As Legislative Policy & Community Engagement Manager, Miles represents Sonoma Clean Power in the state Capitol and leverages the organization’s unique position on the cutting edge of the energy transition to help inform policy discussions around clean energy, infrastructure buildout, electric rates, and more. He also leads community engagement efforts for Sonoma Clean Power’s GeoZone initiative, working to build support for local, reliable clean energy.
Prior to joining Sonoma Clean Power, Miles spent seven years in the California Legislature as an aide to State Senator Scott Wiener and Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas, having previously worked as a legal assistant on the Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign. He is a graduate of Williams College, where he majored in Political Economy.
Our speakers for January 30, 2025, were Chase and Emma Cianfichi for Chasin Goat Grazing, a family-owned goat and sheep grazing company. Both Chase and Emma attended Fresno State University and majored in animal science. Emma earned her master’s degree in Agricultural Education from Cal. State Chico. She is the granddaughter of Carolyn Anderson. Chasin Goat Grazing LLC specializes in contract grazing using sheep and goats for effective fire prevention services throughout California. The company has ongoing contracts with public agencies, including water and fire districts, and with a variety of private landowners. In Sonoma County they work at Fountaingrove, Keysight, and Sonoma Water, to name a few.
The company contracts with public and private landowners to graze its animals using targeted grazing. Targeted grazing optimizes the time, frequency and intensity in which the animals graze. They do not allow the animals to graze through the vegetation down to dirt because leaving the soil without cover can cause flooding and excessive mud. Chase says it is a giant game of leap frog. In a large field they create a pen, allow grazing to about 2-4”, and then move the animals to a new pen. The benefits of targeted grazing are fire fuel mitigation, carbon sequestration, putting more nitrogen back into the soil, and fostering native plants by focusing on grazing non-natives. The company’s goats and sheep graze around Spring Lake building firebreaks.
The business requires a variety of equipment, including a heavy truck that can hold 145 sheep. They use electric fencing with posts every 6-8 feet. They also use solar panels, stock trailers, signs, insurance. The one thing they need on every job is access to water. They also use dogs to watch the stock and look out for coyotes and other predators, including several Great Pyrenees and a Border Collie. They use Boer Spanish Cross and Kiko goats, and Dorper Sheep on their projects. In the summer they normally run about 1,900 animals. They take the animals down to the Fresno area in the winter during rainstorms; it does not rain as much down there and the animals do better in a drier climate. The animals have an 8-year life cycle, and they routinely monitor how animals are progressing as they age. 250-300 goats can get through one acre in a day! They employ six herders from Mexico and Brazil, most of whom have worked for the company for many years.
Thank you Chase and Emma for the great presentation about your remarkable company and its many benefits to Sonoma County!
On a regular basis, our resident photo pro Warren Smith, submits pictures of what is going on at the weekly meetings. You can always find the most recent pictures at the websites photo journal called "Meeting Sighting" Please note that all the meeting photos for the entire Rotary year are at this location with the most recent on the last page.
Thanks for all the great pictures Warren!Link to Meeting Sightings. The most recent are on the last page!
Gardens for Health International, a multi-club opportunity.
Antoine Bigirimana of the Rotary Club of Sonoma Valley made a presentation to Sunrise about the Gardens for Health Project in Rwanda. The project seeks to improve vulnerable families’ access to nutritious food and build resilience to climate crises. 720 families with the most severe malnutrition problems will be served by the project. The Rotary Club of Sonoma Valley is the lead club for the project. The objectives include equipping households with climate-resistant, hands-on agricultural techniques and providing access to vegetable seeds by creating communal nutrition-sensitive gardens. The hope is that by using these ideas families will become more climate resilient and increase production capacity of diverse and nutritious food. The project will be overseen by Gardens for Health International. The total cost of the project is expected to be $10,000; they have already raised about $7,000. Antoine’s club is seeking additional donations to total $10,000 from various clubs in our district, including Sunrise.
If you would like to donate, you can send to the Sonoma Valley Rotary Service Fund Foundation, P.O. Box 923, Sonoma, CA 95476.
Above, the 2014 mission to Esperanza ~ Spanish for Hope, captures activity from the vision clinic, across the schoolyard of our dental operations. This writer had two previous trips to the Rio San Juan region, known to our club as Sábalos, a regional crossing between Nicaragua and Costa Rica. A medical-dental clinic is located there, and it became our focal Global Grant to upgrade it significantly. This story has its roots four years prior.
The year was 2010. New to Sunrise, Rich Randolph eagerly trekked off on his first of five dental and vision missions to Nicaragua. Nicaraguan Dentist Xavier Fonseca was filling his Colgate-Palmolive van with oral hygiene kits to distribute along with his clinical skill to our club's multi-day project. Peter Hoberg was in charge among other duties, of ordering lunches from a local cafe. Lots of pollo, peps and coca cola for energy to fuel the active sustained standing hours serving Nicaraguans who had trekked to the clinic for oral and visual relief. Over 300 people were served each day. The venue, a USAID sponsored site from the 1960's echoed a progressive period of international cooperation. For this new Sunriser, seeing Rotarians in their 40's and seventies~ past club president Vickie Lochner was indeed inspiring.
Veteran to other mission projects, Steve Amend help set up my mosquito netting.
Little did I know Xavier would wed another Nicaraguan dentist Ana before the 2012 project and in 2018 extend a Sonoma County visit now in its seventh year with wife Ana, and daughter Ana Lucia. But wait, there is more.
Rafael and Ninoska, our "boots on the ground" logistics team brought their story of gratitude to our 2018 Fundraiser and with the inimitable draw of State Senator-Auctioneer extraordinaire Mike McGuire, inspired partners to pony up a record over $70K for equipping our Global Grant Surgical Center in Sábalos, Nicaragua. That collaboration illustrates the Magic of Rotary and persuasive power if Win-Win cooperation.
Who are you building bridges with? What do you want on your "win board"?
For Xavier and Ana Lucia, their win is a new start here in the United States where they aspire to professionally thrive and spread the inspiration shared with them through Sunrise and our partners who subscribe to our motto "Service Above Self."
A woman has twins and gives them up for adoption. One of them goes to a family in Egypt and is named “Ahmal.” The other goes to a family in Spain; they name him “Juan.” Years later, Juan sends a picture of himself to his birth mother. Upon receiving the picture, she tells her husband that she wishes she also had a picture of Ahmal. Her husband responds, they’re twins! If you’ve seen Juan, you’ve seen Ahmal.”
This month, as we come together for the International Assembly and the Presidential Peace Conference, we celebrate The Magic of Rotary — a unique blend of global connection, vision, and action that empowers us to create lasting change.
One of the most inspiring examples is our Rotary Peace Fellowship program, a cornerstone of Rotary’s mission to build a more peaceful and just world.
For more than 23 years, Rotary Peace Fellowships have been transforming communities. Our Rotary Peace Centers, hosted at leading universities around the globe, have educated over 1,800 fellows who now work in more than 140 countries.
These centers cultivate expertise in fields like conflict resolution, sustainable development, and peacebuilding, preparing fellows to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges. This program exemplifies how Rotary turns vision into action, creating a ripple effect of hope and change.
This month during the Presidential Peace Conference, we celebrate a significant milestone with the opening of our newest peace center in Istanbul. This center will focus on training leaders to address peacebuilding challenges in the Middle East and North Africa, further extending Rotary’s impact.
Peace fellows are dedicated champions of transformation, addressing critical issues such as refugee resettlement, youth and women’s empowerment, and reconciliation in conflict zones. Many founded vital organizations or hold leadership roles in governments, nongovernmental organizations, and international institutions like the United Nations and World Bank.
One inspiring story is that of Ntang Julius Meleng, a 2024 Rotary Peace Fellow at Makerere University in Uganda. Through his Social Change Initiative, Julius has worked to empower young people in Cameroon to take active roles in peacebuilding and leadership.
His project provided training in conflict prevention, civic engagement, and leadership to youths and community officials in areas affected by conflict, equipping people to drive sustainable peace efforts.
Julius harnessed Rotary’s global network to overcome obstacles, including limited funding and security risks, and make a meaningful impact.
The Rotary Peace Fellowship gave Julius the tools and support to turn his vision into reality. His work embodies The Magic of Rotary — the transformative power of connecting people, sharing resources, and uniting for a common purpose.
As we reflect on the achievements of our peace fellows and celebrate Rotary’s enduring commitment to peace, let us also recognize the role that everyone in our network of 1.2 million members plays in creating magic through service.
Together, we can amplify our impact, inspire new generations of leaders, and build a brighter, more peaceful future.
You can find all prior "RI President's Messages" at this LINK
By some measures, great progress has been made in building more peaceful societies around the world. Yet the reality of ongoing regional wars, skirmishes, and violence globally reminds us how far we still have to go. These conflicts affect the humanity of us all, whether they occur far from us or in our own communities.
So, what can Rotary do to build peace?
As a global force for peace and conflict prevention, Rotary addresses the root causes of conflict. Our role at the 1945 United Nations charter is a testament to this enduring commitment.
Another cornerstone of this work is the Rotary Peace Centers program. Through The Rotary Foundation, these seven centers provide fully funded fellowships, empowering individuals to address the complex challenges of conflict and development.
More than 1,800 alumni now work in over 140 countries as champions of peace, creating lasting change in their communities. Consider alumni like Pablo Cuevas, a 2015 peace fellow who leads the Paraguay office of the International Organization for Migration, aiding those displaced by crises. Leni Kinzli, a 2023 graduate, advocates for Sudan’s humanitarian needs with the United Nations World Food Programme. Yuki Daizumoto, a 2007 peace fellow, supports life-changing agricultural and livelihood projects in Afghanistan with the Japan International Cooperation Agency. These individuals embody Rotary’s investment in peace.
This month, the Foundation Trustees will consider a plan to establish our eighth Rotary Peace Center, in Asia, as part of our vision to have peace centers on every inhabited continent by 2030.
But our commitment extends beyond the peace centers. Through Rotary’s partnership with the Institute for Economics and Peace, we have trained over 300 Positive Peace Activators from 60 countries. Our forgiveness and social cohesion curricula help members heal communities. Through our Foundation grants and service, Rotary members are fostering peace by engaging with youths, strengthening civil society, and resolving core issues that can lead to conflict.
At President Stephanie Urchick’s Peace Conference in Istanbul this month, we will celebrate this work and the first class of the Otto and Fran Walter Rotary Peace Center at Bahçeşehir University.
Remember that you are also ambassadors of peace through service projects, exchange programs, and as supporters of The Rotary Foundation.
My wish for 2025 is for peace to take root and flourish ever more widely, with Rotary playing an increasingly meaningful role in that noble pursuit.
You can find all prior "Messages from the Foundation Trustee Chair" at this LINK
Rotary's response to U.S.'s plan to withdraw from World Health Organization
By Rotary International
Rotary notes the recent announcement that the United States intends to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO), a partner in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). We remain resolute in our mission to eradicate polio. As a founding partner of the GPEI, Rotary has for decades worked closely with all the GPEI partners, the U.S. government, and other governments to end polio worldwide. This effort has reduced the number of children paralyzed by polio by 99.9% since 1988. The global effort to eradicate polio has innovated many times over the years to come close to protecting every last child.
Although this decision creates new challenges, Rotary remains dedicated to ensuring that every child is protected from this preventable disease. We are confident that the GPEI will continue to adapt, to innovate, and to implement effective strategies to keep polio vaccines available for every child in the United States and around the world, especially those in the most challenging and remote regions. The most important decisions leading to a polio-free world are made every day by parents who present their children for vaccination.
We remain committed to working with all GPEI partners to fulfill the promise of a polio-free world. Together, we have ended smallpox, and together, we can ensure that polio becomes the second human disease to be eradicated from the planet.
— 22 January 2025
Rotary Club of Santa Rosa Sunrise - Founded June 30, 1986
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