Northern California: North State Together Summit Re-energizes Partners

RSC visited our Northern California hub to attend the North State Together Summit! The event celebrated regional collaboration, data, and equity.

March 24, 2022 |
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North State Together and StriveTogether teams at the 2022 Summit Redding, CA.

Rural Schools Collaborative was honored to visit our Northern California hub for the 2022 North State Together Summit, hosted in Redding, California. The region’s green and lush mountain-scape, with birds chirping, was the perfect setting to welcome many folks back to their first in-person conferences since the COVID pandemic. Attendees rolled up their sleeves to rally around Regional Collaboration, Data, and Equity.

North State Together (NST), funded in part by the McConnell Foundation, is the largest geographical collective in the U.S. covering 5 counties (via partners at Reach Higher Shasta, Expect More Tehama, Advancing Modoc Youth, Trinity Together, and Cradle to Careers Siskiyou). NST provides each county with financial resources, technical support, community outreach, and professional development. NST, in partnership with California State University – Chico, anchor RSC’s Northern California hub.

NST Summit Attendees

The summit kicked off with warm greetings and fellowship from advocates across all five counties – it was clear that these folks care deeply about each other and the counties they represent, and felt like a family reunion. Rural communities may sometimes struggle to collaborate on a regional scale due to barriers like geographic isolation, transportation, etc., so it was incredible to see a 20,000+ square mile region so integrated, friendly, and familiar.

This trusting collaboration is fostered, in no small part, thanks to North State Together’s backbone team, which supports the regional solutions, the partners, and the pathways to collaboration. In fact, NST’s “Cradle to Career” initiative includes education, business, philanthropic, nonprofit, civic, and faith leaders who all work together to improve educational success for every child through a data-driven, collective impact approach.

“It’s never education for education’s sake, it’s education SO THAT…”

The regional brainstorming was also supported by several stellar keynote presentations:

    “The content, conversations, and connections were fantastic. . . I had several participants say this cleared their minds, reinvigorated their purpose, and reminded them of the power of the collective brain.”

    North State Together and their partners understand that educational success has a direct impact on the regions’ health and economic outcomes. This collaborative work is accelerated when cross-sector community leaders are at the same table, working toward the same goals. We hope other communities will take note of the good work happening in Northern California, and thank NST and their partners for their dedication to the region.

    Special thanks to the NST team, Kevin O’Rorke, Jamie Spielmann, Susan Schroth, and James Crandall, for their work and partnership with Rural Schools Collaborative.

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