Who we are

Mission statement

Working together to foster a regenerative, sustainable, resilient, equitable, and inclusive community in Jefferson County through both action and education.

Local 20/20 is an incorporated 501(c)3 non-profit in East Jefferson County, actively driving a variety of projects in the arena of community-interconnectedness, sustainability, and resiliency. We acknowledge that the heart of our work is an effort to lessen the sustainability and resiliency disparities that exist across the community that are based on historical factors related to race, national origin, immigration status, and income. We welcome everyone in the community to join us and actively seek partnerships with other community nonprofits, civic organizations, and local government entities with compatible missions. As we have sought to incorporate our social justice values into everything we do, we have archived the work of our  2020-2022 social justice efforts.

Local 20/20 acknowledges the existence of systemic racial and social inequities in our country based on historical precedents that will take decades of antiracist work to overcome. We pledge regular reviews of our programs, goals, and language under the guidance of a DEI expert to ensure that our programs center the inclusion, welcoming, belonging, and active participation of every person in East Jefferson County. With compassion, we remain open to critiques of our activities and programs and are prepared to correct those issues that inhibit participation, rejecting all forms of oppression in our community. We pledge to work everyday to understand what it takes to make positive change toward our collective goals for a fully inclusive community.  

Local 20/20’s mission is to promote sustainability and resilience through advocacy and education. We recognize that our goals of a healthy existence for all can ONLY be achieved through policies that uphold racial and social equity. As we enjoy the benefits of living in this incredible paradise, we also acknowledge that we live on land usurped by European settlers from the Lower Elwha Klallam, the Jamestown S’Klallam, the Port Gamble S’Klallam, the Skokomish, the Chemakum, the Quinault, the Quileute, the Hoh, and the Makah tribes. 

“We can’t really begin to talk about climate justice without including social and racial justice in the conversation.”  –  Ju-Pong Lin

What we do

Most of what happens in Local 20/20 happens in Action Groups, each focused on a different (though interrelated) aspect of sustainability, with a “steering council” serving in an administrative capacity and as a networking hub. Check out the Action Groups menu above to learn more, and also check out our posts, which can be sorted by category. And here 2023 Accomplishments for Local 2020  is our 2023 Year End Summary.

Keep abreast of the latest goings-on in the resiliency sphere by checking out the Local 20/20 Weekly Announcements newsletter. Events might include films, presentations, meetings, work parties, festivals … anything which has a bearing on Local 20/20’s mission statement – not just those sponsored by Local 20/20.  You will also find instructions for posting your own event.

Action group meetings and other Local 20/20 events can be found on the Calendar as well.

How we are organized

Beyond that, and by design, the organizational structure of Local 20/20 is hard to pin down. Operating as a kind of adhocracy based on the concept of chaordic design, it grows (and wanes) in an organic way, in whatever direction the collective focus and energy dictate at the time. Groups form, other groups go dormant. Not uncommonly, offshoots of Action Groups spin off as relatively autonomous and self-sustaining entities.

There is a lot of energy for sustainable living here on the North Olympic Peninsula. The way in which Local 20/20 has unfolded is a testament to what can happen when we provide a space for that energy and then stand out of the way.

Our Story

Inspiration

Local 20/20 as a venture was first inspired by the WELL project in Willits, California, after a presentation in Port Townsend by Brian Weller back in 2006. Brian explained how neighbors began working together to ensure their community was ready for disasters, from oil shortages to earthquakes. He shared how they looked at the assets in the community and found real community wealth, consisting of both natural and human capital, which had been overlooked in the past. But now, by cooperating, they could get things done that previously were either not considered or thought impossible.

Participants easily recognized the parallels between the challenges facing Willits and our own rural community here in East Jefferson County. Within a month, people had self-selected into various interest areas and began meeting regularly to keep the discussions going. Soon they began working together on a large array of projects. At some point a name emerged: Local 20/20… meant both as a measure of clear seeing, and as a target year for attaining some measure of self-reliance and sustainability.

Operating Principles

After a year of trying to answer the question of “Just what is Local 20/20?”, a cross-section of founders convened at an annual retreat in an effort to define an answer. The end result is a document – Chaordic Design – intended to provide a working framework to guide the organization’s efforts as it moves forward. It seeks to give some definition to the organization while still preserving that measure of chaos that allows the unexpected to inspire new courses of action and new ways of approaching them.

The document remains the best description of what Local 20/20 is and how it operates.

Officialdom

Eventually the day came when Local 20/20 needed to become an entity that a person could write a check to. The fact that this day came three years after formation is a testimony to what can be done on a virtual shoestring.

In 2009, Local 20/20 incorporated as a nonprofit in in Washington state. This process involved writing a set of bylaws – not an easy feat for an organization (more or less) based on chaordic design principles. The approach was to provide required information with a minimum of elucidation and then not pay too much attention to it.

Applying for tax-deductible 501(c)3 status with the IRS was the next logical step, but did not happen until 2014. It had not been required before this since the gross receipts of Local 20/20 had been so low.  But times they are a-changin’. The challenge now is to try to stay small enough to remain flexible and legally uncomplicated, yet have enough cash flow to open up project options that we have not been able to consider before.

The Larger Network

The good news is that Local 20/20 is not alone in the recognition that “going local” is an important step toward our continued thriving on the planet.  While our focus remains E Jefferson County WA, it can be helpful to see what other similar organizations are doing and how they have dealt with some of the obstacles that arise.

In 2007, Local 20/20 was involved in the formation of SCALLOPS, Sustainable Communities ALL Over Puget Sound. SCALLOPS serves as a network hub for over 60 community organizations, providing channels of communication among them.

In 2012, Local 20/20 joined a global network of organizations known as the “Transition Initiatives Network”, all focused on transitioning from a system that cannot sustain. It was the 1^st on the Olympic Peninsula to become a “Transition Initiative”, the 11^th in Washington State and the 111^th in the U.S. We would love to say we were the 1111^th on the planet, but unfortunately there were only 416 at the time.

Partnering Within the Community

The mission statement of Local 20/20 begins “Working Together” and from the beginning this has been a focus of the organization.

Many Local 20/20 projects have been collaborations with other local organizations. This partnering serves to reduce redundancy of effort, expand available resources, energize the enterprise, and reinforce connections that strengthen community. A number of individual sticks becomes a bundle of sticks and their strength increases multifold.

There is a basic design principle in permaculture, taken from nature: Every element in a healthy landscape plays multiple roles, and every role is played by multiple elements. This makes for a very resilient ecosystem, less dependent on outside inputs. It works for communities as well.

The following diagram lists many of the organizations that have historically partnered with Local 20/20 as a whole or with one or more of its action groups.

This site is dedicated to the memory and vision of Steve Hamm.
“We live best when guided by the light from our hearts.”
– Steve Hamm “The One and Only Life of Many”, November 2013