Launching 2026-2027 and Returning Organics to Nature
Welcome Area 4 Club Presidents and installation of 2026-2027 Board with President Andrea!
In the Nevada City Rotary spirit of supporting innovative, young entrepreneurs, we are excited to have Jesse Hicks as our guest speaker. Jesse is an entreprenuer, film maker, and Nevada City native business founder of Returning Organics to Nature (ROTN). Jesse will present how ROTN builds an essential organics infrastructure for the next generation.
Jesse Hicks is a Nevada County native, creative director, entrepreneur, and founder of ROTN (Return Organics to Nature), an initiative to develop Nevada County’s first commercial-scale organics recycling and composting facility. Through ROTN, he is working to demonstrate that businesses can be both economically successful and climate-positive, creating local prosperity while addressing global environmental challenges.
Jesse arrived at this work through a career in brand strategy, communications, and storytelling, having led brand, content, and experiential campaigns for global companies designed to engage broad audiences and shape cultural conversation. Previously, he served as COO of a multi-state cannabis company and now works as a Vice President of brand and communications, translating complex ideas into compelling, culture-first, human stories.
He studied at Columbia University and spent more than a decade living and working in New York City and Los Angeles before returning home to Nevada County with his family. Jesse currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Nevada County Community Foundation, where he is committed to strengthening the long-term vitality and resilience of the community he calls home.
ROTN is Nevada County's first municipal scale compost facility, regional infrastructure processing mixed organic material locally—reducing emissions, promoting wildfire safety by mitigating fuel load, and returning value to our soil and community.