October 5, 2026 | Issue #38 | | Support of the Monday Morning Update | | For 2026 please consider a donation to help support delivery of the Monday Morning Update to your email every week by 5:30 am. Our distribution of this update is over 12,000 and growing. Your consideration is greatly appreciated. Thank you! | | R&R Network and Thriving Families CA Foundation 2026 Joint Annual Conference | | |
The Conference Starts This Wednesday!
We’re excited to welcome all to the 14th Annual Joint Conference this week, October 7–9, 2026, at the DoubleTree Hotel in Sacramento.
This year marks our return to a 100% in-person conference—bringing our network back together to learn, collaborate, and strengthen the partnerships that support children, families, and communities throughout the state. Attendees can look forward to inspiring keynote speakers, engaging workshops, networking opportunities, an exhibitor marketplace, and plenty of chances to reconnect with colleagues old and new.
We can’t wait to see you in Sacramento and look forward to an incredible few days of learning, connection, and impact!
Thank you, Conference Partners for your Generous Support!
We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the generous sponsors and exhibitors who helped make this year’s conference possible. Because of your commitment, we are able to provide high-quality sessions, valuable networking opportunities, and meaningful experiences for all participants.
Thank you for investing in our vision and helping us make this conference a success!
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How CAPK's Food Bank Distributes Up to 2 Million Pounds of Food a Month
Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK) works across Kern County to address poverty and strengthen communities through direct services and partnerships. Led by Kelly Lowry, CAPK's Food Bank works through a network of more than 150 partner sites to address food insecurity throughout the region. Each month, the program distributes approximately 1.5 to 2 million pounds of food and assists an average of 158,000 people.
This past month, CAPK marked Hunger Action Month with a series of community events, including the Feed the Need food drive at the Kern County Fair, which collected 23,313 pounds of food on September 29. Watch the kickoff press conference, where partners, community leaders, and residents from across the county gathered at the CAPK Food Bank to launch the month.
| | Click the video above to watch the interview with Kelly Lowry, Program Administrator. | |
Listening Has to Change Something
by Denyne Micheletti, CEO
Over the last couple of weeks, I have written about being willing to “kill our own ideas” and about having the conversations that challenge us.
There is a natural next question:
What happens after we listen?
We talk a lot about the importance of listening. We convene workgroups. We hold stakeholder meetings. We ask for feedback. We survey people. We create opportunities for people to share their experiences and perspectives.
All of that matters.
But listening only has value if we are willing to let what we hear influence what happens next.
There is a difference between hearing someone and being changed by what they say.
Sometimes we enter a conversation believing we are listening, when what we are really doing is waiting for our opportunity to explain why the path we have already chosen is the right one.
Sometimes we ask for input after the important decisions have effectively been made.
And sometimes we hear concerns, acknowledge them, thank people for sharing them—and then continue exactly as planned.
That may be engagement. But I am not sure it is listening.
Real listening carries some risk.
It means entering a conversation without knowing exactly where you will end up. It means being willing to modify the plan, reconsider the timeline, ask another question, or acknowledge that someone closer to the work sees something we missed.
It doesn't mean every suggestion becomes the answer. It doesn't mean consensus is required. And it certainly doesn't mean leadership stops making difficult decisions.
It means people should be able to see how their participation mattered.
Maybe their input changed the decision.
Maybe it changed how the decision was implemented.
Maybe it surfaced an unintended consequence that needed to be addressed.
Or maybe the ultimate decision stayed the same—but the conversation helped everyone better understand why.
All of those can be meaningful outcomes.
As we think about modernizing systems that have been built over decades, this distinction becomes especially important. The people closest to the work often see things that aren't visible from a conference room, a spreadsheet, or a policy document. Their experience isn't something to collect at the end of the process. It is information we need while we are building.
So perhaps the measure of a good conversation isn't simply whether everyone had an opportunity to speak.
Maybe the better question is:
What are we willing to do differently because of what we heard?
Because the strongest organizations and systems aren't necessarily the ones that listen the most.
They are the ones willing to let listening change them.
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Thank You to Our Generous 2024-25 Thriving Families CA Foundation Champions!
Thank you to the following Champions who stepped up in 2024-25, with funding to enhance our ability to serve the field. These agencies have made it possible for TFC to support our field with more tailored support of individual organizations, ability to pay for legal, advocacy and social media supports, enhanced regional trainings, improving data collection, and more.
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