Dear Friend of WALKSacramento,
The holidays are finally upon us, the new year is just around the corner, and what a year it has been! Although 2020 may have brought us some of the most unprecedented times of our lives, I’m feeling hopeful for what the future holds.
At the beginning of November, I had the honor to take the helm at WALKSacramento and join a team of resilient individuals, who, despite the challenges they’ve been presented with—from pivoting to remote work and reimagining engagement at the community level, to doubling staff and bringing on a new Executive Director, has managed to not only “make due,” but thrive. With a commitment to empower community voice and take actionable steps to lead with equity, this is certainly a squad I’m proud to be in the trenches with.
Advocating for better planning, policy and systems are at the core of what WALKSacramento does each day. Thankfully, our work has not gone unnoticed. This year we were honored to be recognized by Sac Valley APA California with a Local Vision Award for our work around Safe Routes to School in addition to being recognized by the ASLA California Sierra Chapter with the 2020 Community Partner Award
While we have been able to make a strong impact, our work is far from finished. As a nonprofit organization, we couldn’t do this important work without you. Your investment in WALKSacramento is an investment in better health outcomes for our most marginalized neighbors, thriving local economies, and equitable and accessible communities regardless of race, income, or ability.
As we move into the new year and look to make take on even bigger organizational changes, we’ll need strong allies like you to help champion the work we do. We plan to take 2021 by storm and will be reprioritizing our strategic initiatives, growing and diversifying our board, and overhauling our brand to be more inclusive and reflective of the work we do. We’re not here to simply talk to the talk, we’re here to WALK it too (pun intended) and we hope you’ll join us along this journey.
With appreciation,
Kiara Reed
Executive Director