Stoke the World, a CA Non-Profit Organization
Welcome to Stoke the World!
Our Origin Story
A lot of people are new to Stoke the World, and have wondered: How did Stoke the World begin?
Once upon a time there was a unique and amazing individual named Greg Junell.
He spent a lot of time trying to make the world a better place by cultivating connection between people through education, music, art, and making everyday things more wacky and fun.
Greg had the awesome idea to start something called Stoke the World to do that, but unfortunately, he only had a little time to work on that noble goal before he passed away. (F**k cancer!!)
Before he died, Greg told us he wanted us to throw a big party for those that knew and loved him, to spread the positive vibe and to “Be a Lighter for Others’ Lamps”, so we held a huge wake at Pozo Saloon over a whole weekend.
People camped, taught workshops, shared their art, and listened to music, culminating in the burning of a structure symbolizing the light Greg brought to the world. It was amazing.
After that, we wondered - how will we carry this idea into the future?
Eventually, inspired by Greg’s dreams, Jean Mussen Balsz founded the CA non-profit Stoke the World, to bring together similarly inspired people to help light people’s lamps in the wider world.
After the boring paperwork was done, Stoke the World grew; participating in community clean ups, creating groups like Conspiracy of Joy, Directory of Stoke, and our Adulting Academy, promoting volunteerism and cultivating connection in our communities.
From those efforts, and our experience at Pozo, we created an annual Gathering, for people to share their varied and special gifts and skills, to cultivate connection with others, making new friendships and refreshing old ones. A place where we can all enjoy music and art in the woods, talking long into the night around the fire, and enjoying the incredible natural world that we are all a part of.
Changing someone's perspective for the better, helping light their lamp - that is what Greg started, and what we are carrying on - making the world a little bit better every day.
Questions?
Email us for more info about events, community building opportunities and more!
Some of our programs
Adulting Academy
Stoke the World Gathering
Stoke the World Gathering
Our Adulting Academy has hosted classes on everything from how to run your personal finances, to yoga, election ballot review forums and more!
Stoke the World Gathering
Stoke the World Gathering
Stoke the World Gathering
Updates and info on this coming soon -- stay tuned for when and where we may be having another Gathering!
Conspiracy of Joy!
Stoke the World Gathering
Conspiracy of Joy!
Conspiracy of Joy (CoJ) is the delivery of unexpected gifts or experiences to members of our community or the community at large. These can range from small acts of kindness to large joy bombs of love and labor. Sometimes CoJ projects take money, sometimes they just need a few hours of time from a few people to help complete a task in a
Conspiracy of Joy (CoJ) is the delivery of unexpected gifts or experiences to members of our community or the community at large. These can range from small acts of kindness to large joy bombs of love and labor. Sometimes CoJ projects take money, sometimes they just need a few hours of time from a few people to help complete a task in a many-hands-make-light-work sort of way.
Previous CoJ's have included building benches for rural bus stops, community gathering for a landscaping project, distributing both donated surgical masks and sewing cloth masks to help fight the spread of COVID-19, and most recently crowd sourcing funds to purchase laptops for the Pride and Diversity Center!