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

June 4, 2026

Saving Lives: Raising Awareness of the Dangers of Fentanyl

Rayeanna Laswell

Jackie Winquist,

The LEARS Fentanyl Awareness Foundation was born from loss but fueled by purpose — to save lives through awareness, education, and compassion. As fentanyl remains the leading cause of death for adults aged 18–45, the Foundation's mission is to shine a light on the fentanyl crisis, offering practical life saving tools and fact based information to empower individuals to make a meaningful difference within their community. Because in the fight against fentanyl, one conversation, one Narcan, or one moment of awareness can mean the difference between tragedy and a second chance at life.

Jackie Winquist, Vice President of the Lears Fentanyl Awareness Foundation, turned personal tragedy into purpose after losing her son to fentanyl. Together with her family, they are dedicated to combating the fentanyl crisis and saving lives. With a diverse career in marketing, non-profits, and med-tech, Jackie is most passionate about her work with the foundation, aiming to raise awareness and help our community stay safe and informed.

Rayeanna Laswell is the President of the Lears Fentanyl Awareness Foundation, where she and her family are committed to raising awareness about the devastating impact of fentanyl and advocating for education, prevention, and community support. Rayeanna earned a Master’s degree in Management and Leadership and is currently working on a second Master’s degree in Human Resource Management. Combining professional leadership experience with a passion for advocacy, she is dedicated to making a lasting difference through education and community engagement.

June 18, 2026

Sara Paul, Watch Duty

Sara Paul

Watch Duty was launched in August 2021 by John Mills, who experienced a wildfire shortly after he moved to Sonoma County.  He discovered that while CAL FIRE was unable to issue progress reports on the fire more than once a day, updates were being shared on social media by volunteers with radio scanners.  Mills developed the Watch Duty app to make the information more readily available.  During the January 2025 Southern California wildfires, Watch Duty was downloaded millions of times, ranking among the most popular free downloads on the iOS App Store. Sara Paul started reporting on fires in 2017 when the Tubbs fire devastated Sonoma County. In 2021, she became one of the founding reporters for Watch Duty. She left her corporate marketing communications job that year and became a Certified Wildfire Mitigation Specialist. She serves on the board of Safer West County and served on her local fire board for 3 years until consolidation with Gold Ridge Fire District last year.  In her current role as Community Manager, she interviews and onboards new team members, looks out for the well-being of our 300+ volunteers and staff, and speaks frequently about Watch Duty in the community.

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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.  

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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	TBA
August 20	Phoebe Schenker, Executive Director of the Reuse Alliance     https://www.reusealliance.org/
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	TBA
Nov. 19	TBA
Dec. 3	TBA
Dec. 17	Holiday Party (members only)