Each year we produce a recurring cyclical body of work such as the annual conference, radio series, Cultivating Women’s Leadership trainings and Resilient Communities Network events. In 2015, several landmark accomplishments occurred, as well as new developments for future work in 2016 and beyond.

2015 New Media Products

In 2015, we released a formidable body of new media products developed over the past 3 years.

• 18 New Media Collections. These 18 new themed Media Collections add to the 14 released in 2014, including an audio Collection on Women’s Leadership. See all Media Collections »
• Indigenous Forum Media Collection. Edited from the unique material filmed at the 2013 and 2014 Indigenous Forums, this Collection is designed for the general public, educators and Indigenous communities. Check it out here » 
• California Climate Leadership e-book. Edited from proceedings from the 2014 one-day Bioneers Summit, this short and compelling e-book is designed for educational and organizing purposes to continue to spread the California model nationally and globally. Download your copy »
• Study & Discussion Guides. Our first three Study & Discussion Guides are companions to the Media Collections for use in schools and engaged civic settings: Climate Leadership; Food & Farming; and Indigenous Knowledge. A Women’s Leadership Guide is in production. These highly professional products meet rigorous educational standards for use in multiple contexts including service learning and project-based learning. They are formatted for multiple media including iPads and mobile devices and Skype in the Classroom. We created an education-centric microsite on our website as a repository and connection point for educators and students. In response to many requests, these materials will help disseminate our media and networks through current and new networks. They will engage people in action-oriented relationships in their schools, communities and/or workplaces. We propose to continue to produce these ongoing. See all Study Guides »

2015 Special Events

In 2015 we also produced and/or participated in two important special events.

• California-Netherlands Sustainability Summit. Bioneers co-sponsored a February 2015 event in San Francisco with the Dutch Consulate related to linking California Climate Leadership initiatives with advanced Dutch practices and policies around water and sea-level rise. (The Dutch subsequently signed a climate action pact with California in May 2015.) We then featured Dutch models and speakers at the 2015 Bioneers Conference and in the pre-conference intensive, including the globally renowned Dutch water wizard Henk Ovink. Discussions are underway about a Bioneers Global pan-European event in Amsterdam in partnership with the Dutch Consulate and others.
• California Climate Leadership Summit Intensive II. Building on the highly successful first such intensive in 2014 in collaboration with Tom Hayden, we deepened our engagement with the California Climate Leadership model with a second one-day intensive. We went global in scope with major figures from other nations as well as key national and California government leaders and other national leaders. This work is an evolution of our Resilient Communities program and the Dreaming New Mexico project, building local, national and global resilience networks below the federal level.

2015 Program Breakthroughs

Please see our organizational brochure for a full description of our three core Bioneers programs:

• Changing the Mindscape: Public Education and Media Outreach (includes our annual conference)
• A Community of Leadership: Women, First Peoples and Youth
• Resilience from the Ground Up: Resilient Communities Network (includes Bioneers Global)

All our programs produced significant milestones, breakthroughs and accomplishments in 2015. Following are the most significant.

Youth Leadership Program

• The Youth Leadership program skyrocketed, with nearly 500 youth (ages 13-23) participating in the 2015 conference (20% of all attendees), including about 375 on scholarship. It is the most diverse constituency, with nearly half being youth of color. The past two years have seen a radical spike in requests for scholarships. The surge in youth participation may be the single biggest indicator of the health of the work and organization.

Indigenous Knowledge Program

• The Indigenous Knowledge program achieved multiple breakthroughs and milestones over the past two years. At the 2015 conference, over 220 Native people participated, a record high of participants, from at least 87 nations. About 70 Native youth participated, also a record high. The conference Indigenous Forum has become like a mini-UN for Indigenous people and a trusted bridge with non-Native allies. It also serves as a key communications platform and focal point for educators and change-makers.
• We were invited to jointly produce to the first-ever Intertribal Bioneers (see “What’s On Deck: 2016”).
• We released multiple Indigenous Knowledge Media Collections and produced our first Study & Discussion Guide, an invaluable and unique tool.

Everywoman’s Leadership Program

• Our ongoing Cultivating Women’s Leadership (CWL) Trainings began deepening place-based trainings to strengthen local and regional networks of diverse women leaders.
• Our new CoMadres Leadership Retreats for advanced women leaders began creating the relationship infrastructure for a national Bioneers network of accomplished, diverse and well-networked women leaders.
• The program released multiple Media Collections.

The Resilient Communities Network

This program has evolved to include our ongoing community-based partners across the country, our work with the California Climate Leadership model, and Bioneers Global Partnership events.

• With a second one-day conference event, Bioneers continued to highlight and promote the California climate leadership model and to link “sub-national” resilience networks to build “resilience from the ground up.”
• We began laying the tracks for future Bioneers Global partnership events abroad.

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