Sun Valley Institute for Resilience

Inaugural Forum

Sun Valley Forum on Resilience

July 12-13, 2015

Senator Cory A. Booker will open the Forum with a keynote address at 9 a.m.

http://www.sunvalleyinstitute.org/events/

Where? The Walnut Avenue Mall, Sun Valley Road, Ketchum, Idaho
When? July 12, 2015 9am to 5pm including lunch and a cocktail reception
July 13, 2015 Private session on Impact Investing for Resilience and Partner Organizations meeting
(please email info@sunvalleyinstitute.org if interested in either, thank you)

A renowned public speaker, Senator Booker will share his insights on resilience from his experience as U.S. Senator and as Mayor of Newark, NJ, including rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy and catalyzing an economic resurgence in Newark. Senator Booker has spent 16 years in public office focused on addressing the vital needs of his constituents and the country by putting partisanship aside to get things done. Senator Booker attended Yale Law School and Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar, played football as a tight end for Stanford University and has over 1.5 million Twitter followers. After earning his law degree, Cory moved to Newark, where he served on the Newark City Council and lived for eight years in Brick Towers, a low-income housing complex. He now owns a home and lives in Newark’s Central Ward community.

Leaders in the Wood River Valley of Idaho founded the Sun Valley Institute for Resilience in the Spring of 2015 to ensure the prosperity of this special place for future generations of residents and visitors alike, and to serve as a resource for communities everywhere. Increasing the availability of locally produced energy and food, incenting sustainable water use, and investing in critical infrastructure, such as for communications and health care, will strengthen the resilience of our valley’s economy and quality of life. The first annual Sun Valley Forum brings together global and local resilience leaders to inspire, inform and take action. Hear about innovative public-private partnerships, business models and investment opportunities.

Confirmed speakers include Nancy Kete of the Rockefeller Foundation, Raul Pomares of Sonen Capital, Marco Krapels of SolarCity, Brooks Preston of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Brent Stacey of the Idaho National Laboratory, Gary Dirks of the Global Institute of Sustainability at Arizona State University, Jennifer Leonard of The CAPROCK Group, Jeff Goodell of Rolling Stone Magazine and Michael Shuman, author of Local Dollars, Local Sense. You may learn more and register to join us at http://www.sunvalleyinstitute.org. Please note it is first-come, first-served, so arrive early!

Around the world, resilience is rightly receiving increased attention from individuals, businesses, cities, and nations. The very aspects that make the Sun Valley area so special—its relative isolation, its high-desert climate and its major economic driver being recreation and tourism–also leave the region vulnerable from an economic, energy and environmental standpoint. In partnership with leading foundations, academic institutions, corporations and nonprofits, the Institute brings together local and global resources and expertise to strengthen the area’s ability to bounce back from harm to the local economy, whether from wildfires, poor snowfall or global economic conditions, and to serve as a global resource to increase resilience far beyond.

From the Native Americans, miners and ranchers of Sun Valley’s early days to the Union Pacific engineers who built the world’s first chairlift to those who challenge themselves in its mountains and rivers today, Sun Valley is about history and tradition, grit and perseverance, well-being and enjoyment. The risks, assets and values of Sun Valley make it the perfect home for an institute dedicated to resilience.