Media
Ojai Chautauqua Panels and Interviews
View the Free Onsite Ojai Chautauqua Panel Series
The Future of Ojai - What is Special About Ojai? -
What should be nurtured, protected, or expanded?
Thursday, July 31, 2025
​​The Agora Foundation's Ojai Chautauqua project is embarking on a series of onsite panel discussions that will take place in 2025 and 2026, entitled The Future of Ojai. The goal of the project is to bring together knowledgeable and varied points of view in the spirit of learning, shared inquiry, and civil discourse. Panels will take place about two months apart with each focusing on a different topic such as housing, our economy, sustaining our environment, the state of education, the arts, and more. Events will have different moderators and panelists, representing our diverse community. As with all of our prior events, we hope to bring thoughtful conversation to complicated areas that affect us all, both today and in the future.
All panels will be free and open to the community. This is the first event in the series, intended to set the stage for future offerings.
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Location:
122 East Ojai Avenue in Ojai
Panel Moderator:
Kimberly Rivers - Journalist and Editor
Panelists:
Emily Ayala – Co-Owner of Friend’s Ranch
Andra Belknap - Journalist and Commentator
Atticus Ford-Reyes - Board President of Ojai Unified School District
Andy Gilman - Mayor of Ojai and Agora Foundation Director
Saw Naing - Co-Owner of The Dutchess and Joplin’s
Fabiola Sosa - Mother and Ojai Community Farmers Market team
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Schedule:
5:30-7:30PM PDT​
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The event is at capacity:
While the event is free, seating is limited. If desired, please add your name to the waiting list below. The panel will be recorded and posted.
A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold - Onsight Seminar and Panel
February 1, 2024
The Ojai Valley Land Conservancy partnered with the Agora Foundation for a one-day celebration of Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac, which took place at Oak Grove School on Saturday, February 1. The afternoon highlight featured Green Fire, the first full-length, high-definition documentary about legendary environmentalist Aldo Leopold, followed by a thought-provoking panel discussion on Leopold’s legacy and its relevance to Ojai’s conservation efforts today. The discussion will be moderated by Jon Christensen (UCLA), Richard Knight (CSU), Roger Essick (OVLC), and Tom Maloney (OVLC).
Watch the December 2, 2024
Panel - The City and the Valley of Ojai - Understanding and Enhancing the Relationship Between the City and County
Watch the December 8, 2024 Panel -
Wildfire Insurance Coverage
Watch the May 28, 2024
Interview with the Ojai Historic Preservation Commission
Watch the March 6, 2024
Interview with Ben Harvey, Ojai City Manager
Watch the November 1, 2023
Interview with Help of Ojai
Watch the June 24, 2023 Interview with Rachel Lang - Ojai City Council Member
Watch the January 31, 2023 Interview on Water in the Ojai Valley -
with Richard Hajas - Board Chair of Casitas Municipal Water District and the Ojai Basin Ground Water Management Agency
View the February 16, 2020 Ojai Chautauqua Panel Series on Education - Addressing Ojai's Declining Public School Enrollment
View the September 30, 2018 Ojai Chautauqua Panel
The Future of Water in the Ojai Valley - Part III
Watch the May 7, 2024
Interview with Dan Parziale of Mesa Farm
Watch the November 2, 2023
Interview with Ojai Unified School District
Watch the August 11, 2023 Interview with the
Ojai Valley Land Conservancy
Watch the April 14, 2023 Interview on Housing in the Ojai Valley - with Leslie Rule - Ojai City Council Member
View the May 28, 2020 Ojai Chautauqua Online Panel - What is the Future of Education After COVID-19?
View the March 30, 2019 Ojai Chautauqua Panel
Preparing for the Next Wildland Fire
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The Stewardship in the Ojai Valley Panel -
Live Streamed on Thursday, August 2, 2018.
Great Books Seminars
View the November 14, 2020 Online Special Music Event
From Lugubrious to Luminous: Words about Music
(and where they take us!)