We spent the day with the Sutter/Yuba team. This was my first trip to meet with personnel in these counties; Mark Bell had visited previously. Mark L. and Nicole Marshall-Wheeler found a common bond in that they both just started last Friday! It was a good ‘first county visit' for Mark! The team is a mixture of long-time UC ANR'ers and a number of new ones. The new personnel are in good hands but I get the sense that they don't need much help; they are an ambitious bunch that are prepared for just about anything.

What really struck me about the trip was that the team has made time to find reasons to work together, not letting any program area silos build up around them. While we were at the Learning Garden, Shyra talked to us about the ‘wheelbarrow project'. This is a joint effort between UC CalFresh, Master Gardeners and 4-H. By working together, they found that pooling resources they had more purchasing power than it was individually but that their programmatic impact was greater, too! Instead of purchasing supplies for 3 wheelbarrow projects, they were able to support 10 projects and combine the expertise of nutritionists and gardeners to support youth development beyond that which they could provide independently.

Barbara tells us about the Yuba City Learning Garden

It was motivating to hear that the team makes intentional efforts to find ways to work together to the benefit of their local communities. They did it around soup – yes, soup! Each week, one person brings in broth and everyone else grabs something from their fridge. The final product makes for a bit of a ‘surprise' lunch, but it's always better than if they each ate only the ingredient they brought. The act, itself, builds team and brings everyone together to talk about what's going on in their program areas. Very creative! No wonder there were Star Award winners amongst the team (Shyra and Melissa)!

Imagine if we could all find a way to make the time to explore where synergies could exist. Would we find it rewarding? Or perhaps a way to achieve more that we could alone? Maybe even make things a bit easier for ourselves? I'd love to hear what ideas you have to stimulate synergies and collaborations. I think this is where the Strategic Initiatives fit in – bringing people under an umbrella and creating the opportunity to find ways to accomplish your goals by working with others.

Congratulations to all of the Star Award winners!