Santa Barbara County Nonprofit to Advance Rural Climate Careers in Cuyama
Additional photos with credits can be found here.
August 26, 2025, NEW CUYAMA, CA — Blue Sky Center is proud to announce that it has been awarded Catalyst Predevelopment Funding through the Uplift Central Coast initiative to launch “Resilient Cuyama”—a transformative project designed to build climate career pathways and workforce resilience in the Cuyama Valley. Blue Sky Center leads this $500,000 initiative in partnership with fellow Cuyama Valley nonprofit Quail Springs and other key collaborating organizations across Santa Barbara County and California’s Central Coast region.
The Resilient Cuyama initiative will address longstanding barriers to education, employment, and climate resilience in one of California’s most underserved regions, the agricultural Cuyama Valley of Santa Barbara County’s remote northeastern corner (population 1,100). With Uplift support, the project will catalyze a coordinated ecosystem of career-building programs in clean energy, regenerative agriculture, ecological restoration, and the creative industries.
Resilient Cuyama brings together diverse partners committed to rural regeneration and community resilience. Blue Sky Center leads the effort in collaboration with Quail Springs, the Cuyama Joint Unified School District, Condor’s Hope, Ventura County-based Watershed Progressive/Localizing California Waters, Santa Barbara Fire Safe Council, and 3C-REN.
“Receiving this Catalyst Grant marks a pivotal moment for the Cuyama Valley,” said Tara Saylor, Resiliency Projects Manager at Blue Sky Center and project lead for the grant. “This investment empowers us to align existing regional resources, expand access to training, and create tangible career pathways rooted in both climate resilience and rural equity.”
The grant will fund early-stage planning and coordination efforts in 2025-2026 such as:
- Invest $100,000 in updated technology for public school students attending Cuyama Joint Unified School District
- Host educational and job fairs in collaboration with colleges and employers
- Expand hands-on training in green building and clean energy through the Cuyama Home Energy Retrofit Program (CHERP)
- Offer hands-on greywater and water reuse training, including rainwater harvesting and low-impact stormwater design systems
- Host wildland fire workshops focused on defensible space, home hardening, ecological awareness, and emergency preparedness for students and adults
- Lead regenerative agriculture farm tours at Condor’s Hope Vineyard to explore agroecology principles and career pathways in sustainable farming
- Strengthen nonprofit staffing for Blue Sky Center and Quail Springs to ensure long-term program capacity, sustainability and community development through arts and culture programmingThis project builds on Cuyama Futures, Blue Sky Center’s 2024 community-wide survey and resilient economic futures plan for the Cuyama Valley.
About Blue Sky Center
Blue Sky Center is a Santa Barbara County 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to strengthening the rural communities of Cuyama Valley by supporting entrepreneurs and building regional creative and economic resources. The organization is focused on building models for resilient, thriving, and inclusive rural economies in the Cuyama Valley. As a place-based organization, its team prioritizes projects and collaborations that celebrate the abundance of Cuyama. www.blueskycenter.org
Leave a Response