On May 7th from 1:00pm to 3:00pm the MWP's Professional Writing Committee will host the inaugural Writing for Community Engagement Conference. This event will be held as an extension of the Global Arts, Media, and Writing Studies' end-of the-semester showcase.

The conference will consist of two hour-long panels, Writing for Building Nonprofits and Publishing for Community Engagement.

Event Registration: https://ucmerced.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_08c2UhF8TzOLAonWcgFkMg 

SCHEDULE
1:00pm to 2:00pm: Writing for Building Nonprofits panel, featuring the following panelists:

Noelle Chandler, Arts Program Specialist at Merced County Office of Education. In her last few years as a consultant and full-time employee with MCOE (Links to an external site.), she has helped to build a Strategic Arts Plan for the county, begun a network of relationships among stakeholders and supported culturally and linguistically responsive, standards-based arts education on a variety of levels. Additionally, she runs the Merced County Young Artists Network (CYAN), a brand-new collaborative group of young artist volunteers and community builders. 

Yazmin Herrera, Co-founder and Associate Director of Programs at Digital NEST, which “connects youth to a skill-building community that transforms them into professionals who can create successful careers, innovative solutions, and prosperous communities.” She is also one of the founders and the Board Vice President of the Watsonville Film Festival.  

Victoria Vrana, Deputy Director of Philanthropic Partnerships for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Vrana leads the Giving Ecosystems and Giving by All work for the Philanthropic Partnership team, including initiatives that focus on policy, data, and infrastructure and efforts to encourage everyday giving in the U.S., China, India, and the Middle East. (Vrana is a graduate of Merced High School!)

2:00pm to 3:00pm: Publishing for Community Engagement panel, featuring the following panelists:

Matt Niswonger, Editor-in-Chief, and Cathy Claesson, Publisher and Senior Account Executive, of Adventure Sports Journal. Niswonger and Claesson are two of the three co-founders of the publication (Panel moderator Christa Fraser is the third co-founder.), which recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary in print. The publication has followed the rise of adventure and outdoor culture and sports in California and beyond. It has also served to anchor many outdoor communities in California. 

Tom Honig, Writer for the Panetta Institute for Public Policy. Honig is a longtime journalist in the Monterey Bay area, specializing in politics and government. Honig held a variety of positions during a thirty-five-year career at the Santa Cruz Sentinel, starting as a reporter in 1972 and serving as editor-in-chief and lead editorial writer from 1992 until 2007. He has also worked as a freelance journalist and as a public relations executive. Additionally, he has served as a member of the Monterey Herald Editorial Board.

Meanwhile, please mark your calendars for this exciting event! 
Please direct questions to Christa Fraser at cfraser3@ucmerced.edu.