Advocating for a new official city flower

Reimagining a city’s symbol

I helped lead a public initiative that resulted in the adoption of a new official city flower for a major West Coast city, replacing a non-native species with a native plant that better represents the region’s biodiversity, cultural heritage, and environmental values.

Working with a coalition of nonprofit partners, city officials, and community stakeholders, I helped design and guide a public engagement campaign that invited residents to participate directly in voting for a new flower.

The process became both an educational and community-building effort, highlighting the ecological and cultural importance of native plants. Each plant had been carefully vetted by a diverse stakeholder committee based on environmental benefits, drought tolerance (an important issue in the area), and cultural significance to the region’s Indigenous people.

In my role, I helped shape the project’s strategy, storytelling, and public communications, ensuring that community voices and cultural context were central to the initiative.

Was the campaign successful?

Yes! Over the course of three public voting rounds, more than 7,700 residents cast ballots to narrow a field of eight native plant candidates to one final selection.

The winning flower was officially adopted by City Council on Earth Day, April 22, 2025, marking a historic moment for the city’s environmental identity. The selection honored the cultural knowledge of the land’s first stewards while embodying a renewed civic commitment to biodiversity, climate resilience, and native habitat restoration.