A Letter from Our CEO

Dear CivicWell partners and supporters,

I’ve been a fan of biographies and historical fiction since I was a kid. So, it was no surprise that in 2025 I read several novels that were fictionalized accounts of women working behind the scenes of major innovations including physicist Mileva Marić and inventor Hedwig Kiesler Markey. Marić has recently been recognized as a key collaborator on developing the theory of relativity with her then-husband Albert Einstein. Kiesler Markey has been credited of late with the patent that was the precursor technology for modern Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. She is more widely known by her stage name Hedy Lamarr.

Rather than viewing these stories as tragic, I see them as a source of inspiration. While CivicWell has spent more than four decades supporting local leaders doing transformative work that often flies under the radar, it does not diminish the impact or importance of these efforts.

In California—an influential global powerhouse and the country’s biggest population—2.3 million residents live in rural communities, and 57 of our 58 counties have rural populations (PPIC). CivicWell has long provided partnership to small and rural communities through capacity building and technical assistance. In 2025, our Community Design team worked with residents of Fresno, Humboldt, Lake, Modoc, Riverside, Stanislaus, Tuolumne counties. In these smaller communities, the opportunity to move the needle is even more pronounced. Residents can engage directly with decision makers, and proportionally small financial investments and policy changes can yield monumental results.

On a national and statewide scale, 2025 brought forth titanic political shifts. Like thousands of other nonprofit organizations, CivicWell monitored and responded to seismic policy and funding changes under a new federal administration—one that was often at odds with our funders, partners, and policy priorities. Even within California, there were significant changes to the policy landscape. Our fall webinar series covered many of these topics including CEQA reform and the reimagined Cap and Invest program.

Reflecting on these diverse experiences in 2025, I take away two key lessons inspired by the novels I read about unsung scientists. First, we need to do a better job of telling our stories. Often the loudest megaphones control the narrative. Now more than ever, communities must leverage the myriad of media outlets and available resources to share their stories so that others are inspired to support their work. Second, and most importantly, we must convene and mobilize to make great things happen. Where one single leader or creator’s expertise ends, the opportunity for another leader or creator begins. Our Climate & Energy team continued critical convenings of the California Climate and Energy Collaborative (CCEC) including the annual CCEC Forum, Local Energy Resources Network (LERN) meetings, State/Local Energy & Climate Coordination (SLECC) convenings, and the new Regional Energy & Climate Hubs (REACH). The CivicWell team took inspiration from these dialogues with state and regional leaders to prepare for innovative new approaches in 2026, including the debut of our Policy Bridge event.

I invite you to join CivicWell’s network of inspirational leaders who are stepping out from behind the scenes to shape the narrative and amplify the message of a resilient and sustainable future for California and beyond.

In community,

Bernadette Austin

Read the 2025 Impact Report