This summer, cooperative leaders, organizers, visionaries, and values-aligned businesses from across the Cascadia bioregion will gather in Seattle for the first-ever Cascadia Cooperative Conference (CCC)—a landmark event dedicated to deepening the roots and expanding the reach of the cooperative economy in the Pacific Northwest.

On June 14, 2025, more than 70,000 people flooded the streets of Seattle to join one of the largest demonstrations in the city’s history. The No Kings Day protest, part of a national day of action in over 80 cities, brought people together in response to the Trump administration’s militarization, ICE raids, attacks on public programs, and deepening disregard for human rights and constitutional limits.

Each year on May 18th, people across the Pacific Northwest and beyond gather to honor Cascadia Day—a celebration of bioregional identity, cultural diversity, ecological reverence, and community resilience. For me, this year’s Cascadia Day felt like a homecoming. Not just to a place, but to a purpose.

From May 16–18, 2025, over 250 visionaries, organizers, artists, funders, and culture-shapers gathered at the historic Georgetown Steam Plant in Seattle for the inaugural Cascadia BioFi Conference—a gathering rooted in the question: How do we regenerate an entire bioregion?