Discussion theme: Enhancing Wildfire Mitigation in California
The worsening drought, heatwaves, and wildfires in California will require urgent and coordinated efforts from the philanthropic sector to support community response, recovery, and long-term resilience. Philanthropy California invites funders who are currently responding or looking to respond to our current natural hazard crises to participate in our monthly funders discussion that addresses immediate and emergent community challenges, as well as opportunities to build climate and disaster resilience.
About this meeting
Governor Newsom has recently signed into law an unprecedented $15 billion climate package over the next three years "to combat the climate crisis, tackle catastrophic wildfires and help build a resilient California of the future." Investments from the climate package will build wildfire resilience, address drought impacts and bolster water resilience, protect vulnerable communities from climate risks, advance the state’s zero emission vehicle goals, promote climate smart agriculture, and support the circular economy.
$1.5 billion is allocated to enhance wildfire and forest resilience.
Join our featured speakers to discuss what this budget entails and where philanthropy can be most impactful, including private-public partnership opportunities on:
- Resilient forests and landscapes
- Community hardening
- Economic development for the forest sector
Funders are encouraged to ask questions and share their ideas for collaboration with each other and with speakers.
Speakers
Kathleen Kelly Janus, Senior Advisor, Office of Governor Gavin Newsom
Kathleen Kelly Janus is the Senior Advisor on Social Innovation to Governor Gavin Newsom. As a social entrepreneur, author, and lecturer at Stanford University’s Program on Social Entrepreneurship, she is an expert on philanthropy, millennial engagement, and scaling early-stage organizations. Her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Huffington Post, Fast Company, Quartz, Chronicle of Philanthropy, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Tech Crunch, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Her book – Social Startup Success: How the Best Nonprofits Launch, Scale Up and Make a Difference – is a playbook for nonprofit organizations based on a five-year research project interviewing hundreds of top-performing social innovators.
An attorney, Kathleen has spearheaded numerous social justice initiatives. Kathleen is a co-founder of Spark – a network of over 10,000 millennial donors – which seeks to advance gender equality by engaging the next generation in accessible forms of philanthropy. As a teaching fellow at Stanford Law School, Kathleen helped launch and direct Stanford Law School’s international human rights clinics in Namibia and South Africa. She has also served as pro bono counsel at Covington and Burling and a litigation associate at Thelen Reid & Priest.
A graduate of Berkeley Law School, Kathleen also graduated with the highest honors from U.C. Berkeley. She lives in San Francisco with her husband Ted. Kathleen is a certified yoga instructor, which comes in handy when juggling their three young children.
Jessica Morse, Deputy Secretary for Forest and Wildland Resilience, California Natural Resources Agency
Jessica Morse joined the California Natural Resources Agency in April 2019. As the Deputy Secretary for Forest and Wildland Resilience, she is working to increase the pace and scale of science-based forest management to restore healthy forests, improve watershed health, protect California's unique ecosystems and make Californians wildfire resilient. Before joining Governor Newsom's administration, Jessica spent nearly ten years in National Security working for the Defense Department, State Department, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. Her assignments included a year and a half in Iraq and tours in India, Myanmar, and US Pacific Command. In 2018, Morse ran for U.S. Congress in California's 4th Congressional District in the Sierra Nevada region. Jessica is a fifth generation Northern Californian. She and her family still own and manage their original homestead forestland in the Sierra foothills. An avid backpacker, Jessica has hiked over 500 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. Jessica holds a Masters of Public Affairs from Princeton University and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from Principia College.
Target Audience
This program is open to Funders only (members and nonmembers).
