Jennifer Gray Thompson, CEO of the Sonoma-based nonprofit After The Fire, is on Forbes ‘50 over 50: Impact’ list of national changemakers. The publication called Thompson a leader in the recent field of megafire disasters across the American West. Thompson’s path to leadership took several turns, Forbes noted. She was a high school dropout, a…

When the Tubbs Fire — one of over a dozen Northern California blazes that burned for weeks in October 2017 — was finally fully contained on October 31, the damage was hard to quantify. In total, the Tubbs Fire burned more than 5,600 structures and nearly 37,000 acres of land. In Santa Rosa alone, over 2,800 homes…

October’s wildfire fires did not take Jennifer Gray Thompson’s home, nor did it cause her to “run for my life barefoot on fire-covered roads.” But it altered her life, she says. Working for Sonoma County Supervisor Susan Gorin (who did lose her home) at the time, Thompson said, “I learned I could work for 18…

Napa Valley rises from the ashes of last October’s wildfires to rebuild stronger and better. The scorched scenes of California’s wine country dominated news programs in October 2017. I was heartbroken to think Napa would never be the same again. How wrong I was. Napa Valley is as vibrant as ever with lush landscapes and…

Two years ago, in the tumultuous aftermath of the devastating wildfires, the Rebuild NorthBay Foundation was formed, with Jennifer Gray Thompson as executive director. The Sonoma native had previously been an assistant to Supervisor Susan Gorin. Suddenly, with the backing of developer/lobbyist Darius Anderson and other influential figures, she was tasked with getting to work on short-term…

Sonoma and Napa are bracing themselves for a difficult fire season with an arsenal of techniques, from innovative building practices to new city ordinances. On the afternoon of Saturday, June 8, 2019, residents of Sonoma and Napa saw the first ominous sign of the wildfire season: Plumes from the Sand Fire in the county directly to…

Leaders in Sonoma Valley have joined together to launch a broad-based coalition to ensure all Sonoma Valley residents are food secure during the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place order. The goal of the new Sonoma Valley Food Security Task Force is to bring together Valley leaders to work collaboratively to mitigate the challenges faced by our…

Rincon Valley firefighters rest in the archway and against the fireplace of a home on Wikiup Drive in Santa Rosa after the Tubbs firestorm swept through Oct. 8 and 9. These firefighters were first on the scene and had been on the job for four days when these photos were taken Oct. 12. ON OCTOBER…

Amid the crumpled, twisted remains of the Plumas County town of Greenville, few people stirred, other than the constant caravans of disaster response teams driving through what had until recently been a picturesque Gold Rush town. Against the sprawling devastation, Jennifer Gray Thompson stood out, calmly snapping photos of a scene that seemed startling, yet…