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Fall 2019
Dear Mesa Refuge Community,
In the midst of these challenging times, I always find inspiration in the work of Mesa Refuge residents.
Over the past two decades, we have offered more than 850 creative individuals an opportunity to regenerate and to develop their own visions and blueprints. Together they create an ecology of hope for the larger world.
Time spent at the Mesa Refuge has far-reaching effects. Our alums have championed restorative justice, challenged abusive immigrations policy, and helped children understand how wetlands provide vital habitat for a diverse community of living creatures.
You are part of our thriving, change-making community.
Because of your connection, you recognize the important role that the Mesa Refuge plays in this ecology of hope.
Please help us to ensure the Mesa Refuge's sustainability by making a gift towards our $35,000 year-end goal.
Now more than ever, the world needs what our residents provide.
Please join us in lighting the way.
With gratitude,
Susan
Susan Page Tillett
Executive Director
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September 7, we welcomed alum and best-selling author, Katy Butler, back to the Mesa Refuge for a reception and reading. As a resident here in 2016, Katy worked on her book, The Art of Dying Well: the Practical Guide to A Good End of Life --which is now out in the world with much notoriety. See some of the photos from the events on our Flickr album.
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Wherever There's a Fight
Reading with Mesa Refuge Board Members Elaine Elinson and Stan Yogi
~Co-presented with Point Reyes Books~
Thursday, November 14
Find out more
Artist's Eye, Writer's Voice
A writing workshop with author Elizabeth Fishel, Mesa alum Todd Pickering, and Executive Director Susan Page Tillett
January 25-26
Find out more
Finding Courage in Difficult Times
A retreat with Mesa alums Christian McEwen and Sarah Rabkin
February 21-23
Find out more
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Alum Spotlight: Sujatha Baliga
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We were delighted to learn that 2018 Mesa Refuge Alum Sujatha Baliga was one of 19 MacArthur Fellows for 2019. Sujatha is an attorney whose work is dedicated to restorative justice in a community setting. As director of the Restorative Justice Project in Oakland, she works with all involved parties in a crime to shift perceptions from punishment to making amends and healing. Here is the McArthur video. We're so proud of Sujatha!
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Legacy Circle Spotlight: Stan Yogi
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Our Legacy Circle is growing. Thank you to our most recent member of the Legacy Circle,
Mesa Refuge Board Member Stan Yogi. You can join us by committing legacy gifts of any size.
From Stan:
My residency at Mesa Refuge was vital to completing a book on the history of civil rights in California. I want to pay forward the gifts I received from Mesa so that future generations of writers and activists
can experience the peace, space, and grace of the place. That's why I've joined the Mesa Refuge Legacy Circle and named Mesa as a beneficiary of a retirement account.
Photo credit: Irene Young
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Welcome to Our First Intern!
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The Mesa Refuge has reached a new milestone: our first student intern. We warmly welcome Claire Wingert to the Mesa Refuge community, and look forward to having her with us through the fall semester. Claire is a bright student at U.C. Berkeley, studying molecular and cell biology with a minor in Buddhist studies.
From Claire:
As a student I always enjoy heading up to Point Reyes for a little nature therapy. The Mesa Refuge has already exposed me to so many phenomenal people and their ideas, and I cannot wait to see what else I learn from this community!
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Leslie Acoca, Langeloth Foundation Health Writing Fellow
Leslie is a nationally recognized health and justice leader who is forging a health pathway for vulnerable, incarcerated girls. At the Mesa, she worked on her book,
Pink Shackles: The Locking Down and Freeing Up of American Girls.
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Susan D. Anderson
Susan is the Director of Collections, Library, Exhibitions and Programs at the California Historical Society. At the Mesa, she worked on her book,
African Americans and the California Dream, a history of California African Americans and their impact on civic life in the state.
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Laura Atkins
Laura is a children's book author and editor. She co-wrote
Fred Korematsu Speaks Up with Stan Yogi. At the Mesa, Laura worked on a book about Alice Piper, a Paiute girl from Big Pine, who fought school segregation in the 1920s.
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Dan Barker, Richard Kirschman Free Thought Fellow
Dan, a former Christian minister, is the author of numerous books dealing with free thought and religion. Dan is a member of the Delaware Tribe (Lenape) of American Indians. At the Mesa, Dan worked on
The End of Worship and
The Atheist Guide to the Koran.
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Sherry Boschert
Sherry is an author and journalist writing a history of Title IX, the 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education. Her new book,
Uppity Women and the Ongoing Fight for a Fair Education, offers a road map for navigating the current anti-feminist backlash.
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Deena Chalabi
Deena is a writer and curator whose work explores memory and the relationship between individual expression and public life. At the Mesa, she worked on a memoir/cultural history about personal and political fictions in the context of the most recent US war in Iraq.
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Cristina Jiménez
Cristina is executive director and co-founder of United We Dream, the largest immigrant youth-led organization in the country. At the Mesa, she worked on her memoir, a story of a young immigrant woman of color as she finds her power to open new horizons for millions of young people.
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Dominique Mazeaud, Marion Weber Healing Arts Fellow
In 1979, after 10 years as a New York gallery director, Dominique became an artist. Her art celebrates the beauty of creation while mourning what has been lost or destroyed. At the Mesa, she worked on Heartist: When Life and Art Become One.
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Jesús Mena
Jesús is the son of undocumented Mexican immigrants who grew up as a migrant farm worker. He worked as communications director at UC Berkeley and Harvard University. At the Mesa, Jesus worked on op-ed pieces about the lynching of thousands of Mexican Americans.
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Davia Nelson, Michael Pollan Journalism Fellow
Davia is one of the producers of the winning series
Hidden Kitchens on NPR's
Morning Edition. At the Mesa, Davis worked on the narration for
The Keepers: Archive Fever, to be narrated by Frances McDormand, as well as the second Kitchen Sisters book,
Show the Girls the Snakes.
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Zoë Schlanger
Zoë writes about how climate change and pollution impact human and non-human life. Her project at the Mesa Refuge was about the cutting edge of botany research on plant behavior and what it has to teach us about the possibilities of non-human intelligence.
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Saket Soni, Jeanette Pontacq Investigative Journalism Fellow
Saket is an organizer and the founding director of the National Guest-worker Alliance, New Orleans Workers' Center for Racial Justice, and Resilience Force. At the Mesa Refuge, she worked on a new book about human trafficking in modern U.S. history.
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We thank our many generous 2019 donors!
We are especially grateful for those who have joined our Legacy Circle:
Anonymous (2), Peter Barnes, Katy Butler, Sarah Cane, Claire Hope Cummings, Conley Haynes Family Trust, Elaine Elinson and Rene CiriaCruz, Jaune Evans, Anna Lappe, Peter Mattair, Susan Page Tillett, Susan J. Tweit, Stan Yogi
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$25,000 and Over
Peter Barnes, Panta Rhea Foundation
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$10,000 and Over
Barn Road Foundation, Sue Conley and Nan Haynes Family Fund, Dr. Thomas J. White
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$5,000 and Over
Anonymous, Marion Weber
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$2,500 and Over
Sam Lawson and Laurel Mayer, Tides Foundation
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$1,000 and Over
James Bell*, Joan Bieder, Clair Brown*, Sara Campos*, Claire Cummings* and Richard McCombs, Grove Foundation, Roger Hoffman, Marjorie Kelly*, John Merritt, Susan Ochshorn*, Michael Pollan* and Judith Belzer, Judith Shaw*, Stan Yogi*
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$500 and Over
Harriet Barlow*, Lara Bazelon*, Dvora Honigstein, Susan Ito*, Valerie Jordan, Richard Kirschman and Doris Ober, Mark Lipman and Helen Cohen, Peter Mattair*, Richard Taylor, Susan Page Tillett*, Krista Tippett*, Lynne Twist*, Alison Wright
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$100 and Over
Myn Adess, Ellery Akers, Marcellus Andrews*, Bob Arenson, Lauren Artress*, Allison Barlow, Toby Barlow, Zack Barnes Miller and Jessica Almendarez, Leyna Bernstein and Brian Parker, Dan Brekke*, Vikki Brooks*, Mark Bittman*, Jim Boyce* and Betsy Hartmann*, Sarah Cane, Kelly Cash, Sara Catania*, Sarah Chang*, Story Clark*, Chuck Collins*, Christina Conklin*, Jane D'Arista*, Mark Dowie*, Libby Doyle Duffy, Elaine Elinson*, Kyra Epstein, Mary Jean Espulgar, Jaune Evans*, Karin Evans*, Jim Fallows, Lyons Filmer*, Elizabeth Fishel, Zoe Fitzgerald Carter *, Robert Franklin*, Ellen Friedman* and Louis Blumberg*, Ann Sheree Greenbaum, Liese Greensfelder*, Charlie* and Susan Halpern, Gwen Heistand*, Elizabeth Herron*, Al Hirshen and Julie Allen, Linda Hogan*, Irwin Keller*, Keyes Trust, Kim Klein*, Randall Koch*, Ken and Diane Kramer, Josh Kun*, Renee Lertzman*, Kate Levinson* and Steve Costa, Eugene Linden*, Dahlia Lithwick*, Larry Litvak, Diane MacEachern*, Nannette Maciejunes, Lisa Maldonado*, Jerry Mander*, Rue Mapp*, Malcolm Margolin*, Mary McCutcheon, Heather McGhee*, Toby McLeod*, Ann Menke, BJ Miller*, Molly Miller*, Susan Moir*, Sue Moon*, Monica Moore, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, Lisa Morehouse*, Davia Nelson*, Nancy Nichols*, Karen O'Reilly*, Virginia Page, Alex Park*, Patagonia, Raj Patel*, Steven Petrow*, Tess Riesmeyer, Lauret Savoy*, Kathleen Stauffer, Maggie and Kevin Sweeney, Betsy Taylor*, Frank Truttman, Kamala Tully, Kim Tully-Sutton, Susan Tweit*, Elizabeth U*, Gavin Van Horn*, Jean Vierra, Christina and Ken Waldeck, Michael Warburton, Roger Weatherford, Florence Williams*, Zeus Yiamouyiannis*, Alan Zarembo
Under $100
Jane Fulton Alt, Andrea Apatow, Aspen Baker*, Mary Lou Ballweg, Julia Bartlett, Nancy Beck, Rob Boston*, Barbara Breakstone, Rebecca Brooks, Sarah Browning*, Kathleen Campbell, Pam Carr, Ramon Castellblanch*, Anja Claus*, Linda Conley, Eugene Coyle*, Devi Daly, Suzanne d'Coney, April Dembosky*, Kathleen Denny*, Steve Dunsky*, Daniel Ellsberg*, Renee Garick, Todd Gilens*, Nora Good-Friend, Claire Greensfelder*, Alisha Greenspon, Esther Grimm, Melissa Grohs, Ralph Hamilton, Ranae Hanson*, Andy Harris, Diantha Harris, Kathleen Harrison*, Richard Hayes, Jean Hey*, Lisa Hish, Michael Horvich, Brenda Jones*, Jacala Kinney and Noel Lyons, Brad Kik, Margot Knight, Alexa Koenig*, Steve Kretzmann*, Brian Kruger, Dorothy Larson*, McKenzie Long*, Nancy Lord*, Alia Malek*, Lauren Markham*, David Marks, Dominique Mazeaud*, Carol Metzker*, Shawndra Miller*, Stephanie Mills*, Ami Chen Mills-Naim*, Kathryn Minnis, Judith Moore, Tom Moritz, David Morse*, Josh Morsell*, Harriet Moss, Alden Mudge, Amber Newton, Peggy Orenstein*, Kathleen Paniagua, Karen Pavone*, Sarah Rabkin*, Emily Reagan, Kathryn Reasoner*, Andy Robinson*, Bruce Rodgers, Kay Russell, Madeleine Scammell*, Michael Schut*, Julia Scott*, George Scialabba, Vicki Seglin, Rich Smith, Alyce Sorokie, Maggie Sweeney, Sam Tillett, Travis Travis Travis, Mary Turnipseed*, Nichola Waldron*, Carol Whitman
In-Kind Donors
Black Mountain Circle, Bovine Bakery, Katy Butler, Zoe Fitzgerald Carter*/Sugartown, Sue Conley/Cowgirl Creamery, Kyra Epstein/Gaia Tea, Lyons Filmer*/KWMR, Arielle Giusto Catering with Nicky Giusto/ The Artisan Baking Center, Molly Miller*/Facebook, Morrison & Foerster, Mackenzie O'Toole/JaM Cellars and John Anthony Family of Wines, Point Reyes Books, Simon & Schuster, Stemple Creek Ranch
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