Sally Phonthachack wants to some day run her own nonprofit organization and be a mentor to young people. The daughter of Laotian parents who immigrated to the United States when she was an infant, Phonthachack is currently working toward her master’s degree and helping a Sacramento nonprofit organization, believing these two endeavors will help provide a springboard toward her goal. This month Phonthachack began working full time in a fellowship position with Valley Vision while she continues to pursue her master’s in business administration at Drexel University’s Center for Graduate Studies in Sacramento. In her new position, Phonthachack will assist senior Valley Vision staff in craftin

The Green Capital Alliance presented “Road Map to 3,000 Jobs” at the Sacramento State University Alumni Center Thursday June 9th. The Green Capital Alliance describes itself as “a broad partnership of people and organizations aiming to make the clean technology sector a defining feature of Sacramento’s economy.” The centerpiece of the meeting was the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and the Californis State University Sacramento (CSUS).  The MOA formally regonies work started last year between the two institutions.  The MOA basically ties together the smart meter progran at SMUD and he California Smart Grid Center work at Sac

This Tuesday, clean tech players from around the region will gather to discuss the latest industry buzz at CleanStart’s PowerSurge networking mixer at McClellan Park. The event includes a tour of Technikon’s Renewable Energy Testing Center (RETC) as well as several other clean tech businesses located in McClellan Park. Featured speakers include Robert Weisenmiller,  who was recently appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger as one of the five commissioners for the California Energy Commission (CEC) and Kristine Mazzei, partner at Valley Vision, a nonprofit association working to secure the social, environmental and economic health of the Sacramento Region. "The Sacramento Region's clean techn

Members of the Regional Food System Collaborative (RFC) turned their attention again Thursday morning to improving the region's food system. The gathering, hosted by Valley Vision, couldn't have been held at a more fitting location. While colleagues gathered inside the Sacramento Food Bank, the hungry lined up outside to receive bags of free food. Attendees came from local organizations that have a stake in our food system and share common goals: improving our eating habits and the way the local food system functions. The discussion was facilitated by Valley Vision's Bill Mueller and the group of more than 50 broke into three subgroups to put their plans for change into action. The coll

Mark Winne, author of Closing the Food Gap: Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty, opened Thursday morning’s Sacramento Region Food Collaborative (RFC) conference with a powerful message of hope. “The loss of land, hunger, insecurity, obesity are real…but so is the opportunity for change," he said. The guest list for the four-hour brainstorm session, coordinated by Valley Vision, included more than 70 movers and shakers in the food and urban agriculture industry plus representatives from congress and environmental agencies. Held in TV station KVIE’s community room, Winne began the collaborative by asking the audience for general feedback, both positive and negative, on the state of