Written by Annika Artle, Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP) Member, June 2024
When finishing her first Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP) term last year, Annika Artle (Education, Outreach, and Recruitment Coordinator) felt a connection with Sierra Nevada Alliance and her projects that she wasn’t ready to let go of. When presented with the opportunity to do a second term, she felt it would be a great way to keep up the progress she had made. After 11 months of service, she hoped to continue her efforts by improving the reach of SNA across all social media platforms, expanding the reach and progress of Take Care Sierra, and helping grow the SNAP and Member Group programs as a recruitment coordinator, a new area of service for her.
As the Education and Outreach Coordinator, one of Annika’s main duties is to improve Sierra Nevada Alliance’s online presence by growing the social media reach of the organization. She has implemented a robust social media strategy and created accounts on more social platforms. In addition to the Alliance’s continuous activity on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, Annika has also expanded SNA’s reach by sharing content to YouTube shorts and TikTok. She helped implement paid ads and coordinated two giveaways on social media.
Take Care Sierra, a recreational stewardship campaign based on the successful Take Care Tahoe campaign, has been another of Annika’s big projects. During her first term, she helped launch Take Care Sierra and was able to continue her efforts during her second term. Annika helps lead monthly meetings, coordinates with regional partners, and assists with marketing, grant writing, and events for the campaign. An exciting addition to SNA’s yearly event calendar is the planning of events in Lake Tahoe for Latino Conservation Week, and a regional coordinated effort to grow the impact of Latino Conservation Week across the Sierra Nevada with the help of regional partners.
As the Recruitment Coordinator, Annika assists the SNAP program in recruitment efforts, primarily of partner organizations and SNAP Host Sites. The Alliance leads a robust Member Group program, where regional organizations have access to a network of like-minded partners, trainings, and other valuable resources. SNAP members are often hosted by Member Group organizations, so the connection between SNAP recruitment and Member Group outreach was natural for Annika’s position. During her term, she has helped recruit new members and strategized on ways to recruit new host sites for the coming years.
Annika also helps with community engagement efforts for SNA. Both years, she helped plan the Wild & Scenic Film Festival On Tour and represented SNA in the South Tahoe Environmental Education Coalition (STEEC) and the South Tahoe Earth Day Planning Committee. She also represented SNA at the Tahoe Summit, the Lake Tahoe Litter Summit, various Earth Day festivals, and other community events.
After SNAP, Annika hopes to stay in Lake Tahoe and continue working in the non-profit sector, ideally on wildlife conservation issues or in public lands and sustainable recreation management. She enjoys the community engagement aspect, and would love to continue working with local organizations on education and outreach efforts.
Funding for SNAP is supported by Tahoe Truckee Community Foundation’s Nature Fund and Martis Fund – a collaborative project of Martis Camp landowners, DMB/Highlands Group (the developers of Martis Camp), Mountain Area Preservation Foundation (MAP), and Sierra Watch. Sierra Nevada Alliance is a proud grantee of AmeriCorps and California Volunteers, Office of the Governor.
