Programs

​Sonoma County Forum offers an exciting array of speakers including leaders in business, education, health care, the arts, and local government. Our speakers provide an excellent way to gain knowledge of the community and learn about its vast resources. Meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month at 8am at the Epicenter, off of Piner Road, west of Coffey Lane in Santa Rosa.

Scroll below for information about upcoming 2026 speakers.
For biographies of past speakers, by year, click here.

2026 Speakers

July 16, 2026

Floranne Fanti, "The Mission of Canine Companions"

Floranne Fanti

Floranne Fanti, Northwest Region board member, past board president, and volunteer puppy raiser will talk about the mission of Canine Companions providing highly trained service dogs to children, adults and veterans with disabilities at no cost to their clients.  Canine Companions was founded in 1975 in Santa Rosa and now has six Training Centers and field offices across the country and more than 50 Canine Companion chapters.  Floranne has been involved with Canine Companions for 18 years. She serves on the organization's "Sit, Stay, Sparkle" gala committee and the leadership Team for the local Wine Country Chapter.Her presentation will start with a short video of puppies and their research program to a video of one of their graduates and her service dog, Marcia.  Accompanying her will be her ninth Future Service Dog in Training, Daryl, who is a year old.  

---

August 6, 2026

IOLERO: The Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach--What does it do?

Matthew Chavez

Lizett Camacho

Matthew Chavez, Interim Director of IOLERO and Lizett Camacho, IOLERO's Community Engagement Manager, will provide an overview of IOLERO’s mission, starting with a brief historical background of events that gave rise to a call for civilian law enforcement oversight in Sonoma County. They will discuss IOLERO’s role as a bridge between the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office and the Sonoma County community to build and foster trust and understanding through transparency.  Then they will summarize IOLERO’s key tasks (auditing, investigating, and developing recommendations) and close with a brief summary of the status of civilian oversight and future goals.  
 
Matthew joined IOLERO in 2022 as a Law Enforcement Auditor III and brings more than 30 years of experience as an attorney, with a background in litigation, administrative law, legal analysis, and accountability practices.  He was named Interim Director in June. He is a Certified Practitioner of Oversight through the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE) and a Certified Inspector General Auditor with the Association of Inspectors General (AIG).

Lizett has been with IOLERO for nearly four years. Her responsibilities include establishing community outreach processes, planning and coordinating community events, representing IOLERO at outreach and tabling events, and providing administrative support to the Community Advisory Council, including meeting planning, agenda and minute preparation, support to ad hoc committees, and translation services.

August 20,  2026

Join the Reconomy: Saving More Than Money Through Reuse

Phoebe Schenker

Reuse is an overlooked solution to resource conservation, local economic health, community resilience, and mental health.  Reuse Alliance is a 501c3 nonprofit working on a model of a healthy reuse ecosystem that's designed to be replicable nationwide.  Come learn the what, why and how of reuse. Phoebe Schenker is the Executive Director of Reuse Alliance, a nonprofit working to grow the reuse economy.  Over fifteen years as a practicing architect, she applied complex problem solving skills to sustainable buildings like the award winning Lands End Lookout in San Francisco and the New Seas Aquarium at the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium in Tacoma, WA.  She is now using those same skills to solve one of the most complex problems of our time - how to increase reuse in a disposable world. 

---

2026 Program Schedule

	Speaker
Jan. 15	Emily Lynn Cornelius, 6th Street Theatre: "Connecting Community Through Local Theatre"
Feb. 5	Heloisa Heinen, Exec. Director, CASA: "Improving the Lives of Vulnerable Foster Children"
Feb. 19	Michelle Harris, Owner/President, Santa Rosa Growlers: "Making Santa Rosa the Hub of North Bay Hockey"
March 5	Firuze Gokce, "Resonating Depths: Acoustic Intelligence and Art"
March 19	Mimi Enright, "​“An Introduction to the UC Master Gardener Program of Sonoma County and How it Can Benefit Your Home Garden”"
April 2	Jenn Del Rosario, Sonoma County Office of Education: "SchoolsRule Sonoma County!"
April 16	Doris Duncan, "Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue: Programs, Partnerships and Community Impact"
May 7	Jennielynn Holmes, "Catholic Charities Immigration Program: Challenges, Opportunities, and Impact"
May 21	Regina Guerra, Founder and CEO of Be the Earth.  Be the Earth is a natural organic reduction human composting service which is new to California.  ​
June 4	Rayeanna Schneider and Jackie Winquist, Lears Fentanyl Awareness Foundation. Focuses on awareness and critical knowledge to prevent fentanyl-related deaths and save lives.
June 18	Sara Paul, co-founder, Watch Duty
July 2	Membership Mixer, no public program
July 16	Floranne Fanti, Canine Companions Northwest Region
August 6	Matthew Chavez and Lizett Camacho, Independent Office of Law Enforcement Review and Outreach (IOLERO)
August 20	Phoebe Schenker, Executive Director of the Reuse Alliance: Join the Reconomy: Saving More Than Money Through Reuse
Sept. 3	Jennifer Roberts, Community Education Specialist & Project Manager, Resilient Landscapes Coalition
Sept. 17	Evelyn Mendez, Registrar of Voters
Oct. 1	Tibbi Durney, Community Support Network
Oct. 15	Eric Singer, LandPaths
Nov. 5	Dale Roberts, Sonoma Water--Advanced Quantitative Precipitation Information (radar)
Nov. 19	Denise Johnson, Director of Senior Nutrition and Health Services, Council on Aging
Dec. 3	Denise Aver-Phillips, Santa Rosa Metro Chamber
Dec. 17	Holiday Party (members only)