Youth are working on creating vision boards for the community during a youth-led community workshop. When Aniyah Montoya-Atwood talks about helping young people find their voices, her enthusiasm is contagious. In her three years as a program manager with Youth Leadership Institute (yli), she has seen firsthand how teenagers and young adults in the Central Valley are challenging inequalities, shaping policy and building a future where everyone has the chance to thrive. Founded

Fresno County’s climate and the availability of native grasses has allowed the sheep industry to thrive since the mid-1800s. To skilled Basque sheepmen, herding sheep in this setting was very different than in their native land. In their new country, herders could no longer return home each night; they lived out on the plains with the sheep. It was a lonely business. Pop Laval Collection Born to Basque immigrants in the Central Valley, Louis Michel Irigaray spent his childhoo

As Axis powers argued over who was responsible for feeding blockaded Greece in the early 1940s, more than 300,000 perished from starvation. The National Greek War Relief Association was founded, and benefits were scheduled across the nation. Fresno County heavily participated in the campaign by collecting coins and promoting the star-studded KMJ radio broadcasts and dance performances held at the Fox Wilson Theatre - February 8, 1941. There’s a concept in Greek culture known

Marilyn Brown was pictured in The Fresno Bee on February 21, 1971, baking with members of the local Girl Scouts.  Family members reported chuckling about this photo, recalling that baking was not one of Marilyn’s greatest interests. One Sunday morning in the early 1970s, people opened their Fresno Bee  to find Marilyn Brown on the front page. She’s smiling as she holds a hand mixer, surrounded by a group of happy little girls, looking up at her adoringly. The article goes on

Gwen Morris remembers the spark that ignited a unique documentary film project called Blacksno, which records oral histories of African Americans in the Central Valley.  “I was sitting in an executive committee meeting for a well-intentioned community organization, and they started presenting a history and timeline of racism in Fresno,” she said. “I saw it, and I kind of chuckled. I’m 75 years old, and I’ve lived here all my life! So the history of Fresno and what goes on in