cascadians

Welcoming Ashley Bonn to the Cascadia Department of Bioregion

Welcoming Ashley Bonn to the Cascadia Department of Bioregion

I’m honored to share that I’ve officially joined the team at the Cascadia Department of Bioregion as a Communications & Events Coordinator — a role that feels like the perfect alignment of my purpose, passions, and place.

For nearly a decade, I’ve lived and worked across the Pacific Northwest, but my relationship with Cascadia runs deep. The forests, mountains, and watersheds of this bioregion have shaped not just where I live, but how I live. Cultivating reverence for nature has changed me. It’s softened my edges, deepened my sense of responsibility, and taught me to move through the world with more respect, humility, and gratitude. To me, Cascadia is not just a bioregion— it is a living system, a teacher, and a relative. And I’m committed to tending Cascadia with care.

The Work I Do

As a cultural organizer, educator, and designer based in Portland, Oregon (Chinook land), I’ve spent the past ten years producing place-based gatherings, facilitating permaculture education, and helping to transform grassroots spaces into thriving community hubs. My work is grounded in both lived experience and formal training—including a Master’s in Sustainability Education and Nonprofit Management from Portland State University, a Permaculture Design Certificate through The City Repair Project, and a Teacher Training with Cascadia Permaculture.

Through my work with Conscious Growth (a nonprofit supporting permaculture education and cultural healing) and Cascadia Culture (a bioregional booking and events company), I’ve seen firsthand how community shapes culture—and how culture, in turn, shapes stories we live by.

Why Bioregionalism?

To me, bioregionalism is a practice of remembering. Of returning to right relationship with land, people, and place. It’s a vision rooted not in ideology, but in intimacy: the kind that grows from knowing your watershed, honoring ancestral wisdom, and building regenerative economies.

This is why I’m so drawn to the mission of the Cascadia Department of Bioregion. Our work isn’t just about maps or merchandise—it’s about weaving people into the story of place. We’re here to uplift what makes this bioregion unique, amplify efforts for social and ecological justice, and build the relationships and institutions our future requires.

My Role as Community Organizer

In this role, I’ll be coordinating events, managing digital platforms, supporting regional projects, and cultivating meaningful partnerships throughout the bioregion. I’ll also help tell the story of Cascadia—through social media, storytelling, and systems design—so more people feel connected to this movement and inspired to get involved.

This work is not abstract to me. It’s personal. It’s what I’ve already been doing—building culture from the ground up, on a grassroots level. And now, I get to help steward that work on a broader scale—within a visionary team that’s as committed to regeneration as I am.

🔗 Let’s Connect

If you’re dreaming into bioregional futures, hosting events, or just want to get involved with the Cascadia movement—please reach out. I’d love to connect! You can follow my work here:
🌐 ashleybonn.com | 📸 @ashley.bonn

In service to people and place,
Ashley Bonn, M.S.Ed. (she/her)
Cascadia Community Organizer
Portland, OR (Chinook land)

Cascadia Day 2023

let’s celebraTE! May 18th, 2023

For over a decade we have made it a priority to amplify, encourage, and support our fellow Cascadian’s to spend a day with Cascadia. We are continuing the tradition again on May 18th; here at the Department of Bioregion, we will be celebrating our 12th official Cascadia Day. We commemorate Cascadia on the anniversary of the Mount St. Helens eruption, as a day of remembrance for how alive our bioregion is, across The Cascadia Subduction Zone.”

This Spring we want to remind you all that life finds a way under the most intense conditions. Our bioregion contains distinct regional values, unique traditions, inherent beliefs, and our devotion to creating a sustainable and equitable community in which leadership is in the hands of the people and a strong community is our greatest asset. So, whether your flag is on a sticker, tee-shirt, or your own drawing - we welcome everyone from all around the globe to join in the celebratory fun.

“Cascadia Day, May 18… the anniversary of Mt. St. Helen’s eruption. On that day people realized, forcefully, that the earth is alive! This event coincided with the emergence of Plate Tectonic theory in Geology, and discovery of what came to be called in the mid-1980’s, “The Cascadia Subduction Zone.” Massive forces that make our world—volcanic eruptions, mountain building, mega-earthquakes, huge tsunamis, among others—all came to be seen as part of the same system working deep in the bones of the earth. Dynamisms shaping the character of our region began to be revealed for the first time.

Everything changed after that….”

-David McCloskey, Cascadia Institute

Invitation: "save the date. cascadia day. dept of bioregion. who: everyone. what: a day to celebrate the cascadia bioregion. where: everywhere. (vertical text) may 18th"

eASY wAYS TO CELEBRATE

  1. Share a post on social media. Share your favorite Cascadia picture, temporarily change your profile image and help get #Cascadia trending!

  2. Fly your Cascadia Flag. Show off your Cascadia gear and artwork.

  3. Host a gathering. Impromptu get together to do a Cascadia activity such as picnicking.

  4. Exist in nature. Birdwatching, gardening, or whatever else feels Cascadian to you.

  5. Support a group doing amazing work or a business you feel is local, ethical, or sustainable.


Make sure to tag @Cascadiabioregion on Facebook and Instagram, and @Cascadiadept on twitter and we’ll be resharing all day.

And above all, have fun and share share share!