The California Endowment, 1414 K St., Suite 500)

8:00 am     Breakfast

9:00 am     Welcome & Opening Comments

9:15 am     How to Show Up in a Moment of Massive Money: Pulling Down the Funds 

There is both excitement and anxiety about how to ensure frontline communities receive their fair share of the historic infrastructure funding from the programs such as the IIJA. This session will highlight examples of examples of how funders and NGOs have successfully leveraged this funding – and lessons they are learning.

10:15 am    Public Sector Partner Check-in 

Creating ways to communicate and collaborate with government partners is an essential part of funders’ approach to  equitable implementation of public funding.  Join us for a dialogue with key leaders.

10:35 am     Breakout Groups + Insight Sharing

11:00 am     Break / Short Walk

11:15 am     Building Capacity for the Long Haul

All the money in the world doesn’t help if people, and communities, can’t absorb it. This panel will highlight examples of how funders are building the capacity of networks to leverage and implement government funding opportunities, especially for frontline communities. We’ll hear the latest on the Community Economic Mobilization Initiative (CEMI,) the only capacity-building initiative of its kind, and have a conversation about EJ Ready, an initiative of Liberty Hill and Resources Legacy Fund to equip organizations to leverage the federal Justice 40 initiative. 

  • Kendra Lewis, Managing Director of Community and Economic Development, Sierra Health Foundation 
  • Angelo Logan, Senior Director, Environmental and Climate Justice, Liberty Hill Foundation 
  • Max Vargas, Vice President of Economic Justice, Latino Community Foundation 

12:15 pm    Networking Lunch: Integrating Issues + Synthesizing Learning 

1:15 pm      Closing Reflections / Action Steps / Moving Forward

Our final session will provide a space to prioritize action steps and shape the activities of Smart Growth California for the year ahead. 

2:00 pm     Adjourn / Informal Networking over Snacks