Thirty of the Invoking the Pause Grant Partners gathered together at the Mayacamas Ranch in Calistoga, California from October 12-14, 2010  for 3 glorious, Indian summer days of sustenance for body, mind and spirit.

The purpose of this Convening was to introduce the geographically diverse individuals to each other in order to nurture, reflect and generate conversations among them. Therein, we sought to provide a “collective pause.”

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C2C is a national public policy initiative of the Bard Center for Environmental Policy. C2C gives young people nationwide the chance to directly make an impact on clean energy policy. During Earth Week 2011 C2C will host over a hundred video dialogues between campuses and congress on climate related issues.

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Gary Nabhan of Taco Diplomacy spoke candidly with us about the impact of the 2010 Convening on his work.

“What surprised me is how sophisticated the integration of art and science & public participation are in a lot of the projects here.

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“Pepperwood Preserve is an ecological institute that is  dedicated to educating, engaging and inspiring our community through science. We are a 3,200 acre reserve, home to over 900 species that are native to our region. “ –Lisa Micheli, Executive Director

Lisa Micheli, Ph.D., came to Invoking the Pause as part of our 2007 Pilot Program for our inaugural grant, “At The Water's Edge.”  She is a Switzer Foundation Fellow and Pepperwood Preserve is a Research Affiliate of the California Academy of Sciences.
Pepperwood Preserve (est. 1979) is a nature preserve located at the southern end of California’s North Coast Ranges. The preserve rests between the world-renowned Sonoma and Napa Valleys, the majestic Mayacamas Mountains rise above San Francisco Bay and stretch northward past Calistoga to the east and Santa Rosa to the west.

Here, across from Mt. St. Helena, near the divide of the watersheds of the Napa and Russian rivers, Pepperwood Preserve protects a 3117-acre zone of stunning landscape and rich biodiversity.

The YouTube Video below takes you on a journey of the purpose and principles of Pepperwood Preserve. Click on the image below to go directly to the video.

It was in October of 2006 that I was selected to participate in a program called The Philanthropy Workshop West (“TPW”).  The invitation came at a time in my life where I’d been on overdrive in many professional endeavors and my father recently had passed away–leaving me an “orphan in the universe.”

This crossroads called for a reassessment of my own commitments, as I needed to ferret out what truly mattered to me. It was time to pause and reflect on my life’s direction. For TPW’s final module, each of us were tasked to choose a non-profit organization we would become involved with as a participant, and prepare a 40 minute presentation incorporating our learnings from the nine-month TPW program in our engagement with this organization.
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Maggie Kaplan, Executive Director of Invoking the Pause is featured in this video where she shares the various mysteries that have unfolded both during the Convening and the initial startup phases of ITP.

“What surprises me about this experience is how it has taken to a level beyond which I could have anticipated. The level of professionalism, personality and opening, bearing of souls and essence as human beings has been inspiring. We had hoped in planning this Convening that people would bring their whole person. We wanted them to feel comfortable expressing the full range of their humanity.”

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Stephen Antupit of CityLab7 speaks about his experience at the 2010 Grant Partner Convening of Invoking the Pause. He shares about the new opportunities to collaborate, the chances to connect in a different way, engage together and approach a complex problem– and how “The Pause” empowers new solutions.
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Terry Tempest Williams’ article in the March 2011 Issue

In the March 2011 issue of The Progressive Terry Tempest Williams writes a thought provoking essay about the harsh realities of the impact of the Natural Gas Industry on our country– or more specifically, Wyoming– and the people and the Pronghorn antelope who call it home.

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Britta Riley of WindowFarms describes with lyrical prose her experience at the 2010 Grant Partner Convening of Invoking the Pause.

A paraphrased excerpt of her interview:  ”Being so focused on one’s work I haven’t had down time to process the full scope of the project. This convening was an opportunity to get in touch with our emotions. There is a lot of emotion that is driving our work and we don’t always get to acknowledge it.
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