{"id":118,"date":"2026-06-29T08:35:43","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T08:35:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rurallaunch.org\/?page_id=118"},"modified":"2026-07-18T23:30:53","modified_gmt":"2026-07-18T23:30:53","slug":"about-old","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/rurallaunch.org\/?page_id=118","title":{"rendered":"About"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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About Rural Launch Foundation & Juku<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Rural Launch Foundation & Juku (RLFJ) is a nonprofit organization serving youth ages 10\u201324 in the ERTH Corridor of Lake County, California. We believe that young people are not the problem to be solved \u2014 they are the solution. Our mission is to equip them with the identity, skills, and vision to build futures right here at home<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Our Story<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

RLFJ was born out of a simple but powerful belief \u2014 that rural communities like ours deserve more than just survival. Lake County has been overlooked, underinvested, and underestimated for too long. We started this organization because we saw young people with enormous potential and no clear pathway to use it locally. <\/strong>
We exist to change that.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Our Vision<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

A small Lake County where young people choose to stay, build, and lead \u2014 because they have the tools, the support, and the vision to create the community they want to live in.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Our Team<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

RLFJ is led by two co-founders who each bring a distinct and essential lane to the organization.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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Tamara Johnson<\/strong>
Co-Founder & Board President<\/strong><\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Tamara is a Master Life Coach certified in accountability and strategy coaching, with specialized training in assessments and youth development. Her background includes direct program work with at-risk teen girls through the Girls After School Academy (GASA), as well as serving as a parent advocate for both general education and special needs students. She holds the Ms. Lake County title and brings a deep passion for identity development, youth empowerment, and community transformation to everything she builds at RLFJ.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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Heidi Kreklau<\/strong>
Co-Founder & Educational Director<\/strong><\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Heidi is the educational architect behind the Juku pathway at RLFJ. With a deep commitment to adaptive learning and individualized instruction, she designs curriculum and educational resources that meet every child where they are. Her work spans literacy, mathematics, science, financial literacy, and inner self development \u2014 creating a complete educational experience for youth in Lake County.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n\n<\/div>\n

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Our Values<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Everything we do at RLFJ is grounded in five core values: <\/strong>
Vision<\/strong> \u2014 We believe every young person has a future worth building.
Identity<\/strong> \u2014 We develop the whole person, not just their skills.
Service<\/strong> \u2014 We lead by giving back to the community that raised us.
Integrity<\/strong> \u2014 We do what we say and say what we mean.
Ownership<\/strong> \u2014 We teach young people to take responsibility for their lives, their choices, and their community.<\/p>\n\t\t\n<\/div>\n

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Get Involved<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\t

Whether you want to volunteer, mentor, donate, or partner with us \u2014 there is a place for you in this movement. RLFJ is built on community, and we are stronger together.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\tContact Us\n\t<\/a>\t\t\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

About Rural Launch Foundation & Juku Rural Launch Foundation & Juku (RLFJ) is a nonprofit organization serving youth ages 10\u201324 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"no-sidebar","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"full-width-container","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"disabled","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"disabled","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-118","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rurallaunch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rurallaunch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rurallaunch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rurallaunch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rurallaunch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=118"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/rurallaunch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":268,"href":"https:\/\/rurallaunch.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/118\/revisions\/268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rurallaunch.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}