Our Start:  Community Resilience

In October of 2017, the Northern California Fires devastated our communities and like many other families, we lost our home and barely escaped the flames.  These experiences drove many in our community to rethink what it meant to be strong, resilient and sustainable.  Neighbors helped neighbors while community-minded businesses and nonprofits worked collaboratively to strengthened our social safety net.  We bound together with slogans like “Sonoma Strong” and “Never Again”.

 

Unfortunately, the “never again” sentiment was not realized when year-after-year came fire-after-fire for our communities.  The environmental and corporate accountability challenges that caused the fires were compounded over the past few years by the COVID pandemic, drought and growing social unrest which were seen and felt viscerally across our communities.  The disparate access to supportive services created wider gaps between the haves and the have nots and community-based nonprofits struggled to keep up with growing demand.  It became clear that our communities needed to consider new systemic changes so we could work to address mutual threats with mutual strategies and tactics.  There were many organizations and individuals that stepped up to serve and it is in this spirit of collaboration that the OneAreWe mission was born.

 

Our Mission:  Sustainable Systems

Our three sectors (business, nonprofit and government) bring different strengths to our communities and our economies. The OneAreWe marketplace was built in recognition that when cross-sector strengths are aligned towards common goals, we can realize mutual and exponential benefits that create positive ripple effects across our communities.  Some call it “conscious capitalism” or “values-based consumerism” but we just think it makes sense to design a marketplace based on shared values and common goals.  As you experience the OneAreWe Marketplace you will appreciate the interconnected nature of what we bring and how it differentiates from other marketplaces that are built less upon what we share and more upon our differences in consumption.  Here we appreciate and respect the differences across our communities but foster online and offline environments where these individual differences support common values and shared interests.  The tools, resources and offerings throughout the OneAreWe Marketplace drive community-wide benefits for participating businesses, nonprofits and our neighbors.

OneAreWe embraces the belief that increased collaboration is core to how we need to move forward as climate change adaptation and globalization drive environmental, social and economic interdependencies.  “Conscious Capitalism” is a term that reflects an understanding that while capitalist economies are important to drive innovation, an over-reliance on competition is unsustainable for our environment and for communities.  Marketplaces will increasingly need to have collaborative socio-economic forces built in at the transactional-level if we are going to address our shared challenges.  This is how OneAreWe reflects and supports these community values:

Neighbors - It starts with individual actions.  Our neighbors pay-it-forward while they get significant savings and generate community goodwill.  Every sale within the OneAreWe Marketplace supports local community-minded businesses and drive donations to nonprofits that support our communities.  Neighbors provide significant contributions with the purchase of every Business Offer and Neighbor Listing.  Importantly, the organizations supported through our marketplace are referred by our neighbors to ensure our services are truly community-driven.  We encourage our neighbors to reach out and tell us about the organizations that make a difference in their lives.

Nonprofit Partners - Our community-based organizations (CBOs) provide the supports our communities need.  We see their good works in the lives of the people we meet each day and especially when times are tough.  When pandemics effect our families, when disasters strike our communities and when people fall on tough times our nonprofits step up and serve.  These organizations are an integral part of our community fabric and are the backbone of our marketplace.  CBOs gain fundraising through our Offers and Listings and in turn outreach to their supporters and our neighbors to encourage sales and support for those local businesses that truly value and support our community.

Business Partners - Businesses that put forward Offers through OneAreWe don’t just talk the talk about serving their community, they help raise real dollars for the nonprofit organizations their customers value.  Businesses collaborate with nonprofit organizations to create exclusive offers that boost sales AND support the communities where they operate.  We recognize and appreciate the businesses that demonstrate their commitment to our communities by driving them new customers and more sales.  Local businesses throughout our communities contribute to our collective social good while they sell their goods within the OneAreWe marketplace.

Our Vision: Transformative Marketplace

OneAreWe takes shape as neighbors, businesses and nonprofits build Offers and Listings to promote our collaborative marketplace experience where mutual benefits drive increased support for community services.  We encourage you to play an active role in how our marketplace develops and how it reflects and supports YOUR community values.  Resiliency and sustainability are not destinations but interwoven processes and systems that keep our communities strong.  OneAreWe.