Monday, September 27
Tuesday, September 28
Wednesday, September 29
Thursday, September 30
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Tuesday, September 28, 2021
8:30am – 9:00am | Platform Opens
9:00am – 9:15am | Welcome Message & Video
9:15am – 10:15am | Session One
Building Partnerships Across Industries and Cultures
- Monique Valenzuela – Youth Marine Foundation
- Stephanie Lile – Harbor History Museum
- Gideon Cauffman – City of Oak Harbor
The Maritime Washington National Heritage Area encompasses 3,000 miles of Washington State’s saltwater shoreline— including 18 federally recognized tribes, 13 counties, 32 incorporated cities, hundreds of for- and non-profit organizations, and thousands (if not millions) of folks who care about our shores. As a National Heritage Area, our goal is to build partnerships and increase collaboration to support coastal communities in celebrating, maintaining, and sharing their water-based stories. But how do you motivate many and diverse cross-sector entities to work together and design a big new program? Join our conversation with members of the heritage area planning team to discuss to ups, downs, and lessons learned about building partnerships across industries and cultures.
10:30am – 11:30am | Session Two
Let’s Get Social!
- Gaila Haas – Kent Downtown Partnership
- Abby Laguidao – Pixel Parlour
An online presence is critical to the success of any organization in economic environment. Join Abby Laguidao of Pixel Parlour and Gaila Haas from Kent Downtown Partnership to learn how to amplify your brand, organization, and online presence. These tools will help nonprofits (or anyone, really!) connect with their followers and build a movement through communication.
11:45am – 12:45pm | Session Three
Nobody Had a Handbook: Lessons Learned from Survival to Recovery
- Mary DesMarais – Gig Harbor Downtown Waterfront Alliance
- Diane Miller – Treasures 4 Humanity
- Jasmine Schmidt – AR Workshop Gig Harbor
- Paige Wells – Hey, Darlin’ the Shop
- Brianne Kampbell – Hey, Darlin’ the Shop
- Tammi Barber – F R I L L S by TLB Events
- Karrie Polinsky – Tickled Pink
How does one keep a business alive when the world shuts down? Nobody had a handbook for handling a crisis of this magnitude, and yet the local business community on Gig Harbor’s historic downtown waterfront persevered through grit, creativity, communication, and local support. Hear how these resilient and creative businesses took Covid-19 head on and won the battle while adhering to ever changing regulations. From total pivots to new ideas, learn how small businesses and the community organizations that support them can deal with not just a pandemic, but how those hard-fought lessons from 2020 can translate to any crisis or disaster that comes our way.
12:45pm – 2:00pm | Break
2:00pm – 3:00pm | Session Four
Working with Developers Toward Neighborhood Equity
- Brendan Nelson – Hilltop Action Coalition
Real collaboration between local groups and authentic community developers requires relationship, listening, compromise, and funding (whenever possible). In this way, developers can build community-inclusive real estate portfolios and a reputation that is regionally welcome. More importantly, grassroots organizations can vouch for both the process and the products created collectively, without any estranged development leftovers. Synergies achieved by a proper community development collective provide long-lasting, mutual benefits and precedent-establishing momentum that enriches all involved.
3:00pm – 3:15pm | Closing Remarks