Fresno-grown, wherever I go, I co-create welcoming communities where we learn and grow stronger together. After two years in the MPA program at Cornell Institute for Public Affairs (CIPA), I returned home to Fresno once again with even more problem-framing and -solving skills. I ended up back at FIRM four days before the State of California shut down, and we've been adapting and innovating together ever since. The San Joaquin Valley has my heart, even though the air pollution here damages our hearts, lungs and brains a little more every day. The roots of our valley extend to the mountains of Oaxaca, Laos, and beyond. If we're going to talk about economic development, we need to be talking about inclusion. I will be forever grateful to have had the opportunity to do grassroots community development work in the place where I am from. Alongside hundreds of multilingual low-income Fresnans, I advocated for more equitable outcomes for all of our community through the city of Fresno's General Plan Update process. Our collaboration changed the way that Fresno grows, invests, and talks about its neighborhoods (and we were only just getting started). https://www.firminc.org/christine-barker/I see Fresno as the place we might one day all know we belong. Strengthsfinder says: Strategic, Input, Includer, Developer and Ideation