Theme: Networking
Friday, October 18th
Educators, who, in our eyes, have the world’s most noble and under-appreciated calling, are probably the most well represented profession among Bioneers attendees. Come share your thoughts about how best to equip tomorrow’s citizens and leaders with the tools they will need to radically re-shape our civilization. Facilitated by Yeshe Salz, Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network (BayCAN).
October 18th | 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm | Exhibit Hall
Panelists
Yeshe Salz
Project Manager | Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network
Yeshe Salz, Project Manager for the Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network, is a coalition-builder, facilitator and climate justice advocate working at the nexus of climate resilience, community-driven planning and racial justice. Yeshe has organized with environmental justice organizations across the Bay Area such as PODER and CBE and worked internationally in the fields of indigenous community empowerment, cultural sovereignty and clean water rights.
Calling all permaculturists and permacurious folks! Join us for an interactive session to explore how we can foster deeper connections within and among our bioregions. We’ll have interactive boards to facilitate connections, conversations, and inspirations among the permaculture community and beyond! All are welcome at this networking and bioregional organizing session. Bring your lunch and be ready to meet new people. Hosted by: Melissa Fant, John Valenzuela and David Shaw from Santa Cruz Permaculture.
October 18th | 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm | World Cafe
Panelists
David Shaw
Founder | Santa Cruz Permaculture
David Shaw, a permaculture and whole systems designer, facilitator, and educator, founded Santa Cruz Permaculture and the Right Livelihood College at UC Santa Cruz, a partnership with the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” He supports communities locally and globally to transform their shared future through strategic dialogue and collective action.
Melissa Ott Fant
Founder | Green Gal
Melissa Ott Fant is a writer, organic gardener, baker, and consultant based in Reno, NV. After working in higher education sustainability for years, she apprenticed at the UCSC Farm and received her Permaculture Design Certificate in 2017. Her business, Green Gal, provides marketing services to socially/environmentally conscious businesses, and depending upon the season also offers organic sourdough bread, vegetables, and flowers to the local community.
John Valenzuela
| Cornucopia Food Forest Garden
John Valenzuela, a horticulturist, consultant and educator who focuses on a diversity of productive trees, shrubs, vines and other perennials, growing an “ecosystem of abundance” with his Cornucopia Food Forest Gardens, has taught permaculture for 30 years, from Hawai’i to California, Washington state and Central America. He is actively engaged with the non-profit California Rare Fruit Growers organization.
Saturday, October 19th
Bioneers attracts an amazingly diverse mix of cutting-edge activists working on a broad range of issues around the country and the planet. Come meet fellow agents of change to compare notes and share ideas and visions of the future. Facilitated by Yeshe Salz, Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network (BayCAN).
October 19th | 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm | Exhibit Hall
Panelists
Yeshe Salz
Project Manager | Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network
Yeshe Salz, Project Manager for the Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network, is a coalition-builder, facilitator and climate justice advocate working at the nexus of climate resilience, community-driven planning and racial justice. Yeshe has organized with environmental justice organizations across the Bay Area such as PODER and CBE and worked internationally in the fields of indigenous community empowerment, cultural sovereignty and clean water rights.
What would a queer ecological future feel like, sound like, taste like? Join us for a prideful celebration as we step into that future together. Through an evening of visionary music, art, performance, and community conversation, we will celebrate the biological exuberance of this queer earth, honor the legacies of survival and resilience of our LGBTQ history, explore the impact of climate change on our communities, and dream-up together how we build that queer ecological future where all beings survive and thrive. There will be music, art and refreshments. This will be a safer space for LGBTQ+ members of our Bioneers community to meet and celebrate our identities and our diverse and symbiotic work for justice and sustainability. Allies are welcome. Facilitated by Vanessa Raditz, Orion Camero, Kyle Lemle.
October 19th | 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm | Youth Unity Center
Panelists
Vanessa Raditz
Co-founder | Queer Ecojustice Project
Vanessa Raditz, MPH, a queer farmer, environmental educator, and culture-shifter with an academic background in Environmental Health Sciences, is dedicated to transformative youth programming that supports community healing, opens access to land and resources, and fosters a thriving local culture and economy based on human and ecological resilience. Vanessa co-founded the Queer Ecojustice Project collective, which educates and organizes at the intersection of ecological justice and queer liberation.
Orion Camero
Visual Storytelling Educator
Orion Camero, a queer visual storytelling educator, coalition-builder and community organizer, works at the nexus of social, ecological, and economic issues to advance intersectional justice. A Filipinx two-spirit with roots in California’s Central Valley, Orion is one of the stewards of the California Allegory poster project of the Beehive Design Collective, a global arts activist collective that translates movement stories into pen-and-ink fable murals.
Kyle Lemle
Founder | Lead to Life
Kyle Lemle, an organizer, facilitator and musician, works to catalyze the impact of organizations working at the intersections of environmental justice, forest restoration, and spiritual ecology around the world. A former leader of CA RISE for Climate and SustainUS UN Climate Talks delegate, he is currently Director of Distributed Organizing with GreenFaith. Kyle is also the founder and Co-director of Lead to Life, and the renowned Thrive Choir vocal group.
Come mingle with fellow Bioneers participants to share your thoughts, feelings and impressions of what you’ve seen and heard during the weekend so far, and to get to know some of the other remarkable people who attend the conference. Facilitated by Yeshe Salz, Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network (BayCAN).
October 19th | 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm | Exhibit Hall
Panelists
Yeshe Salz
Project Manager | Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network
Yeshe Salz, Project Manager for the Bay Area Climate Adaptation Network, is a coalition-builder, facilitator and climate justice advocate working at the nexus of climate resilience, community-driven planning and racial justice. Yeshe has organized with environmental justice organizations across the Bay Area such as PODER and CBE and worked internationally in the fields of indigenous community empowerment, cultural sovereignty and clean water rights.
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