Valley Vision Connects the Dots for Sacramento's Future With Collaboration and Data.

Evan Schmidt: [00:00:00] I really think and hope that Valley Vision is one of those entities that has the capabilities to bring people together around a variety of issues that helps us all be better together. I also think collaboration is, in practice, is actually a very like not flashy thing to do. Not sexy thing to do, right.

A lot of it is relationship building, it's trust building. It's sometimes going really slow when you'd like to go a little bit faster. It takes a lot of. Relatively mundane work to like help people have a common platform on which they can not only trust each other, but have the right resources together to be able to take action in appropriate ways.

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I'm proud to welcome our newest partner, core executive leadership and comprehensive support [00:02:00] services. Working in it, so you can work on it. Visit cx OR e.com. When you talk about the Sacramento region's future jobs, housing, transportation, climate opportunity, there are a lot of organizations in the conversation, but there's one that consistently shows up at the intersection of all of it.

Valley Vision, I had the privilege of sitting down with Evan Schmidt. CEO of Valley Vision, an organization that's been helping shape regional progress for more than three decades. We talk about what makes Valley Vision different and how they bring leaders together to turn data into action. Evan is known for her ability to bring people together, solve complex problems, and drive collaborative action that strengthens communities across the Sacramento region and beyond.

She's also been recognized as one of the region's hundred most notable business leaders as one of Sacramento business journals. Women Who Mean Business [00:03:00] has authored scholarly publications and contributes to thought leadership in a variety of regional and statewide media outlets. We're going to talk about how Valley Vision measures success when the issues they tackle air quality housing, healthcare access, workforce resilience aren't quick fixes.

If you've ever wondered who helps connect the dots across the region and how real collaboration actually happens, this conversation will make it click. Evan Schmidt, welcome to the nonprofit Podcast Network. 

Evan Schmidt: Oh, thanks so much, Jeff. It's great to be here. I've been really looking forward to sitting down with you 

Jeff Holden: and I have been so anxious to get you in the studio to talk to you about Valley Vision.

So I, I have to share an observation I get when I'm explaining the incredible resources our region has for businesses. It's a little alphabet soup, mis mixed with organizational nomenclature. And we've got Gsec and you know, greater Sacramento Economic Council. We've got Secog or the Sacramento Aerial Council of Governments.

We [00:04:00] have our metro chambers, our ethnic chambers, and of course there's Valley Vision. 

Evan Schmidt: Yep. 

Jeff Holden: At least you're at the bottom of it. So they don't have to say, where are they? I can't find them. You know, the, the VV will put your, you know. That's right. Easily gives, and we're not really 

Evan Schmidt: an acronym, so we're the least, we're the, the least available for acronym?

For the acronym, right. Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: What is the purpose? You're, you're different than the other groups. What really is the purpose of Valley Vision? 

Evan Schmidt: Well, to start that, I'll kind of go through our history a little bit because I think we have a unique origin story. Been around for about 31 years, and the way Valley Vision came to be, it was a group of CEOs and leaders in the region who were being responsive to the closure of the Air Force bases.

This is back in the mid nineties and said, Hey, we need kind of a leadership round table. For our region that really has an eye out for these big picture issues and is really providing this role of a round table for leadership, but also stewardship, this idea of regional stewardship. And so that's who value [00:05:00] vision has always been.

So one of the core values that we have underneath that is what we call our triple bottom line values. It means all the work that we do. We're equally co-designing towards environmental sustainability, social equity. And economic prosperity. And so we don't have just a value proposition towards one target audience or towards one target issue.

We're really a place-based regional organization looking out for the quality of life for people in our region and also the quality of place of our region. And so that has always been the lens that we've brought into everything that we do. And you know, the continuing work of our board of directors continues to be kind of a table for.

Stewardship leaders for the region, looking out for the, for the best interest of the region as a whole. So that's always set us apart a little bit, and that's always been a set of values that we've been really adherent to. You know, across a really diverse portfolio area of work, and we've always related really well to these other civic organizations.

I do realize that it's probably confusing or there's, there's a [00:06:00] lot of different entities who are playing different roles in our region and, and they are complimentary, and I think this idea of being aligned across these different organizations is really important, which is a function that value vision serves.

I will say at the center of our DNA, along with being triple bottom line values oriented is collaboration. We do a lot of work to create alignment, to lend to and lead a regional agenda, and so oftentimes we're producing data that we share with all of our partner organizations, like the ones that you mentioned and others as well as government partners and policy makers.

We lead a lot of coalitions. We do a lot of network management, so we're bringing all these entities together to say, let's not work in silos. Let's all work together around a common agenda and be. In our lanes where we can do our strongest work. We do a lot of connectivity with the state overall. We're in a few different state networks that connect us to policy and connect us to government leaders as well as other practitioners that are in the field doing kind of this [00:07:00] type of community development work that Valley Vision does.

And so we really, you know, just this long historic role of being a steward for the region, but also representing across the state of California and bringing everybody together around common purpose. 

Jeff Holden: It sounds as if in. Many cases, you're a facilitator. Then on the flip side, you are the resource. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah, that's fair.

That's fair Interpretation. I would say we are a facilitator, but we also are very values driven. So we're not a neutral party that will just absorb everybody else's agenda. Right. We will push forward this triple bottom line. Type of agenda. And I think that that's, it's important for us to have a really robust lens around that.

Like, you know, 'cause when, when we're thinking triple bottom line, we will not sacrifice environmental issues for economic growth, for example. Mm-hmm. And that becomes, you know, complex in practice. And that means that we don't always align with the full business agenda in the region. We don't always align with the full community agenda in the region.

'cause we're really trying to have this nuanced and [00:08:00] very balanced view. Of placed based asset development for the region. 

Jeff Holden: Boy, I can see at some point on some reports or some propositions, you are not the most favored partner. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah, I think, I mean, first of all, we're a, we're non-partisan and that's not satisfying for some people.

And I also think that we're not an issue oriented advocacy organization. And so that's, those are some of the aspects that make it hard for people to wrap their mind mm-hmm. Around the role that we play. But I truly believe it's a really important role for the region because I think it helps create a platform where people can come together.

It helps us, you know, I think we're very data oriented. Very data driven. We not only produce those resources around data, but we also really try to drive a data driven agenda. Mm-hmm. And we also try to put, help, support the infrastructure in place to help people be civ civically engaged. We do a lot of community engagement, that's part of our data driven, um, value proposition.

So it's not just quantitative data, but [00:09:00] also lived experience. So we try to bring this. To a wide base of partners to help inform action moving forward. So we're not neutral, but we also are not closely aligned to any particular position. And that can, that nuance can make us a complex organization to understand.

Jeff Holden: I can appreciate that too, from the various viewpoints that come in mm-hmm. And want that resource. But it may not say exactly what they would like it to say. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah, it's we, we are not always satisfying to all people. I'll say that. And we also work across a wide spectrum of stakeholders. So we'll work with civic leaders in the region.

We'll work with CEOs in the region. We also do a lot of work at the community ground level. We have projects working in environmental justice spaces. We work with community partners. And so it really is a very bridging role. And I see that as part of the. What I see is like challenging and complex role of bridging across different topical and different, different interest base for the, for the good of the region overall.

Jeff Holden: Boy, as the, uh, as the leader of that organization too, you can put yourself [00:10:00] in some awkward positions sometimes. I can imagine the conversations with certain community leader or leadership or organizations. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah, I, you know, I'm a diplomat at heart. I've always been that way. I'm a, I'm a middle child. I like, I feel like what I bring into this space is usually like a very measured view, and I like to think of values driven kind of steady hand.

I, that's, that's what I think I bring to the organization and, and for me, it's a good fit for an organization like Value Vision because we do have to walk those challenging lines. 

Jeff Holden: And as a compliment, I would say, I've heard that from most of the people I speak with. 

Evan Schmidt: Oh, thank you. 

Jeff Holden: Where it, it, it can be different with other organizations.

The projects that you do, the projects that you take on, do they originate more often inside, out or outside in? Is it somebody coming to you and say, we need to, or is it the organization itself saying we need to? 

Evan Schmidt: I'd say from a, from the business perspective of it, it's usually people coming to us saying, we need you [00:11:00] too.

So we do a lot of contract work, but we have a lens. I mean, first of all, we have to be mission aligned and we really look to leverage. First to co-design contract work that we're doing and then leverage our overall mission and and purpose in the region. So we, people might come to us to do work, but we wouldn't do something that's on that's not consistent with our core set of strengths and our core values and mission.

Mm-hmm. But a lot of our work is working with partners on collaborative projects and then there's a fair amount of work that we've been carrying for a long time that kind of is, is just part of our. Maybe it started with somebody else, but then it kind of really became part of our thing. And I would name, you know, something like, uh, the cleaner air partnership that we've been managing mm-hmm.

For 15 plus years. We're the workforce intermediary in the region. So that means we work with our workforce boards, we work with community college and, and universities as well as industry, and help inform talent pipelines and make sure that our training and education providers are responsive to, to industry needs.

So these are things that are. [00:12:00] They are contracts for us, but they're also really consistent with our core strength set and our core set of values. 

Jeff Holden: You have a reliance or maybe a codependency or multidisciplinary input. I mean, you need it from a variety of sources. You've mentioned collaboration a couple times already, and we haven't even gotten to the question of it, but it'll be a little bit different when we discuss it in that sense, what.

Does it look like for you in a collaborative effort? You know, as you work with collaborators, you know, who could they be? And from just the surface discussion, it seems like many. 

Evan Schmidt: Absolutely I would. Hundreds, we have hundreds of of partners at any one time that we're working with. And it depends a lot around the scope of work that we're doing.

Mm-hmm. And just to give you a sense, we have, we do work on a really broad set of issues because we're place based, because we have that broad triple bottom line value set. So we work in broadband and digital equity. Mm-hmm. We work in both. Um, workforce development, which I just described a little bit. We do [00:13:00] economic development work, we work in climate resilience.

We work in food and ag systems and we work in kind of healthy communities, types of initiatives, and so really broad set of topical areas and collaboration can look different according to what topic area we're working within. But I would say overall we work with government partners. We work with industry, we work with a lot of community based organizations, educational systems.

We really work across the gamut of partnerships. This idea of what does collaboration look like for us? I mean, I think we really aspire to be best in the region when it comes to collaboration practices. And so for me, that really looks like, you know, how are we sharing data? How are we sharing accountability?

How are we helping people stay in their lanes and helping support. Through technical assistance and other things, others to be successful. And I really think and hope that Valley Vision is one of those entities that, that has the capabilities to bring people together around a variety of issues that [00:14:00] helps us all be better together.

I also think collaboration is a, a. In practice is actually a very, like, not flashy thing to do, not sexy thing to do. Right. A lot of it is relationship building, it's trust building. It's sometimes going really slow when you'd like to go a little bit faster. Mm-hmm. It's, um, it, it takes a lot of a.

Relatively mundane work to do that, to like help people have a common platform on which they can not only trust each other, but have the right resources together to be able to take action in appropriate ways. 

Jeff Holden: I love hearing a research organization though, say, love to go a little faster. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. 'cause 

Jeff Holden: sometimes it's so slow and so drawn out.

If the impetus is there to move it forward, the likelihood it'll happen sooner than later. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. And we are collaboration oriented, but we're also outcomes oriented. So we are very mindful of the urgency of issues. So it's not an academic exercise. Mm-hmm. You know, our research isn't an academic exercise.

It's always has to be. We actually always say actionable [00:15:00] research. Because if we're doing research, research, it should be to address a specific problem with a, or a specific issue with a specific expected outcome that we can move towards. 

Jeff Holden: Well, you just led perfectly into the next question, which is how do you gauge success?

How do you gauge the impact that you're having in the communities? And, and maybe give it as a, you know, an example of something. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah, well, we are metrics driven and so across every project that we have, you know, one of the first questions we ask of our staff is, what change are you trying to make in the world?

And how will you know if you've made it? Mm-hmm. And so that's really specific to all of our different, to our different programs. 

Jeff Holden: You recently did a livability summit. 

Evan Schmidt: Mm-hmm. 

Jeff Holden: Maybe that's a great example to demonstrate the impact of something that. You provide, and this is, this is done every couple of years, if I'm not mistaken, correct?

Evan Schmidt: Yes, that is correct. And I was gonna give a couple of exams, a couple of examples of, of impact data that we've tracked over the last few years. Perfect. [00:16:00] Um, one thing I would note I mentioned already, the cleaner air partnership, which has been operating for. 30 plus years, and we've been involved for the last 20 or so, but just a couple months ago, we were celebrating the attainment of the 2008 ozone standard that has been met as part of our region.

So that means that our region has always struggled with air quality issues. Mm-hmm. Mostly because of our geography that we're downwind from the Bay Area. That's a, that's an issue, but we also struggle with vehicle miles, travels, emission, and other, other things in the region. So there's. That's been a coalition that we've been working on for many years to try to move that number.

So it was great to see that actually happen. And that's an example of long-term success metrics. That's one thing that I think can be challenging about measuring our success, is that we're not just looking for milestones of we brought together 50 people or whatever. It's more like, what? How are we. In a long term way, changing systems.

Mm-hmm. And that takes a long time to measure, but we definitely are mindful of both. Like what are some of the short term milestones that we can gauge as we go, but then also really looking for those big picture [00:17:00] kind of system changes that we maybe has been working on towards for a long time. 

Jeff Holden: Well, an air quality food, water, these are big issues.

Yeah. They've always been big issues and you're not going to see a result in a short period of time that they just. Take a long time to get results depending on what it is that you're trying to accomplish on top of it could be longer, could be a little bit shorter, but still, and now we look at some of the things that you are deeply embedded in.

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. You 

Jeff Holden: know, with, with food and water and air quality, they're monumental. Yeah. They're, they're just monumental in terms of their impact on the community. And to say that we went from point A to point B over some period of time. And if I'm not mistaken, when we were talking a little bit earlier, you have roughly 30 projects going at this point in time.

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. We typically have 25 to 30 projects going at any one time, which keeps our staff really busy. 

Jeff Holden: Well, and you, I can only imagine that's a lot of balls in the air. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. And 

Jeff Holden: it's a [00:18:00] lot of different people that you are dealing with at any given point in time as well, because each project has its multitude.

Of influencers. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: How does, how does the staff and the team and you manage all that activity? 

Evan Schmidt: Well, I love it. I have to say I'm somebody who really likes to be working on different things at different times and have a lot of variability in my day, and so sometimes I can end a work day and feel.

So privileged, like, man, I got to talk about broadband and try to solve problems around that in the morning. And then we got to talk about food access and like what are the issues and what can we do about that? And then we were into economic development, like such different topics, different groups of really talented smart people.

Mm-hmm. And really everyone working to make the region a better place. So I feel really privileged to be in a position where I can be in those rooms and be like, problem solving around all these challenging things. I would say for our staff as a whole, it's definitely a challenge. We do a lot. To try to create connectivity just across our staff because we are at risk of [00:19:00] siloing ourselves, right?

Sure. We have staff that are really just focused on economic development. Sometimes it's hard to get them connected with our disaster preparedness staff, so we do a lot of design inside the organization. We even just did at our last staff retreat, we did speed dating of talking about your projects and like some of your main topics, topics that you're working on, because we just felt like we need to create these points of exposure for our staff.

Like just a multitude of topics that we're all working on. Day to day, 

Jeff Holden: I can only imagine the end result of the conversations after all that took place. Like, really? I had no idea. And you really are, and maybe we should talk about 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah, 

Jeff Holden: I I, I can just see a lot coming outta that. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. And I remember one of our first CEOs for Valley Vision, Susan Frazier, she had this framework of maximizing collisions.

That's what collaboration is. And so we think about that with staff of maximizing our collisions of ideas so that we can cross fertilize for each other's work. 

Jeff Holden: We'll return to this incredible discussion of the [00:20:00] future of our region with Evan Schmidt of Valley Vision. Right after we hear from the people helping us get these stories heard.

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Jeff Holden: If you're interested in learning more about [00:21:00] how CORE may help your organization, visit CXOR e.com. 

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Western Health advantages more than a health plan. It's a partner in your purpose. Explore your options today@westernhealth.com. Western Health Advantage, healthcare with Heart designed for those who give back. Let's talk about one of those impact programs, and that was the livability summit that you just did?

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: With tangible results and, and some really. Important projections that we'll have the link posted on the show notes so people can get to it. Tell me a little bit about that. 

Evan Schmidt: Yes. Well, so we just, earlier this month or October, we did our third livability summit that we've, and from the last four [00:23:00] years.

And the idea behind the summit, which is the event, is creating a collaboration conference for our region. Mm-hmm. So really leaning into how, how are we helping share data and information about the key issues of our region. Then creating space for people in our region and in our communities to talk with each other, to hear more content, hear different speakers, have kind of a deep networking and discussion experience around the issues of our region.

And so one of the resources that we bring into that space. Is the livability poll. This is one of our, this is actually one of our independent initiatives that, that we, we lead from just as an organization. It's a public opinion poll. We partner with Sac State Institute for Social Research to conduct it up 

Jeff Holden: to your collaboration.

Evan Schmidt: Yeah, exactly. We've been doing it since 2017 and we poll at least twice a year on kind of. Pressing issues of the region. So we'll choose different topics from pole to pole. One that we do every year is a livability poll, and it's our broad based quality of life poll. [00:24:00] Really just looking at what are people's experiences in the region, in their communities or neighborhoods, and what do they think of as kind of the biggest issues that are either creating opportunities or impediments to high quality of life.

So that poll has just been released at the same time as the summit. And if you'd like, I could share some of the high level data and some of the things that came outta, I think so. I think people 

Jeff Holden: would appreciate that. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. One of the questions that we ask is, is just that, like what's the, in your view, what are the top three most pressing issues?

And we, they have a whole list of things to choose from or they can write something in, and we've gotten pretty consistent results around that. I don't think they'll be a big surprise to you or any of the listeners. They're attainable housing. Mm-hmm. So making sure that there's an, there's housing that is affordable and accessible and, and attainable for people in the region.

Livable wages. So that's, and we ask a lot of questions about people's economic security and, and how that's feeling for people. And then this year, one of the top three issues was access to, to healthcare. In the past, it's been high quality education. So that's a little bit of a change. [00:25:00] Mm-hmm. From years past.

Mm-hmm. But those, those are our top three issues. And we really structure the livability summit, the event around deep dives, into those issues, because we wanna be really data driven. That's what's people are experiencing. Mm-hmm. And that's what people wanna dive into more. And so that's what we spent the day doing.

And I also note in our, in our livability summit. We're co-hosted this year with Secog, part of the alphabet soup. Okay. Really close partners, and that's the Sacramento Area Council of Government who is launching their 25 year blueprint. So that's really looking at the future of our region around transportation and land use.

And so it was a great partnership because we were able to bring the data and talk about where are people at. Right now forecast some of these big issues and then also bring in this visioning for the future about where, where are we gonna be in 25 years? What does our region look like at that time? And so some of the issues, and I'll just use attainable housing as an example, in the poll, we ask questions about, you know.

Do you think that housing development should slow down or speed up in our region? And [00:26:00] that's actually a question we've been asking every year, I think since 2017. And it is always 50 50. Exactly. 

Jeff Holden: I was just gonna say. Yeah, but it's right down the middle. 

Evan Schmidt: Right down the middle to the person. I think there was one person who was.

One person more in speed up than there was okay. In slow down. But that was a ch, that was actually a change from, from last year when we did this, when it was still pretty much 50 50, but anchoring more towards slow down. So I think that's interesting. And then just to, you know, an example from the poll, we also do analysis by a.

Population groups. Mm-hmm. And so if you look at renters versus homeowners for example, that changes a lot. And renters are much more likely to say, speed up housing growth than homeowners are. 

Jeff Holden: Provides access for them. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah, exactly. And we look across race and ethnicity groups. We typically find that.

People of color are more likely to say speed up Again, those are people who have been historically excluded from home ownership over many years. And so really when you look at it from an access perspective, you see those that have [00:27:00] been less able to access housing, really thinking there should be more development going on.

And then we ask, do you think housing should be developed in your community and outside of your or in other existing communities or a new development? And we still get even 50, 50% there. So one of the takeaways is like, people recognize this as a huge need in our region, but there's really very little consensus over what that looks like and how we're setting a vision for that.

So as we move forward, I think really thinking about how are we educating people around housing? How are we bringing people together to explore this further and making, you know, sustainable and viable plans for how we grow as a region and what that really looks like. 

Jeff Holden: If I recall, you said that the recent, his Hispanic economic report also has some of the data from the livability summit.

Evan Schmidt: That's right. Or the 

Jeff Holden: livability poll, I should say. 

Evan Schmidt: That's right. And we really, for us, the poll is what our hope for the poll is that it informs. Policies, practices, programs for folks across the region. Mm-hmm. And so when the Hispanic Chamber [00:28:00] told us they were doing their State of Hispanics event and report, we were really happy to collaborate with them, share that raw, that raw data, and be able to, um, offer them some insights into, you know, what people had to say.

Jeff Holden: Mm-hmm. Let's talk about funding. How is the organization funded? 

Evan Schmidt: We're a mix. So we have some government grants. Mm-hmm. And that makes up some of our funding. We do some fee for service contracts, so that's usually working with local entities, sometimes local government, but other entities as well to do contract work.

And then we have, you know, probably too small of a percentage, but, but a percentage of, of unrestricted funding or contributions. That we raise each year through, through events. Mm-hmm. Through board membership, through other avenues of some philanthropy of fundraising. And so yeah, that, that usually we, so we have a diverse set of funding, but the majority of the majority of it is either in contract or grants for the most part.

Jeff Holden: So you're fairly well protected from. [00:29:00] Some of the stuff that's going on in terms of looking forward. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. And I 

Jeff Holden: would imagine some of your grants are a little bit longer term too. They're not just, you know, a short term, they may be 2, 3, 4 year grants. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah, that's right. And we've seen with federal policy changes, there's certainly, we've seen some changes to our programming, but no existential threat for us, I think for our whole nonprofit sector.

Coming in the next couple years, we're gonna see all kinds of changes and different priorities happening. So that's definitely on our mind as we think about our program of work and how we collaborate, how we like work to create systems that deliver what we need for a region, but do it in a, you know, hopefully efficient way and kind of manage the, the changes that are coming.

Jeff Holden: Yeah, that leadership and civic engagement. Criteria for you may change a little bit, may take on a greater importance as people start to look and say, well what are you gonna do with this organization or these organizations? 

Evan Schmidt: Right. 

Jeff Holden: Where we have seven today or 10 or 12 or 15, they aren't all gonna make it that way.

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. And that's where collaborate like the rubber meets the road around collaboration. Yeah. 'cause that's getting to the next level [00:30:00] of not just like, Hey, let's work together on some initiatives, but really as a sector being like, where is it that we can all get together around one thing and then really be.

Streamlined mm-hmm. In our approach and, and super effective because we need to, I mean, we always need to make every dollar go as far as it can, but I think that's gonna become even more real. 

Jeff Holden: So all this work. How many people? 

Evan Schmidt: 20 people. 

Jeff Holden: You employ? 20 people? Mm-hmm. That's a lot of busy people. 

Evan Schmidt: It's a lot of busy people.

Our staff, I have to say, our staff are super talented, very busy for sure. Just really great group of people though, really passionate about the work. 

Jeff Holden: What's the overall budget you work with on average, let's say? 

Evan Schmidt: Um, this last year was about 16 million in an annual budget, which is, which is fairly typical over the last few years.

A lot of that is passed through dollars. So one thing that we do is we, you know, work to bring new investment in, and that could be through federal, state grants or other funders. Mm-hmm. But hopefully from outside the region. And then we end up [00:31:00] dispersing funding out, so about 12. About 12 million right now is in pass through dollars, and that includes, for example, the initiative.

It's our California jobs First, we Prosper Together initiative, which is an inclusive economic development project in which the state awarded Valley Vision in total about $19 million. Out of that we've passed directly, passed through $9 million mm-hmm. To support other entities, including government education and, and community-based organizations.

Sure. To do direct service work that's supportive of the, the research and the priorities that we, that we built as part of that initiative. 

Jeff Holden: And does that all come back to you then for a summary report? 

Evan Schmidt: We do all the administration on it. And so, so those organizations have to report back to us. Mm-hmm. And they're reporting metrics and we have program officers who are working with them to help provide any assistance that they need to be able to do that.

And then we're reporting back to our funders, and we're also collecting [00:32:00] that impact data on behalf of the region. So for me, that's part of this picture of like, how do we support a whole regional agenda. Mm-hmm. And I think that aggregating of funding and then bringing issues together and kind of these cohort groups is one of the ways we can do that.

Jeff Holden: We're gonna step back just a little bit now for some fun and, and it's a dream fun. There's a futurist out there and says, Sacramento, I'm intrigued by Sacramento. I like this valley vision. Forward thinking, projecting, anticipating organization. And he or she says, I've got a blank check for you. If you gimme the right idea, what are you gonna do with it?

What would you do? 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. That is a fun question, isn't it? I love that. Yeah. And it's actually very well paced with what we were just talking about. Yeah. Because I think that, you know, when I think about what's the best that value, vision can be to the highest need of what we're capable of producing, I really do think about this.

Collective impact model or this, this ability to fully lean into [00:33:00] a shared regional agenda that helps mm-hmm. Elevate our organizations. It helps bring in more investments and it helps elevate our region overall to be more successful across all the important metrics that we all wanna be successful across.

And so I would really look at how is it that valley vision is fully operationalized in being a real source of, of, of data. Full service, source of data, actionable data for our region around key quality of life and resilience metrics. You know, really being that entity that's holding us accountable, that's pushing that forward, and that's bringing agendas and collaboration together around that issue.

I think about all the capacity support that's needed across not just our sector, but our region as a whole. Mm-hmm. Um, and our ability to do collective impact work and what Valley Vision could offer in terms of, you know, I just mentioned. Pass through funding and being and being that type of resource.

But I also think working with our partners like community foundations and others to support really significant [00:34:00] capacity building in working together and in having shared accountability and, and shared outcomes around it. A regional agenda. And I think that, yeah, I think this idea of. Really helping elevate the profile of our region in a really positive way that brings in new resources, that builds our capacity, and that is accountable towards a core set of metrics.

I think that's a, a role that Valley Vision could play really well, and I think we're already doing that in a lot of ways, but I can imagine a lot of ways we could grow and do that more effectively or more that we could do that more on a 

Jeff Holden: larger scale. Larger scale. Yeah, exactly. I, I'm just as, as you're speaking, I'm just thinking.

All the impact opportunities from Community Foundation. So now we're touching community-based organizations. And then the education part, we got our universities, you know, you, you could build this, this yeah. Vision and allow the input to come back. To make it actionable. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah, exactly. And [00:35:00] we, this is not something we, we don't wanna take over the world and do this alone.

It's really about, yeah, no, you couldn't elevate. Yeah, exactly. Really about elevating partners, helping support partners, but then being that entity that brings it all together and helps and helps translate that to real action and progress for our region. Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: Well, I can even see from the literal business sense too.

We're recruiting business through Gsec, you know, and, and trying to establish what that is going to look like through Secog. And then we get it into the local level where it's actually operational with the metro chambers. Right. And it just keeps trickle down, trickle down, trickle down to the smallest of business to where some of those community-based organizations, nonprofits, are actually supporting the small business to grow.

Absolutely. And what a, what a. A different perspective that most don't get to share. Yeah. Because they can't, they don't operate at that level. You're above, you know, the. Boots on the ground operational level. Right. You know, you're looking at it from a higher perspective. 

Evan Schmidt: It's a very system level [00:36:00] function.

Yes. Um, and I also think that, you know, we do a lot of community engagement and, and co-designing with community. Mm-hmm. So being able to bring not just quantitative data, but bring that element in with a regular. Community engagement and mechanisms to, to bring community into these larger agendas. They're often not included.

And being able to elevate that voice, but also integrate it with business interests and, you know, and other aspects of our community, I think that's something Valley Vision can, can really do. 

Jeff Holden: Yeah. Especially when you're talking about quality of life. It's such a broad scope, such a broad swath of.

Perspective from whoever's quality of life means something different to you than it does to me, than it does to everybody that's listening. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And when you're talking about that, I think they're starting to understand what the expectation is that Valley Vision has. Yeah. Because it's, even for me, it's becoming more and more clear as we're we're, we're talking here, oh, you can impact this, [00:37:00] you can impact this.

Coming back off of the, the big vision, what's the greatest need? 

Evan Schmidt: Well, I think what's holding us back from being that entity is, and I, I. I hate to say this as a nonprofit, this is what everybody says, right? It's like the No, not 

Jeff Holden: everybody. Surprisingly, if you're gonna say budget, 

Evan Schmidt: yeah. Well, it's to, to 

Jeff Holden: some degree.

It's investment. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. And I think, um, part of that is we do get pulled by contract work to some degree, and so that'll help, that allows us to take on different pieces of an agenda. But this idea of. Whether you call it a, a hub or an intermediary or that, that collective impact agent, that's just a challenging role to fund because it is very systems level.

Mm-hmm. I think it's incredibly necessary and in the places where we play that role, I can see the results of having that entity that can translate across different groups, that can bring everyone together, that can share those data sets, that can do that project management, that can build capacity where needed.

It makes a huge difference, but [00:38:00] you know, it's not a direct service role. Which makes it, uh, just a little more esoteric, more difficult to explain and more difficult to attract funding into. 

Jeff Holden: It's a bit tangential to the active part of it all, but I can see where here you're going on what is a grander scale, non contracted piece of work, and then an attractive piece of contract work comes in.

Now that takes people off of. The other piece. So now you're dealing with, you know, because you only have a team of 20 

Evan Schmidt: Right. 

Jeff Holden: Unlimited. Keep adding 'em that, that's right. So, so some of this stuff doesn't have to slow down so we can keep going, you know, big on the non-contracted work. Right. But still fulfill what the expectations are for the, the contracted work.

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. No, exactly. And that's the, that's part of the capacity issue. Yeah. That's where you're always juggling it. Mm-hmm. Yep. 

Jeff Holden: Okay. That makes sense. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: If we. Look at all the stuff that [00:39:00] you've got going on, and I'm, I'm looking at it, just going, my goodness. The people that she's got to deal with, having known or know some of them, there's a lot of juggling going on all the time in terms of what you do.

What do you do to relax? Yeah. How does Evan Schmidt take a break from the future of Sacramento weighing on her shoulders heavily? Oh, well. 

Evan Schmidt: I, well, just a little bit about me. I'm, I'm married. I have two teenage kids. 

Jeff Holden: There you go. Right there. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. I live, I've lived in Davis for the last 24 years. That's what brought me to the region was to go to graduate school, Uhhuh, and, you know, my husband and I met prior to that in Colorado, both of us doing outdoor education, like teaching outdoor education.

So we're both very outdoorsy. We do hiking and camping and all that kind of stuff. We have two dogs, two large dogs. So I like doing. You know, I'm pretty community oriented. [00:40:00] Whether at work or at home. We've did, we've had years of doing shared potlucks on Friday nights with our neighborhood friends and family friends, so I like creating those kind of opportunities and participating in that.

I will say that, you know, if you have any tips on how to and how to balance all these things, I feel like I'm in that moment of life with like teenage kids and a high responsibility job and just a lot. Going on that I'm like, what are my hobbies? What do I like to do? Right. Yeah. So I would, maybe I'll get back to you on that, but 

Jeff Holden: when you become an empty nester, it changes a little bit.

Yeah. But then you just absorb more of what you enjoy doing. Yeah. And for some people. If work is what you enjoy, that's, that is balance. Yeah. You know, it's hard to, to gauge what it is at always a third of this, a third of this. No, no, no, no. It's, yeah, it's whatever works for you. 

Evan Schmidt: Well, I definitely enjoy my job a lot and so that helps.

And if I can, if you'll indulge me to tell just a, a short story about that, please. You know, I went to graduate school at uc Davis in the community development Master's program. [00:41:00] Part of that program, they'd have like lunch and learns with practitioners coming in. And so it was then that I was, that I first learned about Valley Vision, the staff person came in to talk about something and I was just like light bulb.

I was like, oh, that's exactly what I wanna do. And so I always like kept that in my head as I was like finishing grad school and you know, maybe taking a little bit of a mandering path as I was having babies and things like that. Mm-hmm. But you know, eventually I got. Got back to Valley Vision because I was like, that is exactly what I wanna do.

And so I've been at Valley Vision now for 11 years. I've been the CEO for five years. But it's been just, just a really great home for me for work. And it really speaks to just exactly the kind of change that I wanna make in the world, the type of person I am and the type of things I wanna do. 

Jeff Holden: I think that's a wonderful little story too.

Either serendipitous that somebody came and spoke or is it coincidental? 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: And, and here you are. 24 years later running the organization. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: If there was a place to be for you, there it was. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: That's fantastic. I did not know that. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: How [00:42:00] about parting thoughts? Anything that you'd like to leave with the audience before we close?

Evan Schmidt: Well, I'd love people to learn more about us. I think that I, I love the opportunity to be here and talk more about what Valley Vision does and hopefully help folks understand more about our organization. But I would love for people to, you know, get on our website, check out our newsletter, check out some of our resources.

Like our most recent livability poll is up on our banner right now on our website. Really easy to find. And that's 

Jeff Holden: simple to download. You can, it, it's free. There's no charge for it. You can just grab, absolutely. 

Evan Schmidt: Yep. Mm-hmm. Yeah. So invite people to learn more. I am, you know, energized by the work. Right now.

It's, it's challenging. I think we're in a really challenging moment, but the flip side of that is that there's a lot of work to do and there's, there's a lot of things that we can all focus on together. And so that piece of being in a place where we do have a platform to bring people together to solve very on the ground regional issues, I.

That energizes me, you know? And I really do feel as committed as ever to doing the best I can in [00:43:00] my role to be able to do that. Mm-hmm. So, so yeah, I, I would love to just have people lean in and learn more. 

Jeff Holden: Well, for those who are not watching, but listening, I can see it in your face. I mean, you, you light up, you smile, you're excited talking about it, which is wonderful to see.

Scott Thomas: Yeah. 

Jeff Holden: I mean, 

Scott Thomas: it, 

Jeff Holden: it is a visceral. Thing for you. And I think people sense that so they, they know when you come to speak with them that what you're talking to them about is something that's really important to you and that you are sincere about it, that you're going to follow through, you're going to do what is expected to get done through the organization.

So I, I applaud you for that. 

Evan Schmidt: Oh, thank you Jeff. This has been a delight to be here talking with you. 

Jeff Holden: How about best place to go to find everything? So 

Evan Schmidt: just www.valleyvision.org. That's, it's got all of all of our stuff there. 

Jeff Holden: And the good news is for, you know, back to the very first opening line with the, you know, alphabet soup and nomenclature Valley vision's.

Pretty easy to remember. And that's all that's in it. It's just valley vision.org. You'll find it. That's right. And if you take 

Evan Schmidt: [00:44:00] one thing away, we are not an optometrist, um, company. 

Jeff Holden: I bet you get that, don't you? 

Evan Schmidt: Yes, we do. 

Jeff Holden: Oh my gosh. Well, Evan, knowing that the region supports an organization like Valley Vision really makes a bold statement for our future.

And the fact that you are here. 31 years later and still going really, really strong. I, I think it makes a, a, a really bold statement. It's, it's great to hear that that is a commitment made by all the entities, all the collaborators, to see an organization that looks at the future of Sacramento the way that you do, and provides the information back that you do with the impact and the resources and the data that is so necessary for so many decisions to be made.

So for you, your team and all the people that that 20 working hard. I just have this vision of 20 treadmills. You know, just going 24 7 of all the work that you're doing. Thank you. 

Evan Schmidt: Thank you so much. 

Jeff Holden: What a pleasure. 

Evan Schmidt: Yeah. This has been great. Thank [00:45:00] 

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