About Us
Who We Are, What We Do
OUR VISION is to encourage, enlighten, and empower the residents of Tuolumne County to engage in the building and caring for our community.
OUR MISSION is to build a platform where Tuolumne County citizens can share relevant and timely information about local issues and to encourage participation in local government and community groups to improve outcomes for our rural area. The platform consists of a weekly online newsletter, website, forums, workshops, guides, and events.
Our History
It began with a small group of residents concerned about the ease of access to local government decision-making and coverage of political events that ensure opportunities for judicious dialogue. Our local media businesses struggle to keep our community apprised of activities that warrant informed discourse. The small group pondered how the public could play a part in a communal approach to improved information sharing.
As we reflected, we asked ourselves the question: How could the group build trust to lead the effort and sustain it for a short-term goal of four years? Grassroots undertakings rely on donations of time, skills, and sponsorships. But the hope is that as residents share information and conduct civil discussions, they will become more confident in participating in our local government at county, city, township, and school deliberations.
Every public board meeting and PTA event attended, every discussion in which the public participates, every rally supported, and every gathering of residents for whatever cause is important to the community’s news platform. It is these gatherings that matter and connect us all.
Engage Tuolumne is envisioned as the vital platform for “public journalism,” where a population becomes an active public and where we see this journalism becoming “the cultivator (of democracy) as well as its chronicler.”
If citizens joined in the action where possible, kept an ear tuned to the current debate, found a place for themselves in the drama of politics, got to exercise their skills and voice their concerns, then maybe democracy didn’t have to be the desultory affair it seemed to have become.
(Source: Jay Rosen, What are Journalists For?)
We thought carefully and then made a plan. Since February 2025, Engage Tuolumne has accumulated over 500 subscribers, 40 volunteers; a leadership team; a panel of researchers, writers, and editors; donors; and supporters. We will cover topics such as: impacts of the current administration’s executive orders on our county, Project 2025, the environment, fire insurance in California, local homelessness issues, and how government works. The list is endless.
Please join our team and consider volunteering as a writer or support person as we expand and develop a website, audio files, workshops, candidate forums, ballot guides, etc.
Engage Tuolumne will encourage, enlighten, and empower our residents to become more involved in our community and safeguard our democracy.