Reflections from Gratitude Ventures’ 2026 West Coast Gathering: The Future Is Built Together 

This October, more than 80 investors, entrepreneurs, fund managers, and impact leaders came together in Petaluma, California, for Gratitude Ventures’ 2026 West Coast Gathering. Hosted at the beautiful Asombrosa property, the three-day convening featured site visits, interactive workshops, panels, and company and fund pitches, all centered on a timely theme: Building for the Future. 

At a time when technological breakthroughs, economic uncertainty, climate challenges, and shifting social systems are reshaping the world around us, it’s natural to feel uncertain about what lies ahead. Throughout the Gathering, we challenged ourselves to approach the future differently: not as something that happens to us, but as something we can actively shape through the decisions we make, the partnerships we build, and the capital we deploy today. 

The Future Isn’t Something We Predict. It’s Something We Build. 

We kicked off our programming with Marina Gorbis, Executive Director of the Institute for the Future (IFTF), whose keynote, Strategy in the Age of Chaos, challenged us to rethink how we approach an increasingly unpredictable world. 

Traditional planning often relies on projecting current trends forward, but in an increasingly unpredictable world, today’s assumptions may not be enough to guide tomorrow’s decisions. Marina encouraged us to imagine a broader range of possible futures while also drawing on lessons from history to better understand the forces shaping our present. She emphasized improvisation and imagination as two core skills that organizations need to navigate uncertain times. For more on IFTF, read on in their recently published Ten Year Forecast.   

Our pitch session later in the day further brought the theme to life, as founders and fund managers shared how they’re turning ambitious visions into real-world solutions. From Blue Forest’s land restoration and conservation work to Apprentos building the U.S. workforce through apprenticeships, the pitches were a reminder that building for the future means backing the people making it happen. 

Investing Today for the Future We Envision

In Industries Yet to Be Created, Darlene Damm of Singularity University led an interactive workshop on how some of the most compelling investment opportunities of the coming decades may come from industries that barely exist today. Using AI prediction and forecasting, physical AI, and fusion energy as examples, participants explored each industry’s direct business and impact potential, along with its secondary effects: What new markets might emerge? What challenges could these industries help solve? And what new social or environmental considerations might they raise? 

We also heard from Liz Muller of Deep Fission, who explored the role of nuclear energy in the future of our energy systems and why it deserves consideration within impact investing. Liz debunked common misconceptions about nuclear energy and shared how boring deep underground could actually be the safest solution for nuclear waste disposal.  

In From Here to There: Building the Healthcare System We Want in 2036, Melissa Buckley of the California Health Care Foundation and Perry Clarkson of SJF Ventures, a Gratitude Ventures portfolio fund, led a collaborative exercise that turned traditional problem-solving on its head. Rather than starting with the challenges facing American healthcare today, participants imagined what a successful system could look like 10 years from now across four dimensions: affordability, quality, workforce, and AI. We then worked backward to identify the investments, innovations, and systemic changes needed today to get there. 

While emerging technologies offer exciting possibilities, innovation alone does not guarantee better outcomes. We must also ask what kind of future we want those innovations to create. 

Cultivating Resilience by Listening to Those Closest to the Challenges 

In Climate Resilience: Perspectives from the Communities Closest to It, Christine Wiedinmyer, Director of Community Programs at the University Corporation for Atmospheric Research, and Samuel Kohn, a member of the Apsáalooke Nation and board member of Blue Forest, offered complementary perspectives. Christine highlighted how scientific research, data, and tools help communities understand and respond to climate risks. Samuel emphasized engaging Native communities, whose generations of experience managing land and natural resources offer valuable knowledge for building resilience. Their discussion underscored the need to recognize existing expertise, elevate underrepresented perspectives, and direct resources to communities doing critical work on the ground. 

Our site visits to Hog Island Oysters and Point Blue Conservation Science reinforced the value of proximity, offering firsthand perspectives on marine conservation, sustainable aquaculture, and tidal wetland restoration. At Hog Island Oysters, our behind-the-scenes tour was led by Co-Founder Terry Sawyer himself, who emphasized the importance of sustainable farming and protecting the marine ecosystems and coastal communities that have declined under pressure from the commercial seafood industry. Through its farming practices and close partnerships with the local seafood community, Hog Island Oysters is working hard to help both thrive for generations to come. 

Together, these experiences reminded us that building resilience requires combining scientific innovation with local knowledge, long-term stewardship, and community leadership. 

Rethinking the Role of Capital 

In Beyond Transactions: Capital as a Tool for Systems Transformation, Sandra Osborne Kartt of ImpactAssets Capital Partners and Susie Lee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation explored how investment and philanthropic capital can work toward broader, lasting change. Their discussion encouraged participants to look beyond individual transactions and consider how different forms of capital and partnerships can support more transformative outcomes through a total portfolio approach. 

Holly Ruxin of Montcalm brought a more personal perspective in Architecting Your Financial Freedom, inviting participants to reflect on how they define financial freedom and how thoughtful financial planning can align their resources with their long-term goals, values, and aspirations. 

The Future Is Built Together 

While our sessions offered new ideas and perspectives, some of the most meaningful moments of the Gathering happened in the spaces between them. Over shared meals, site visits, and conversations at Asombrosa, our community deepened relationships and explored new ways to collaborate. 

We left Petaluma with new questions, strengthened connections, and renewed conviction that no single investor, entrepreneur, or organization can build the future alone. By bringing together values-aligned investors, innovators, and leaders, Gratitude Ventures aims to turn individual ambition into collective action. 

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this year’s West Coast Gathering, and to our generous sponsors ImpactAssets Capital Partners, Fiduciary Trust International, Montcalm, The DocList, and Amalgamated Bank. 

If any of this resonates with you, we invite you to join us in transforming capital for a thriving world.  

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