“Sprog Perspectives” Sierra Club’s Grassroots Activist Training Program
Three young people from Riverside, Maro Kakoussian, Opamago Agyemang and Jasmine Kavesade, attended the Southwest Sprog training in August, 2013. The San Gorgonio Chapter sponsored them. At our chapter meeting February 4th, they will tell us about the intensive seven-day experience, what they learned and what they will do with their new organizing skills. Assisting them will be chapter Political Chair Jono Hildner from Palm Desert.
The meeting begins at 7:30 PM at the San Bernardino County Museum, 2024 Orange Tree Lane, Redlands.
Sprog – short for “summer program”– is the training for organizers conducted by the Sierra Student Coalition (SSC), the Sierra Club’s organization for young people. Sprog is intended for youth from high school age through young adulthood. It is an intensive seven-day session that gives young activists the tools they need to launch and lead winning campaigns for change, gets them connected to supportive networks, and develops their potential as leaders.
The young people sent by the San Gorgonio Chapter say, “Sprog was indeed a life changer for the three of us.” The Southwest Sprog in August 2013 was held at Camp Oliver in the mountains 40 miles east of San Diego. Each summer regional Sprogs are held at several locations across the country.
Jasmine is completing work at UC Riverside for a bachelor’s degree majoring in psychology and minoring in environmental science. She is co-president of Sustainable UCR, one of the largest environmental groups on campus, and sits on two committees for the UCR Green Campus Action Plan. After graduation she plans to be an environmental community organizer in the Inland Empire. She says that growing up in the Inland Empire she has always had an affinity for nature. “…I find solace and have a deep sense of protection for this planet and that's why I would like to start organizing and eventually start my own organization involving sustainability, particularly around stopping pollution.”
Opamago has been an activist for seven years. He moved to Riverside two years ago from Ithaca, New York. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science with a minor in philosophy. Opamago works with Jasmine and Sierra Club organizer Allen Hernandez on “My Generation” the Sierra Club’s Southern California campaign promoting rooftop solar power and other clean energy strategies.
Jono Hildner is a retired Human Services Administrator from Clackamas County, Oregon. He served twice as Oregon State Health Division Director. He is a long-time hiker and whitewater rafter now living in Palm Desert. Political Chair of the Tahquitz Group and the San Gorgonio Chapter, he has been active in the Sierra Club for the past six years. Jono ran the successful “Save Our Mountains” campaign to stop a massive resort development on the alluvial fan below the Palm Springs Arial Tram in Chino Canyon.
