How Can We Help Make a Better Future Possible?
Marin Power begins with a very practical question:
- What can we do, with the resources we have, to help a neighbor during a difficult storm?
- But sometimes a small project reveals a much bigger opportunity.
Marin faces challenges that will not be solved by one project, one organization or one technology. Some of the most important problems are difficult to see until they become urgent—and by then, the choices are often more expensive and more difficult.
We believe there is value in making those challenges visible.
- Not to create fear.
- Not to tell government or the community what the answer should be.
- But to help people understand what is happening, ask better questions, and imagine what might be possible.
Make the Invisible Visible
Some of the most consequential problems in a community are easy to overlook because they happen quietly.
When a problem remains invisible, it is difficult to build public understanding, attract resources, or create the urgency needed to address it.
Storytelling can change that.
A well-told story can help people see the people affected, understand the stakes, recognize the connections between seemingly separate problems, and begin imagining solutions that might otherwise seem impossible.
That is why we believe there may eventually be an important role for filmmakers, storytellers, researchers, community leaders and others who can help Marin see itself more clearly.
Start the Conversation
This is not a promise to solve Marin’s future.
It is an invitation to begin talking about it.
Marin Power can provide one small, tangible example of what becomes possible when neighbors, technology, volunteers and community organizations work together.
That example may lead to other ideas.
Other ideas may lead to new partnerships.
New partnerships may lead to solutions that are much larger than anything Marin Power could build itself.
That is the leverage.
A Future Worth Imagining
We want Marin to be a place where people can remain safely in their homes, where communities are prepared for increasingly difficult conditions, and where people with the knowledge, resources and willingness to help can find one another when it matters.
We don’t know exactly what that future will require.
We do know that it will require people to care enough to look at difficult problems before they become impossible ones.
Marin Power is one small contribution to that process.
We will start with what we can do.
We will learn.
We will tell the story.
And we will help create the conditions for others to do more.
The Bigger Spark
The most valuable outcome of Marin Power may ultimately be larger than the number of pumps deployed or the number of homes helped.
It may be what happens when people begin to believe that they can participate in creating a different future.
That is what we mean by imagining the future for Marin.
We can make something important visible, start conversations, connect people who need to be connected, and help more people imagine—and eventually build—better solutions for managing storm water, sea level rise and protecting homes from inundation, internally or externally.
Ultimately our measure of. success is:
do what we can → learn → tell the story (make the invisible visible) → start conversations → help people imagine possibilities → create conditions for others to do more