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)
