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What does it really take to move a region forward—without picking a side, without chasing headlines, and without sacrificing equity or the environment for “growth”?

I had the privilege of sitting down with Evan Schmidt, CEO of Valley Vision, to unpack the organization’s unique role in the Sacramento region: a values-driven convener that brings people together, turns research into action, and helps align partners around the issues that shape quality of life.

Evan walks me through Valley Vision’s origin story (born out of the region’s response to base closures), their triple bottom line framework—environmental sustainability, social equity, and economic prosperity—and why collaboration is both essential…and often unglamorous. We also talk about how they measure impact across long time horizons, their Livability Summit and Livability Poll, and what the data is telling us right now about the biggest pressures facing our communities.

What we cover

• Why Valley Vision exists—and how it’s different from other regional civic organizations
• The “triple bottom line” lens and what it means in real-world decision-making
• Collaboration as a discipline: networks, coalitions, alignment, and shared accountability
• The tension between urgency and trust-building in regional problem solving
• Livability Poll takeaways: what residents say are the biggest issues right now
• Funding, capacity, and what it would take to scale collective impact

Chapters & Time Stamps

00:00 – Welcome + “alphabet soup” of regional orgs
01:00 – Valley Vision’s origin story and purpose: leadership roundtable + regional stewardship
03:10 – Triple bottom line values: sustainability, equity, and prosperity—without tradeoffs
04:05 – Facilitator and values-driven: why Valley Vision isn’t a neutral “yes to everything” org
07:20 – Where projects come from: contract work, mission alignment, and long-running initiatives
08:45 – What collaboration really looks like (and why it’s not flashy)
12:20 – Impact example: Cleaner Air Partnership and long-term systems change
16:20 – Livability Summit: building a regional collaboration conference + shared data
17:40 – Livability Poll: top issues residents name (housing, wages, healthcare access)
19:35 – Housing questions that split the region 50/50—and what that tells us
22:05 – Funding model: grants, contracts, and the challenge of funding “systems-level” work
24:40 – The coming nonprofit shakeout: why deeper collaboration will matter even more
25:10 – Scale + pass-through dollars: bringing investment in and distributing it for regional impact
31:30 – The biggest need: capacity and investment to stay proactive (not only contract-driven)
34:00 –

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