By Jennifer Ong
This year, I had the privilege of supporting our chapter's needs as the chair of the David Brower Dinner gala. This is the one large fundraiser a year that our chapter hosts to raise funds critical for political advocacy work. These funds are not tax deductible, which makes fundraising an absolute challenge.
One of our goals, a change from previous years, was to utilize as little of the staff's time (which was already stretched fulfilling their roles in the chapter) to plan the gala. A call for volunteer members was placed and I am happy to share that this year, besides raising the funds we needed, we also reduced our staff time and costs by over $10,000 and all other expenses by at least $7,000 compared to previous years. I have volunteered in many organizations for over 30 years and I can tell you that our Bay Chapter members are doers. Their actions were the only way we were able to make the gala thrive, with members’ joint efforts driving the planning and implementation of the entire event.
From our beautiful location and service team at Delancey Street in San Francisco, to our key Chapter staff Minda Berbeco and Matt Bielby coordinating event planning and sponsorship outreach respectively — alongside volunteers Jared Flamm, Manasa Boriah, past chair Becky Evans, and Executive Committee members Gabe Quinto, John Rizzo, and chair Igor Tregub — our Gala was a success because of exactly what the Sierra Club was built upon: the sweat and hard work of its member volunteers.
Thanks also to:
Janet Brazil's background in event planning and outreach.
Sarah Brinker and Zoe Westbrook doing volunteer recruitment.
Penn Scobble and Dawna Knapp’s volunteer-coordinator experience helped guide volunteers Amy Hansen, Barry Hermanson, Gayle Eads, Isabella Mariani, John Romankiewicz, Juliana Lough, Laurie Kara, Linda Winer, Lisa Park, Margy Tuck, Rita Watson, Sandra Ahn, Sue Potter, Sue Vaughan, Stesha Marcon, Tom O'Keefe, Toni Wise and our very own membership outreach manager Melanie Jolly at check-in
During the reception, our ambassadors Ashley McClure and Hans Moore welcomed our guests and learned about our guests' interests in Sierra Club.
The beautiful photos we shared with you were courtesy of volunteer professional photographer, Jane Richey (see them all on Facebook here!). Jane painstakingly edited the photos, coordinated the names of the attendees with our volunteer assistants Heather Newbold and Tom Cushna, met with Delancey Street staff prior to the event and donated her resources to ensure she captured the special moments of the evening. Check out Jane's photos at http://www.janerichey.com and definitely consider hiring her for your next event. She comes highly recommended!
Communications manager Virginia Reinhart, along with our chapter intern Ally Sung-Jereczek, brought the entire program together to share videos and photos on our social media. The list is even longer than this because every single member who helped promote, sponsor, and buy the ticket to our gala was part of this entire volunteer effort. Thank you again for a very successful gala.
A special mention to our newest Executive Committee leader
If you appreciated the whimsical artwork promoting our gala, please thank our newly appointed Executive Committee At-Large Member, Laura Einowski. Laura utilized her expertise in art, graphics, and color to update the design, promotional flyers, and program layout for the gala. This is very time-intensive, taking days and hours of volunteer time from Laura's busy professional, recreational, and many other volunteer commitments.
Besides serving as our secretary, Laura raised over $1,000 for the Sierra Club with her first annual Team Sierra hike. She also backpacks while promoting Madera Hammocks, performs necropsies of various sea wildlife for archival collection, and is working towards completing her Sierra Club hike leader training. Laura, along with her husband Kirby, are currently working on a goal to backpack to every National Park in the US, with 15 of the parks already checked off the list and 20 by the end of 2018. They are well on their way. We appreciate Laura for stepping up, delivering her special skills and always keeping on schedule with deadlines even with so many priorities.
Angela Glover Blackwell accepts award
Angela Glover Blackwell was one of the recipients of the Trailblazer Award. Ms. Blackwell was unable to join us for the Gala.
Ms. Blackwell is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of PolicyLink. PolicyLink has gained national prominence in using public policy to improve access and opportunity for all low-income people and communities of color, particularly in the areas of health, housing, transportation, and infrastructure. PolicyLink relies on the wisdom, voice, and experience of local residents and organizations. Their findings and analyses through publications, website and online tools, convenings, national summits, and in briefings with national and local policymakers is grounded in the conviction that equity must drive all policy decisions. Under Angela’s leadership, PolicyLink has connected the work of people on the ground to the creation of sustainable communities of opportunity that allow everyone to participate and prosper.
Ms. Ramona Wilson accepted the award on behalf of Ms. Blackwell.
Photos top to bottom (all by Jane Richey): Tom Ammiano and Jennifer Ong; Mollie Hazen, Gabriel Quinto, Rochelle Pardue-Okimoto, Jane Kim,Rebecca Saltzman, Rebecca Saltzman, Rafael Mandelman and Matt Haney; Becky Evans and Igor Tregub; Laura Einowski; Angela Glover Blackwell with her award.