Network Membership

Build connections with peers from across the state

Are you part of a nonprofit or community group who is dedicated to sustaining and celebrating a vibrant tree canopy and cultivating environmental justice in your community? Are you involved in tree planting, tree care, maintaining greenspaces, or talking to the community about the importance of a healthy urban forest? Join the California ReLeaf Network to connect with people and organizations who do similar work throughout the state!

Network member organizations vary from small groups of dedicated community volunteers, to long standing urban forest nonprofits with many staff and years of experience. Just like the vast diversity of the California geography, the range of activities Network Member Organizations are involved in is wide.

When you join the Network, you are joining a decades-long camaraderie of organizations who have been improving their communities through trees since 1991.

2017 Network Retreat

Join the Network
Renew Membership

“I think that we all can experience the ‘silo effect’ when we work in our own community. It is empowering to be in direct contact with an umbrella organization like California ReLeaf that can expand our consciousness about California politics and the larger picture about what is happening and how we play in to that and how as a group (and as many groups!) we can make a difference.”–Jen Scott

Canopy, Palo Alto

Network Member Benefits:

  • The biggest benefit of the ReLeaf Network is being part of an alliance of organizations to learn from one another and bolster the urban forest movement statewide. This means direct connection to the ReLeaf Network members for peer-to-peer learning and mentoring, as well as:
    • Annual Network Retreat
    • Learn Over Lunch sessions with Network members
    • ReLeaf Network Listserv
    • Network Retreat travel stipends
    • Coming Soon – A free user account to PlanIT Geo’s TreePlotter INVENTORY software (a web-based GIS tree management and tree inventory software application). We will be providing more information about this program in Fall/Winter 2023/2024.
  • Access to information specific to ReLeaf Network members:
    • ReLeaf staff working to provide timely updates as well as field questions from Network Members and provide resources.
    • Regular network-specific emails with leading-edge information on new funding opportunities, legislative alerts, and key urban forestry topics.
  • Your voice at the Capitol through ReLeaf’s active partnerships with state agencies and environmental justice and natural resource coalitions. ReLeaf’s advocacy work has influenced hundreds of millions for Urban Forest and Urban Greening grant funding. Network members also receive insights/updates from Sacramento on state urban forestry funding for nonprofits, including inside info on new urban forest funding opportunities.
  • Amplification of your organization through on our website and social media, including your work amplified via California ReLeaf’s online platforms and your organization listed in our online Network directory, connecting you with more volunteers & partners.

“I love that the Learn Over Lunch speakers are groups just like ours and I learn so much from their presentations. I also love knowing that there are others struggling or celebrating. So meeting them in the breakout rooms is awesome and I’m better able to forge a working relationship!”–Network Member

Learn Over Lunch

Network Membership FAQ

Who is eligible to join the Network?

Groups must meet the following criteria to be eligible for membership:

  • Nonprofit or community groups whose goals include the planting, caring, and/or protection of urban trees and/or community education or engagement about urban forestry.
  • Be committed to long-term environmental stewardship and a healthy urban canopy 
  • Recruit and involve the public in its programs.
  • Be committed to fostering an inclusive and diverse Network community
  • Have a mission statement, organizational goals, and have completed at least one urban forestry/urban greening-related community project.
  • Have a website or other contact information that can be made available to the public.

What are the expectations of Network members?

Network members are asked to do the following:

    • Participate in Network programs and operate in a spirit of cooperation with the Network: sharing information, providing assistance, and inviting other groups to join.
    • Renew membership annually (in January)
    • Submit the annual survey of activities and accomplishments (each summer)
    • Keep California ReLeaf apprised of changes to organizational and contact information.
    • Continue to maintain eligibility (see above).

What is the Network Listserv/Email Group?

The Network email group is a platform for California ReLeaf Network members to communicate directly with other members, operating like a Listserv. You can email this group to ask questions, share jobs postings, pass along resources, or celebrate good news! In May 2021, the Network voted on guidelines for this email group. Based on that feedback, here are our community guidelines:

  • Topics: You can email this group to ask questions, share jobs postings, pass along resources, or celebrate good news!

  • Frequency: We are a tight-knit group, but there are a lot of us. Please limit your own use of this group to 1-2 times per month so as to not overwhelm one another’s inboxes.

  • Reply-all: Replying-all to the group should also be limited to infrequent, widely-informational or celebratory occasions. Using the group to engage in debates or one-on-one conversations will not be tolerated — please switch to individual emails for continued dialogue.

    Tip: If you’re initiating a new thread to the group and do not want people to reply-all, put the google group email address in the BCC field of your email.

To register, email mdukett@californiareleaf.org and Megan will add you. To remove yourself from the group, follow the unsubscribe instructions at the bottom of any email you receive. To email the full list, simply send an email to releaf-network@googlegroups.com. You do not need to have a google email address to participate, but you do need to send from an email address that is registered with the group.

What are Learn Over Lunches?

Learn Over Lunch (LOL) is a program in which Network members share an experience, program, research, or problem they are facing and then discuss it with fellow Network members. They are designed to be informal, confidential spaces where members can speak freely and learn together.

The goal of Learn Over Lunch, first and foremost, is connection. We gather to build bonds across the Network, help member organizations get to know one another, and hear what each organization is up to. Given this opportunity to meet in an LOL breakout room, or hear an organization speak, a Network member might have a better idea of who they can reach out to about particular topics or issues, and remember that they are not alone in the work they are doing. The second goal of the LOL sessions is education and learning. People come to learn about tools, systems, and strategies that other groups are using, and can walk away with some useful information.

To see updates about our Learn Over Lunches, check your email – we send announcements to our Network email list.

What if my organization can't afford dues?

California ReLeaf is committed to making its Network accessible to all. Therefore, Network Dues are always optional.

What happens if our membership lapsed?

We always welcome lapsed members to rejoin us! Former members can renew at any time by filling out the Network Renewal form.

Why do we have to renew every year?

We ask Network Members to renew membership annually. Renewal tells us that organizations still wish to be engaged with the Network and listed on our site. It also is a time to check in and make sure we have current program and contact information for your organization. Renew today by filling out the Network renewal form.