AmeriCorps Pledge
I will get things done for America - to make our people safer, smarter, and healthier.
I will bring Americans together to strengthen our communities.
Faced with apathy, I will take action.
Faced with conflict, I will seek common ground.
Faced with adversity, I will persevere.
I will carry this commitment with me this year and beyond.
I am an AmeriCorps member and I will get things done.
Fellows across the state served communities for AmeriCorps Week, March 11th - 17th, from organizing a school library to a beach clean-up with the Surfrider Foundation. Our Fellows are dedicated to making a difference in their communities!
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The Bay Area and North Coast Fellows provided service for the Hoover Elementary School in West Oakland. In order to best serve Hoover Elementary, they worked concurrently on organizing the library, weeding and laying mulch in the community garden, and engaging with 3rd- and 5th-grade through garden education classes.
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The Central Inland regional cohort spent the day planting native plants at Cordova Creek. Cordova Creek is a 1-yr old naturalization project in Rancho Cordova that brings together an organic farm, a naturalized riparian zone, and an elderberry restoration site while also providing an accessible outdoor space for the community.
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Central Coast Fellows volunteered at the 24th annual SLO International Film Festival. They helped set up and staff the Festival's award celebration, which was attended by over 200 people. Other Fellows volunteered at Central Coast's 10th annual Tour of Paso Bike Ride, which benefits the Cancer Support Community.
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In the Inland Empire and Los Angeles County, Fellows served alongside community members at an organic farm in Ontario, Huerta del Valle, and at the Holy Nativity Community Garden in South Los Angeles. In Ventura, Fellows served with the Surfrider Foundation for a beach clean-up while West LA Fellows focused on a restoration project in the Ballona Creek with Heal the Bay.
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Community Outreach and Engagement in Fremont
Chelsea Marcell has dedicated the majority of her service year to conducting community outreach and engagement for the
Fremont Green Challenge
, the City's community climate action platform. With the goal of signing up households to the Challenge and encouraging users to adopt more sustainable lifestyle practices, Chelsea has enjoyed merging creativity, communications, and inspiring environmental action. She's produced monthly newsletters, weekly social media posts, organized a youth sustainability dinner, and presented to and connected with multiple local stakeholder groups. She recently launched her volunteer engagement project that empowers environmentally-conscious local youth by offering students service learning hours, City recognition, and fun prizes in exchange for engaging residents on the importance of climate action and signing up households to the Challenge. So far, 62 students have signed up over 350 households to the platform.
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Energy in San Luis Obispo
Nicolette Jolicoeur is working with the
County of San Luis Obispo's Energy Section
housed in the Planning and Building Department. She is working on several projects, one of which focuses on benchmarking the energy use of the seven cities in the county. This process included six months of quality controlling over 500 properties and preparing in-depth reports, and will culminate in presentations to the cities. She also completed monitoring reports that will be compiled into the biennial update to the County's EnergyWise Plan. Additionally, she is supporting the implementation of the SLO Green Challenge, a community-wide sustainability website. Nicolette hopes that her and her co-fellow Maddy's work will lay the foundation for future Fellows and employees to create a lasting impact on the department and the community even when her term is over.
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Water Education in Los Angeles
Ryanna Fossum is working with
Water Education for Latino Leaders (WELL)
in Los Angeles. WELL is a non-profit charged with providing a forum to educate elected officials on complex water issues. The focus on Ryanna's project has been to coordinate WELL's many events and programs, including a year-long fellowship program for City Council Members and Mayors called 'UnTapped.' The UnTapped fellows meet once a month to explore the history, governance, public policy, geography and economics of water. Through the UnTapped fellowship, Ryanna has been able to research critical water issues in California, including barriers to accessing clean and affordable water. This month, she will strengthen WELL's work by coordinating the annual conference being held in Sacramento. The conference will highlight extreme weather events and the importance of community preparation, reaching an even wider arena of local Latino leaders.
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Question of the Month
:
"In celebration of AmeriCorps Week, how has serving others through AmeriCorps impacted you?"
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Hannah Braun | Bay Area Region
"One of the greatest rewards of my CivicSpark AmeriCorps Fellowship is developing trust and a connection with the community that I serve. I knew that being placed with a local government agency would involve some engagement with the community, which is something that I am passionate about. I love that through this program, I am able to not only make a positive impact in the community that I serve but also on other communities with my CivicSpark cohort. The work we have done so far has further reaffirmed my passion to help others and make the world a better place. It has made such a big difference on me, and I am looking forward to the rest of the service year!"
Hannah Braun graduated from the University of California, Santa Cruz, where she pursued a degree in Environmental Studies. While in Santa Cruz, she interned with the Coastal Watershed Council, a non-profit that aims to create a connection with the watershed and the communities that live in it. Her love of water really started to brew during her time with the CWC. She looks forward to this service year and hopes to gain invaluable experience working with the Alameda County Water District on water use efficiency target analysis projects.
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Annabel Drayton | Greater Los Angeles Region
"Service in an integral part of my physical, professional, and spiritual life. Having the opportunity to build service into my work allows me the space to offer my time, when needed, without losing my balance. The chance to serve through AmeriCorps has been deeply impactful for me. I hope the communities and ecosystems I interact with will somehow benefit from at least a fraction of that impact."
Annabel Drayton was raised in Pennsylvania and graduated from Penn State with a degree in Anthropology and Sustainability Leadership. During her time as a student, she spent several months traveling and studying in South East Asia and hiking in various locations across the United States. Annabel is particularly interested in how humans impact the environment. She has spent the past year conducting research and writing a thesis on how to incentivize sustainable consumer behavior. As a CivicSpark Climate Fellow, she hopes to learn how policy is used to support climate change mitigation efforts and how cross-sector collaborations can work to help communities adapt to the current climate crisis.
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Clarke Stevenson, 2017-18 Climate Fellow - Central Inland Region
"...we need more workforce development programs that train for community organizers, policy analysts, grant writers - i.e. all the other sectors that administer, regulate and finance the state towards an ecologically-centered community."...
Colgan Powell, 2017-18 Climate Fellow - Bay Area Region
"These are NOT long-term issues to be addressed for the distant future. Climate change and its impact is NOW. This fire, massively fueled by climate change, was not science fiction. It is not tomorrow's world. It is today's. More will happen. We cannot say it was a one off fire. How do we plan thoughtfully and creatively to live, to survive cooperatively in a fire ecology?"...
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Zachary Farrell, 2017-18 Climate Fellow - Central Inland Region
"
My fellow panelists and I spoke on issues that inspired us to work in the field, as well as advice for the established leaders in the room on technology, recruitment, and organizational changes to get more involvement. It was really incredible to hear my experience and perspectives so highly valued and validated as this.
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Linda Vo, 2017-18 Water Fellow - Bay Area Region
"Mr. Tang speaks about how water inspired him to have humility, find harmony, and to be more open in his life. In a world that is constantly on the go and filled with stress, Mr. Tang states that his life improved greatly after adopting such practices based on the philosophy of water."...
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CivicSpark is Recruiting Project Partners!
CivicSpark
, a Governor's Initiative AmeriCorps program, is now accepting project applications for the 2018-19 Service Year! The program is offering three thematic tracks: Climate (50 openings), Water (20 openings), and a new Opportunity Access track (20 openings) that will focus on affordable housing, alternative transportation, and rural broadband.
May 1
st
-
Second priority deadline
Fellows will begin serving on projects mid-September 2018
If you are a local or state public agency, school or university, or a nonprofit and are interested in learning more about the program and having a Fellow support your agency’s work, register for one of our upcoming informational webinars. You can find more program details, including pricing and timing,
on our website
.
Become a CivicSpark Fellow!
CivicSpark Fellow Applications for the 2018-19 Service Year will open April 2, 2018! If you are interested in learning more about the program, our three tracks (Climate, Water, and Opportunity Access), and the recruitment and interview process, sign up today for one of our informational
webinars
.
Thursday, March 29: 3 – 4 PM PDT
Tuesday, April 10: 4 – 5 PM PDT
Friday, May 4: 9:30 – 10:30 AM PDT
Monday, May 21: 3-4 PM PDT
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Innovation & Impact Symposium 2018
Thursday,
May 31st, 2018 | 8:00 am - 7:00 pm | San Jose, CA
Join the Innovation & Impact Symposium! Located at City Hall in San Jose, CA, the event will feature the latest developments in Advanced Mobility, Energy, and the Built Environment. The region's leaders from the startup, corporate, public and research communities will discuss what it takes to implement these ideas for maximum impact. Featuring a Keynote Presentation by the Mayor of San Jose, Sam Liccardo!
Presented by
ProspectSV
, Silicon Valley's leading non-profit innovation hub.
Purchase your tickets by clicking
here
.
Save 30% off the ticket price by using the event code: lgc_comp
*Special rates available for government, nonprofit and education organizations.
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9th Annual
Statewide Energy Efficiency Forum
June 20-21, 2018 | Sacramento, CA
The Local Government Commission, in partnership with the Statewide Energy Efficiency Collaborative, is hosting the 9th Annual Statewide Energy Efficiency Forum (SEEC Forum). The SEEC Forum aims to provide learning, sharing, and networking opportunities to help local governments save energy, reduce greenhouse gas emissions in their communities, and catalyze climate action. The forum will feature engaging sessions, expert plenaries and keynotes, and new innovative activities to help energy leaders and practitioners connect to learn about innovative projects and strategies, share best practices, and troubleshoot challenges.
The SEEC Forum is offered at no-cost to California local government staff and officials.
Call for proposals is now open! Submit a session or poster proposal by April 9th! Click
here
to learn more.
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3rd California Adaptation Forum
August 27-29, 2018 | Sacramento, CA
Save the dates! The Local Government Commission invites you to join us for the 3rd California Adaptation Forum!
The biennial California Adaptation Forum gathers the adaptation community to foster knowledge exchange, innovation, and mutual support to create resilient communities throughout the state. The Forum offers a series of engaging plenaries, sessions, networking opportunities, workshops, and tours to support our transition from adaptation awareness and planning to action.
Click
here
for more information.
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CivicSpark is a Governor's Initiative AmeriCorps program implemented by the Local Government Commission in partnership with the Governor's Office of Planning and Research. Each year, 70 Fellows are placed across California in regional hubs to implement targeted projects that build capacity for local government agencies to better address climate change and water resource management issues.
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