Greetings! You are enthusiastically invited to a gathering of people and organizations in the Bay Area that are working to empower teens and young adults.
The Bay Area has more organizations devoted to empowering young adults than anywhere in the world, but many of these groups work in relative isolation from one another – resulting in overlapping and redundant efforts, and a sense of fragmentation.
What would it be like if we could identify all of the groups doing this work in our region, if we could work together to maximize our impact, and if descriptions of our work were easily available to anyone who is interested?
We are Ohana – a group of 9 second-year student activists working through LEAPNOW (www.leapnow.org). One of our goals for our second year together is to create a project that has the potential to change the world. We have been empowering ourselves proactively over the past two years, and wish to make pathways to empowerment available to all young adults, regardless of resources or means.
To activate a Bay Area network, we are inviting you and other organizations committed to youth to our Sonoma County campus for the simple purposes of:
· Getting to know each other
· Learning who our natural allies are, and what groups share common purposes and missions. Remembering that we are not alone.
· Brainstorming ways that we may be able to create a useful network that could support all of our efforts.
· Using our collective wisdom to generate effective action in our region
We are inspired to learn about your organization and your mission and feel eager to connect and learn more. Though we now are all part of diverse global virtual networks, we feel that real change is much more likely to happen when we who share common purposes can meet and connect in person.
The day is planned to be simple with a full group meeting, separate meetings for organizations and youth, then time together to harvest good ideas, and think about ways for our group to move the creation of a network forward for the benefit of all.
Date: Friday, November 20th Time: 10 AM – 4 PM
Location: LEAPNOW Maacama Campus: 11640 Highway 128, Calistoga, CA 94515
We are located ~2 hours from downtown San Francisco, just outside of Santa Rosa in rural wine country.
We’d like to invite you to attend this event with at least one member of your staff, as well as one young adult (~ age 17-24) who is actively involved with your work. This reflects our commitment to involving youth from the very start. Please feel free to share this invitation with other organizations in your existing networks.
To attend, all you have to do is RSVP with an email to [email protected] telling us who is coming, then show up and bring information about your organization. We’ll provide a beautiful, organic lunch for everyone.
We hope and envision that this gathering will be the first of many regular gatherings for networking, support and forwarding the cause of awakening the power and vision that is latent within young adults in the Bay Area. We are excited to meet you later this month! Warmly yours,
Ohana: Trevor McGinnis, Sarah Falk, Lyndsay Culver, Pip Butterfield, Camille Lauer, Isabelle Evans,
Isabel Enns, Daria Bennett, and Meghan Garvey.
& Sam & Cassie Bull, Directors of LEAPNOW: Transforming Education.
This event is also inspired by and sponsored by Warrior Films & Youth Passageways.