At Tuolumne River Trust, I collaborated with TRT’s Water Policy Director to write and design campaign collateral encouraging audiences to join civic actions, sign petitions, and leave public comments at San Francisco Public Utility and State Water Board Meetings. My policy communications inspired audiences into action, boosted email conversions and workshop attendance, and continued building TRT’s reputation as a leading voice for water rights throughout the Tuolumne River watershed.
I wrote and edited all media kits and press packets for Rally for the River. I conducted press outreach, which included a brief emailed hook and attached a media advisory, press release, and backgrounder. Through collaboration with partner organizations and the TRT Policy Director, Rally for the River received press coverage via an ABC 7 nightly news spot, the Modesto Bee, and Pacific Sun.
I wrote the below River News article: Rally for the River Brings Tuolumne Advocates to SF City Hall to commemorate the day and to inspire supporter donations and attendance at future advocacy actions. All press mentions and news features are included in the article linked below.
“A crowd of allies delivered public comments with a range of connected messages: “Former TRT intern Zarine Kakalia eloquently shared that we have two possible futures ahead of us: by 2055, we could be on track to ensure that all California salmon are extinct, or the opposite could be true.” “
—from Rally for the River Brings Tuolumne Advocates to SF City Hall
A useful and timely resource, this social media explainer was shared 73 times on Instagram.
In January 2025, presidential executive orders put the Bay-Delta and its tributary rivers at great risk. I created a rapid response communications campaign that included social media explainers, calls to action, and a blog explainer about ongoing Bay-Delta diversions and the Bay-Delta Quality Control Plan.
I also produced email communications, managed workshop registration, and managed Zoom for a live Water Policy 101 Workshop led by Tuolumne River Trust’s Policy Director Peter Drekmeier. This workshop encouraged citizen participation at public comment sessions during upcoming Bay-Delta Quality Control Plan meetings. This timely offering yielded a high rate of new email subscriptions directly from organic social media marketing.
“To improve rearing habitat for baby fish, we need to restore the river’s floodplains. We also need to activate them with water, as dry floodplains do not serve an ecological function,” Drekmeier shared in a recent op-ed.
I wrote the above long-form article as a free educational resource to inspire community engagement and to position TRT as a thought leader in the water policy space.
