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On May 1, 2017 ¹ú²úÊÓƵ CA and the Presidio Institute co-hosted “RiseLocal: Building a ¹ú²úÊÓƵ from the Ground Up,” to highlight the local innovators around the country solving problems in their backyards.

Because it’s California, we kicked the morning off with high fives and hugs.

Director of ¹ú²úÊÓƵ CA,ÌýMegan Garcia,Ìýand Managing Director of the Presidio Institute,ÌýDavid Smith,Ìýopened the day with a warm welcome to an audience of more than 100 leaders from business, government, and civil society gathered at the beautiful Presidio in San Francisco.

¹ú²úÊÓƵ President and CEO Anne-Marie Slaughter outlined ¹ú²úÊÓƵ’s vision for a National Network of civic entrepreneurs.

A civic entrepreneur, Mayor Michael Tubbs, enlightened the audience with his own story about moving home and dedicating his life to public service after a close family member was shot and killed. The first African-American mayor of Stockton, Tubbs is only 26 years old and won his seat with 70 percent of the vote in 2016.

The morning continued with an inspiring round of lightning talks on eight diverse issues.

Lenny Mendonca talked about the need for an offensive, bipartisan strategy that leverages local innovation and cross sector leadership.

Karina Moreno talked about howÌýÌýis fighting poverty in the Bay Area by allowing nonprofits to experiment as much as private companies.

Carmen Rojas talked about howÌýÌýis building worker trusts Ìýthat give farm workers a voice and a stake in the companies they work for.

Fay Darmawi introducedÌýÌýto highlight the power of film in creating real change for real people, right at home.

After a short break, the audience heard from Wayne Sutton, ¹ú²úÊÓƵ CA fellow and co-founder ofÌý.ÌýWayne talked about the importance of diversity and inclusion in the tech industry.

Jeff Kirschner dazzled the audience with the founding story of his projectÌý, which seeks to identify, map, and collect the world’s litter.

¹ú²úÊÓƵ CA Fellow and Co-Director ofÌýÌýMia Birdsong talked about how families are the world’s leaders in innovation.

And last, but certainly not least, Pete Peterson told an inspiring story about his work as Dean of the University of Pepperdine School of Public Policy and how heÌýÌýget back on track.

During lunch, participants soaked up the sun and took walking tours of the beautiful Presidio.

After lunch, Mayor Sam Liccardo from San Jose, Mayor Libby Schaaf from Oakland, and Mayor Larry Moody from East Palo Alto joined in conversation with Anne-Marie Slaughter about the unique opportunities and challenges facing three diverse cities within the Bay Area. Ìý

In the afternoon, participants attended workshops and engaged in deeper conversations about issues like civic tech, media, housing, philanthropy, art, and youth engagement.

To close the day, we captured ideas from the audience about how they plan to use the lessons they learned in their own work.

For a full recap of the day, check out which was trending in San Francisco on the day of the event.