Dear Friends,
School's out for summer.
Textbooks are back on the shelf, and equations have been erased from white boards all over the Valley - to the delight and relief of countless students.
At Napa Valley Community Foundation, the summer months tend to be slower, but no matter the season, we are always eager to learn about issues that affect the quality of life in this community and beyond.
That's one reason why we created a town hall lecture series, called Napa Valley Forum, where some of our country's most extraordinary thinkers and scholars bring knowledge and perspective on important issues to our community.
This year, our theme for Napa Valley Forum is Finding Common Ground and Creating Community in Post-Election America. Our goal is to spark constructive, respectful, nonpartisan conversations that reach more deeply - and more broadly - into our community than they have in the past, at a time when such conversations have never seemed so urgently needed.
So far this year, we've hosted two town hall meetings, each free and open-to-the-public. We've had high school students, nonprofit leaders, elected officials and caring and committed community members in the audience.
Most recently, Joaquin Alvarado, CEO for The Center for Investigative Reporting in Emeryville, sat with Sean Scully, Editor of Napa Valley Register, to discuss the role of journalism in the era of social networks, WikiLeaks and fake news before an audience of nearly 250 in Yountville.
We'd like to share this recent Forum, in its entirety, with those who were not able to attend, or would like to watch again. The video is below for your viewing pleasure.
But don't worry: you won't have to write an essay about it!
To read about the next events in our series, click here.
If you've joined us, thank you. If not, we hope to see you soon to learn about and discuss important issues.
Sincerely yours,
Terence P. Mulligan
President