Program and Speakers

Opening Plenary - Bonfire Stories of Resilience

Thursday, 3/26 at 6PM, Harlen Adams Theatre

This Way to Resilience opens with Bonfire Storytelling, featuring members of the Butte Resilience Collaborative. Through powerful personal stories of recovery, adaptation, and hope, community members share what resilience looks like in the North State — from wildfire recovery to everyday acts of connection and renewal.

An evening of shared experience and inspiration, this plenary celebrates the strength and creativity that emerge when we face challenges together. Guided by professional storytelling coaches, each story reflects the courage, honesty, and collective spirit that define resilience in action.

Bonnie Pipkin - Founder, Bonfire Storytelling & Host

Bonnie Pipkin is the founder of Bonfire Storytelling and a nationally recognized storytelling coach, facilitator, and host. She works with individuals and organizations to shape authentic, powerful stories that build connection, strengthen community, and inspire meaningful action.

Through live events, workshops, and coaching, Bonnie helps storytellers uncover the heart of their experiences and share them with clarity, courage, and impact. Her work centers on the belief that storytelling is a catalyst for resilience — creating spaces where vulnerability becomes strength and shared narratives foster collective healing. As host of Bonfire Stories of Resilience, Bonnie guides the evening with warmth, intention, and deep respect for the voices of the North State community.

Anna Moore - Storytelling Coach, Bonfire Storytelling

Anna Moore is a storytelling coach with Bonfire Storytelling, where she supports community members in crafting personal narratives rooted in resilience, growth, and lived experience. She works closely with storytellers to help them shape their stories with authenticity, emotional clarity, and confidence.

With a deep commitment to the power of voice and shared experience, Anna helps individuals transform moments of challenge into meaningful narratives that foster connection and hope. Her coaching emphasizes trust, presence, and the understanding that when stories are told with intention, they can strengthen both the storyteller and the community.

Storytellers: Sam Steadman, Rosie Reyes, Jovani Tricerri, Norma Lacy, Carolyn Nava, Pastor Kevin Thompson

Featured Breakout Sessions

The CSU Climate Resilience Framework

Friday, 3/27 at 11AM, Colusa 100B

Join staff from the California State University Office of the Chancellor as they discuss the development, structure, and key findings of the CSU Climate Resilience Framework. As extreme climate events become more frequent and infrastructure resources remain limited, this session explores how one of the nation’s largest public university systems is approaching resilience planning at scale.

Presenters will walk through the challenges and opportunities of implementation, highlighting practical pathways for integrating climate resilience into capital planning, facilities management, and long-term campus strategy.

Lindsey Rowell, CSU Chief of Energy, Sustainability and Transportation

Lindsey Rowell serves as the California State University’s Chief of Energy, Sustainability and Transportation in the Office of the Chancellor. In this role, she provides systemwide leadership for sustainability strategy, energy management, climate action, and transportation initiatives across the CSU’s 23 campuses.

Lindsey works at the intersection of infrastructure planning, climate policy, and operational innovation, helping guide the CSU toward its climate goals while balancing fiscal realities and the diverse needs of campuses statewide. She has played a key role in advancing systemwide decarbonization efforts, integrating resilience planning into capital development, and strengthening collaboration across facilities, academic leadership, and executive administration. Her work focuses on turning ambitious climate commitments into practical, scalable action.

Rachel Patterson, University Engineer, California State University

Rachel Patterson serves as University Engineer for the California State University system, where she provides technical leadership and engineering oversight for capital planning, infrastructure systems, and long-term facilities resilience.

With deep expertise in campus utilities, infrastructure modernization, and capital project delivery, Rachel works closely with campus facilities teams to ensure that CSU’s built environment remains safe, efficient, and adaptable in the face of increasing climate risks. She plays a critical role in aligning engineering standards, infrastructure investment, and climate resilience planning across the system’s 23 campuses. Her work bridges technical engineering practice with systemwide sustainability and resilience strategy.

Poems on Fire

Friday, 3/27 at 1PM in Colusa 100B

Engage in the dynamic realm of wildfire and proactive land stewardship with Calli-Jane West (M.A., Geography, CSU Chico). This session features the recently published Poems on Fire project, which includes a printed booklet and an interactive geospatial story map. With 22 maps, 30 poems, 11 contributing poets, and extensive photographic documentation, the project offers a unique, place-based resource for ongoing resilience.

Participants will hear local poets who capture the spirit and lived experience of wildfire in Northern California and are invited to take part in a guided Blackout poetry experience. All attendees will receive a complimentary copy of the Poems on Fire booklet, generously provided by the Butte County Fire Safe Council.

Calli-Jane West, Geographer, Educator, and Project Lead, Poems on Fire

Calli-Jane West holds a Master of Arts in Geography from California State University, Chico, where her work focuses on wildfire, sense of place, and community resilience. She is the creator and project lead of Poems on Fire, an interdisciplinary initiative that blends geography, cartography, poetry, and photography to explore the lived experience of wildfire in Northern California.

Through story mapping, spatial analysis, and creative expression, Calli-Jane’s work highlights the human dimensions of fire-prone landscapes and the role of arts-based engagement in fostering resilience. She collaborates with local poets, community partners, and fire safety advocates to make complex wildfire realities accessible, meaningful, and locally grounded. Her work reflects a deep commitment to proactive land stewardship, community storytelling, and place-based education.

Eco-Anxiety and You

Friday, 3/27 at 9AM, Colusa 100

Climate change doesn’t just reshape landscapes — it reshapes our inner lives. In this compassionate and grounding session, community organizer Kim Michl-Green and ecotherapist Blake Ellis explore how eco-anxiety, grief, and fear are natural responses to a changing world, and how acknowledging those feelings can be the first step toward resilience, connection, and purpose.

Kim shares insights from her work creating safe spaces for open emotional processing around climate concerns, where individuals move from isolation toward collective support. Blake brings therapeutic wisdom from nature-based healing and ecotherapy, helping participants understand how time in place and community can soothe and strengthen us. Together, they offer gentle tools for tending feelings and cultivating hope — guiding us toward resilient engagement with our planet and one another.

Kim Michl-Green, Community Organizer and Climate Advocate

Kim Michl-Green is a community organizer and climate advocate whose work focuses on the emotional dimensions of climate change. She creates intentional spaces where individuals can openly process eco-anxiety, grief, and fear, recognizing these responses as natural and deeply human.

Through facilitated dialogue and community-building efforts, Kim helps participants move from isolation toward collective care and shared resilience. Her approach centers on connection, vulnerability, and the belief that acknowledging our emotional responses to environmental change can become a powerful catalyst for meaningful engagement and hopeful action.

Blake Ellis, Ecotherapist and Educator

Blake Ellis is an ecotherapist and educator whose work explores the restorative relationship between people and the natural world. Drawing from nature-based therapeutic practices, Blake helps individuals understand eco-anxiety as a valid and meaningful response to environmental change.

Through ecotherapy, place-based awareness, and mindful engagement with landscapes, Blake supports pathways toward grounding, emotional restoration, and resilient action. His work bridges therapeutic practice and environmental awareness, guiding individuals and communities toward deeper connection with both place and purpose.