Bridgette Bottinelli
County: Jackson
Meet Bridgette Bottinelli (she/her/hers):
Originally from New Jersey, Bridgette received a B.F.A in Interior Design and minor in Spanish from Kean University. Transitioning her design skills to the outdoors, Bridgette developed an interest in creating a more walkable, sustainable, and equitable built environment. Bridgette enjoys spending time outdoors and is looking forward to exploring Oregon. She can be found reading, hiking, or playing field hockey.
Community and Organization:
Ashland, OR is a small, progressive community of 21k people. Located in the sunny and scenic Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon, Ashland is best known for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, but is also famous for a large public park system, the biodiversity hotspot of Cascade Siskiyou National Monument, flourishing wine industry, nearby Mount Ashland, road and mountain biking opportunities, trails, arts, and culture. Ashland is a small town, with the culture and amenities of a much larger city.
Ashland is a “full services” city and operates many of its own utilities, parks, and other services. Ashland’s climate action programs are centrally housed in the City Administration. Climate staff are supervised by the Interim City Administrator and largely funded by revenue from the Electric Utility. The City employs approximately 250 people.
Project:
Bridgette served with the City of Ashland as their Climate Outreach Coordinator. Ashland is a regional leader in sustainability and climate action with an ambitious climate plan that is broadly supported by citizens and has been adopted by elected officials. The plan is very detailed and requires a significant increase in community outreach activities to help Ashland meet their goals. Key projects included developing new stakeholder collaborations, creating new community resources for action, and developing a climate outreach campaign.