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Exploring the city of Portland at night, I was lucky to hear the Oregon Symphony perform that night

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The fellowship begins and what an amazing opportunity this is! For the first time I am able to fully dive into my work with nonprofits in my community, now with the support of my host organization Santa Cruz Community Foundation and all of the ERC partners. The ERC kickoff week in Portland, Oregon was eye opening and inspiring. I’m not from a traditional background in ED so it really felt like a crash course, learning from experts and observing best community-based practices from around the country. Meeting all of the fellows in the program and learning about their diverse backgrounds showed me that the next 2.5 years would be a huge learning experience. After my week in Portland I felt I had a much deeper understanding of the economic fabric of the United States and how my border community in southern AZ fits into the big picture. I also came back home with new perspective on my own work, seeing where I'm on the right track and where I can explore new strategies.

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This month involved many one-on-one meetings with nonprofit organizations, as well as attending numerous board meetings. Our county was a finalist for the EDA Recompete grant and I helped coordinate nonprofit participation through community meetings, providing TA to nonprofit boards as they prepared theories of change and other supporting materials for their application. I also led two group walking tours of downtown Nogales (something that will continue to happen often throughout the year.) With so much political attention on the border region I started receiving requests for interviews from reporters: CNN, NPR, and many international news outlets.

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Orkesta Mendoza performing at the Wittner Museum

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My work is focused more and more on downtown Nogales, where many nonprofits are starting to activate spaces on Morley Avenue (our Main Street.) My downtown tours through Border Community Alliance continue to happen with regularity. I also continue to meet and work with consultants on the EDA Recompete finalist proposal. Through my role as a fellow I’m attending meetings with NALCAB regarding affordable housing and also have worked closely with a downtown redevelopment committee through the City of Nogales. We had a large collaborative event that involved two concerts in one night and dinner at the community kitchen in between shows. This was a great success because the Wittner Museum, Nogales Community Development, and a local restaurant called Cocina La Ley brought a lot of life to downtown that night, something that had not been seen in years. *Shoutout to ERC Fellow David Thalenberg who drove down with friends from Tucson for the event! :)

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One of our many Morley Arts District walking tours... these events are great because we bring people to all of the local businesses and galleries, later on these participants bring friends, and the cycle continues.

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I helped coordinate an event called “Jaguar Rising” in downtown Nogales that included 22 nonprofits collaborating as co-sponsors. It was an excellent convening of organizations from both the East and West sides of Santa Cruz County. The Wittner Museum also hosted a water forum presented by ASU. This event brought together water experts, as well as mayors from both Nogales (US and Mexico), and the US and Mexican Consulates for a panel discussion. The community spaces in downtown Nogales have been an excellent resource and by this month it became very clear how much need there is in the community for “3rd places”, people seem energized by the reactivation of downtown and are bringing their ideas forward. May was also our ERC federal resources training in Washington DC. It was a great experience and I especially enjoyed getting to know the fellows better this second trip.

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Ribbon cutting ceremony for 0S3 Movement Youth Center

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This month I worked closely with my host to schedule two nonprofit workshops for the accelerator program. We discussed themes and planned to offer the first two workshops in the fall. An exciting milestone was that 0S3 Movement, a local nonprofit focused on cycling, opened a new youth center next to the Wittner Museum. 0S3 is an organization I’ve supported over the course of the last year… we were able to get them free space on Morley Avenue through a grant program and after a year of being downtown they organized and purchased a neighboring building (another long time empty space activated!) One of the main activities this month was preparing for an EDA virtual site visit for the Recompete grant. The process of getting all of the stakeholders and various organizations together was ambitious (over 100 partners) and many strong relationships were established. Another important set of meetings that occurred were with representatives from GSA and EPA. I was able to present on ongoing efforts of cultural nonprofits downtown and how their work can be integrated into the international border redesign (DeConcini project.)

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Southern AZ EDA Recompete Partners. In July we learned that our finalist application wasn't accepted, it was difficult news to accept because of the gargantuan effort it was to prepare all of the component projects. The silver lining is that many connections between organizations were made and there are plans to move forward.

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I continue to work with my host on plans for nonprofit workshops on governance and grants. This month I worked closely with Nogales Community Development to work on a strategic plan for their empty properties. I also assisted the Pimeria Alta Historical Society and Museum with some of the federal compliance requirements. Mariposa Community Health Center has taken an interest downtown and I am helping them coordinate several events for their staff and health providers. By this six month point I have a wide range of nonprofits that I’m providing support to on a regular basis. Many of the nonprofits provide valuable services to the community and are volunteer run; the time I’m able to invest in their work has been greatly appreciated.

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Disaster strikes: Ceiling at La Linea Art Studio caves in due to extreme monsoon weather complications. I supported the effort to get it all redone... La Linea is one of the primary meeting spots for downtown and a leader in the Morley Arts District initiative.

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August was a busy month for grants. I provided TA to several arts organizations as well as individual artists applying for program funding. I am proud to say that in the fall all grants were awarded! My host and I confirmed the accelerator workshops on governance and grants for October 10 and 29. In August I was invited to participate in a stakeholder meeting with GSA / EPA re: the new border port design in preparation for two large community meetings in October. During the monsoon season several organizations had issues with flooding in their historic buildings, the rains were intense this summer and a lot of sweat equity was put in when solving each flooding episode. I won’t go into too much detail but the ceiling of a popular downtown gallery caved in. The silver lining is that we had many volunteers and people came together to solve the problem, and now they have a new ceiling- luckily all of this didn't happen during a public event.

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Exhibition at La Linea Art Studio titled Mexico Rojo by Vanessa Saavedra. After the ceiling debacle, we cleaned up the space and got the next show ready. Having exhibits ready to go is essential for our walking tours and meetings/events. La Linea has done a lot to host other nonprofits and their endeavors.

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In September we had our first theater events on Morley Avenue at the Wittner Museum, they were well received and I think unexpected for most people. We also presented a new visual art show at La Linea Art Studio. A team from the Arizona Community Foundation came to interview my host mentor and I on our work in downtown Nogales for a feature in their annual report. ACF is the largest philanthropic entity in the state and we are honored they want to support the border region. In mid-September ERC attended the IEDC annual conference in Denver. I felt energized from the conference and grateful for the opportunity to hear so many government and economic development leaders from around the country present.

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2nd accelerator workshop hosted by the Wittner Museum and my host's Center for Healthy Nonprofits

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Our first two accelerator workshops were a success. Partnering with the Center for Healthy Nonprofits, the workshops on governance and grants were well attended and dynamic for participants. In October we also had two large community in-person events with the GSA and EPA teams working on the international port of entry redesign. I presented on nonprofit work downtown and also shared my personal perspective on important considerations. I was glad to see so much engagement from community members and I was reminded of many of the principles I’ve learned through our ERC learning weeks and conferences during the meetings. I felt it was a very open dialogue and the representatives coming from DC seemed eager to learn from the community.

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Day of the Dead Festival procession on Morley Avenue and along the border. Carlos Ibarra had just completed his mural depicting the sister cities of Nogales US & Mexico so it was a mural reveal event as well.

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We are starting to see more interest from Tucson and Phoenix organizations in collaborating with border region nonprofits. I met with the Tucson Museum of Contemporary Art Executive Director to plan a potential grant collaboration for art education programs led by MOCA and La Linea Art Studio. The funding opportunity is from the Mellon Foundation, a new initiative centered around borderlands art and culture. The City of Nogales downtown committee finalized a plan for the updates in Karam Park and Morley Ave, including a much-needed renovation of park bathrooms and building a welcome arch at the entrance of downtown. The arch location was decided based on the new international port re-design footprint… although the size and location of the port has not been disclosed, we wanted to make sure the arch would not be disturbed in years to come. I also participated in a committee to find a new director for an archive project at the Pimeria Alta Historical Society. The Day of the Dead Festival on Morley Avenue was very well attended and provided opportunities for local performers and vendors. I supported the Cultural Arts Committee with the planning and we used La Linea as a homebase for operations.

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Nogales and our efforts downtown were featured in the Arizona Community Foundation annual impact report. After the publication came out La Linea Art Studio received several donations cheering us on.

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The year ended on a high note when the AZ Community Foundation board formally approved a grant for $105,000 for Morley Avenue arts initiatives. Through this grant La Linea will support the Morley Arts District’s main events and festivals throughout the year, providing funds to four other nonprofits. Another great funding opportunity comes from my host, the Santa Cruz Community Foundation. They received a challenge grant from the Humberto Lopez Foundation, potentially doubling a donation of $50,000. My host also provided funding for a consultant to create a report for the Morley Arts District. The consultant did an excellent job capturing all of the stories of each nonprofit and we will use this document for a placemaking workshop in 2025. I ended the year by coordinating several events: a concert, mosaic workshop, jazz festival clinics, and several walking tours. Reflecting on the year as a whole, my work has of course revolved around nonprofit engagement, but beyond that it really has been about building relationships and being hospitable to individuals and groups visiting the downtown area. The border region has struggled for many years, but we are seeing a renaissance through the arts and culture work of many passionate nonprofit organizations.

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STEP 4: Critically Analyze your timeline

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STEP 4: Critically Analyze your timeline

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Document for Step 4:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LHG44YnZ41qvnJpCZqnij77vTAj2bmLp/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=105002917077360192821&rtpof=true&sd=true