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Justin S Powers
Community Strategist
Justin Powers is a well-rounded technologist and entrepreneur with a solid background in web development and startup ventures. From his early days as a business analyst at Ameriquest Mortgage and field service engineer at AMC Mortgage Services to his recent experience as the lead member of technical staff at Salesforce, he has proven his adaptability and talent in both small and large companies. With a passion for improving team communication and workflow automation, Justin specializes in Ruby on Rails, agile methodologies, and Scrum, which enable him to take full ownership of each stage, from implementation to continuous delivery. He is also no stranger to mentoring and leading team members for optimum productivity. Justin has founded Kernville Cowork, worked on trailhead.com development, and as the CEO of FireVision, helped individuals and businesses grow and thrive. If you are interested in partnering with a results-driven technologist with a diverse skillset, look no further than Justin Powers.
Highlights
It’s amazing what happens when you create space for people to connect with each other and express themselves.
On #InternationalCoworkingDay, Sierra Shared Spaces and Kernville Cowork threw a block party in Kernville. We set out to create an atmosphere for fun and celebration, but above all we were intentional about creating spaces for connection, conversation, and creativity to happen.
We arranged some living room furniture in the middle of the street. On the coffee table we placed interesting books and a chess set. No sooner did I walk away than people sat down and started connecting over the coffee table. My favorite image from that evening was when I came upon a crowd of kids immersed in a rather competitive game of chess!
We placed games like ladder ball, jenga, and connect 4 out in the open, and before we knew it people were playing games with total strangers!
Hopester brought out water guns for the kids to play with, and while the kids certainly made the most out of drenching each other, what I wasn’t expecting was the group of parents gathering in the shade to watch and connect with each other.
The KERN RIVER VALLEY ART ASSOCIATION showed up with rock painting and sidewalk chalk - I was expecting creativity but I certainly wasn’t expecting massive ninja-warrior style hopscotch courses!
Riverstone Wellness showed up with Neighbor Narratives - a fascinating speed-dating style storytelling activity. I was overwhelmed with the turnout, and it was gratifying to see people continue to talk to each other and make connections after the storytelling was done.
The US Surgeon General’s report titled “Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation” indicates that loneliness is as dangerous to our health as smoking 15 cigarettes per day. This is sobering news given how pervasive isolation is in our society. Imagine the community health benefits if we can make connecting events like this block party a regular ritual in our communities!
Much thanks to Kern County and California Volunteers, Office of the Governor for supporting this event through the #NeighbortoNeighbor program, events like this are doing a lot to help rebuild the social fabric that holds our communities together.
We’ve got a lot more community events like this coming up over the next year. If you or your organization would like to get involved, please reach out!
#ItTakesANeighborhood #KRVTogether #WorkWhereYouPlay
Wellness Day was a big hit! It was an honor for Sierra Shared Spaces to partner with Heather Berry and Riverstone Wellness to promote connectedness, wellness, and to kick off a season of connecting neighbors to neighbors! This event and more like it to come are made possible by a partnership with Kern County and Neighbor-to-Neighbor, a program of California Volunteers, Office of the Governor.
#ItTakesaNeighborhood #KRVTogether #WorkWhereYouPlay #wellness #WellnessWeek
