Tell me a little bit about your background & connection to the region you live in. Did you grow up there? What do you love about it?
My name is Renna, and I grew up in the Central Valley, in the middle of the diverse landscapes of California! I graduated from Fresno State with a Major in Political Science and Minor in Women and Gender Studies that helped me curate my passions into a career. I grew up with road trips for every long weekend, and every summer a long trip to Lake Tahoe. My family loved camping up in the Sierra and I grew up loving recreational activities like hiking and paddle boarding. I decided to stay up in Lake Tahoe, in El Dorado County, for an extended period of time and grew my passion for environmental advocacy. With knowledge of the communities I grew up as part of, and roads that I know like the back of my hand, I have so much love for the Sierra Nevada. I love the tight knit communities that hold each other up, and the beautiful mountains and waters that take my breath away every time. My uncle once said, “If the Sierra is the most beautiful place you’ve seen, you need to travel to see more green.” And I did! I traveled to Ireland and did amazing hikes—but I came home to realize it couldn’t woo me the way Lake Tahoe, Half Dome, or the Minarets in the winter always do.
How did you get started in the environmental space? What drew you to organizing work?
I got started in the environmental space when I was living up in Lake Tahoe watching the local communities coming together for very specific policies that kept their area pristine. I realized that all my political values are connected, and fighting for environmental protections go hand in hand with fighting for social justice. I decided to use all my experience from my studies in school and work in local government for organizing action in the causes I believe in. I joined the EnviroVoters Ed Fund Ambassador program in the Central Valley that provided the education and tools needed to be successful in this field, then moved further North to work as the EnviroVoters Sierra Nevada organizer to protect the regions I grew up admiring.
What are some key or unique environmental issues that your region faces? Is there anything that you’ve learned from your work with EnviroVoters or as an organizer that you didn’t know before?
From my standpoint, the key issues in my region include extraction projects, wildfires, water protections, and tribal community rights. These were issues that I knew coming into EnviroVoters but learned how far they reach while beginning my organizing. The fights against extraction companies in the Sierra explore a specific issue that I learned about through my work with EnviroVoters: gold mining. I learned about the gold rush in my California history classes, but not that it still exists today on a consistently damaging scale with new technologies. I also learned that we are still fighting the environmental damages of the mines from the 1800s that are still impacting community health and development today.
Anything you’d like to share about your region? Things that make it special, places you love to go, bright spots in your work?
As much as I absolutely love the beautiful landscapes of my region, I will always be incredibly grateful for the people that live and work in the Sierra Region. I have met the most welcoming and hospitable people in this work and watching their love and passion for their home will always be a driver in my organizing. I still love my road trips to the Tahoe region, but exploring the Central and Eastern Sierra with my coalition members will always be special to me. The brightest part of my work here is learning about the advocacy that was done by people that worked before me and being mentored by those who made real differences in their community.
