Sierra Solutions Speakers

P.K. Agarwal, Director of Department of Technology Services, State of California
Appointed in 2005, P.K. Agarwal serves as Governor Schwarzenegger’s director of the Department of Technology Services. As Director of the Department of Technology Services, PK is responsible for ensuring high quality and cost effective technology services to state and local governments in California

PK has been in many leadership positions in California state government.  As ex-CIO of the California Franchise Tax Board he was responsible for many technology innovations in California.  In 1999, he chaired the National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council (eC3) that spearheaded the use of Internet in government.  PK has been the president of the National Association of State CIO’s (NASCIO) and has considerable private sector experience at EDS, NIC, and ACS.  Currently PK is serving as president to the eC3 Council.

With two master’s degrees; one from California State University at Sacramento and the other from University of California at Berkeley, he speaks to private and public sector executives both nationally and internationally and is known for his humor and keen intellect.

Dave Atkins, Program Manager for Fuels for Schools, USFS
Dave works for the State and Private Forestry branch of the US Forest Service.  His area of emphasis is in utilization of biomass.  He is the Program Manager of the Fuels for Schools initiative, which highlights the use of small-scale biomass heating systems, in the Northern and Intermountain Regions of the Forest Service.  He has a B.S. in Forest Science from Humboldt State University - 1979 and an M.S. in Forest Ecology from the University of Montana - 1996, where he did a thesis on definitions of Old Growth forests.  He has worked as a certified silviculturist, forest ecologist, and regional forest health monitoring coordinator, regional pesticide coordinator, among other positions in his career, which started as a seasonal technician in 1976. Mr. Atkin’s has written the following publications: ”Health of Idaho’s Forests” - USDA Forest Service Forest Health Protection 1998, “Forest Health of Utah’s Forests” - USDA Forest Service – Forest Health Protection 2000, “Forest Health of the Interior West” – USDA Forest Service – Rocky Mountain Research Station – 2000, and “Analysis of MT Fire, Insect and Disease Risk Using the Forest Vegetation Simulator” – Proceedings of FVS Applications Conference, 2000.

Tim Beals, County Director of Transportation, Planning Director and Building Official for Sierra County
Tim Beals has been a public official and employed in Sierra County since 1973.  He is responsible for 13 County budgets and 15 different programs totaling nearly 10 million dollars and supervising nearly 30 employees.  The breadth of his responsibilities range from County roads and public works, planning, building inspection, solid waste, aviation, surveying and engineering, LAFCO, transportation commission, plant maintenance, office of emergency services, parks and recreation, and other like programs. Time is the past president of the County Planning Directors Association, member of County Engineers Association and California Building Officials Association.  He graduated with honors from Humboldt State University with a degree in Geography and assisted in developing the Natural Resource Planning and Interpretation major that is now so popular at the college. Tim lives in Sierra City with his wife Marcia and raised two sons-both in Chico now-one in his last year at Chico State and one just having graduated in December 2007.  Very active in the community-member of Sierra City Volunteer Fire Department, member of the Western Sierra Medical Clinic-Board of Directors, Board member of the Sierra Nevada Field Campus-SF State University, and active in many community wide programs.

Cheryl L. Belcher, CEO, Sierra Cascade Land Trust Council
Chery Belcher has been the Sierra-Cascade Land Trust Council’s (SCLTC) CEO since August 2005.  SCLTC provides support and training for twenty-one land trust member organizations in the region.  Cheryl manages the operations of the Council, including managing and teaching various training programs, conducting individual and organizational mentoring as needed for start up land trusts as well as grant administration and project management.  Cheryl also works for the California Council of Land Trusts as Training and Regional Coordinator working with regional land trust councils.  Prior to her current work, Cheryl was the founding executive director of the Nevada County Land Trust. In the eleven years she worked there, she concluded more than thirty land transactions protecting over 5,000 acres of land for trails, ranch and farm lands, historic buildings, forest lands, rare plant habitat and wild land parks.

Kevin Breen, Lahontan Golf Club Superintendent
Kevin was born in Burlington Iowa and grew up in Lincoln Nebraska. A passion for earth sciences led to degrees in Meteorology at the University of Nebraska, and Horticulture at Colorado State.

Kevin’s golf employment history covers 20 years, and includes work in: Summit County, Fort Collins, Boulder, Estes Park, and Pagosa Springs in Colorado, Jackson, Wyoming, and Los Alamos, New Mexico; before settling in Truckee for the last 11 years, where Kevin was instrumental in the development of Lahontan Golf Club. 

Kevin oversees the Golf Courses, Roads and Streets, Forestry, and Environmental Monitoring and Compliance on the 854-acre property that encompasses the Lahontan Community in Truckee. 

Under Kevin’s guidance Lahontan has garnered the California Golf Writers Environmental Award, two national Environmental Leaders in Golf awards, and was awarded the California EPA/DPR Integrated Pest Management Innovators award, being only the second golf course to ever receive the award.

Outside of the responsibilities of Lahontan, Kevin sits on the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America Environmental Programs Committee, and the Superintendents Association Agronomic Education Task Group.  Kevin is the current President of the California Golf Course Superintendents Association.

Mary Canada, Eastern Sierra Field Representative, Sierra Business Council
Mary was a small business owner of a floral shop for twenty-eight years in Mammoth Lakes. Her other odd jobs in the Eastern Sierra include ski lift operator, sporting goods salesperson, and USFS fire lookout attendant and have all contributed to her success in promoting SBC’s mission to the area and qualify her to promote our Think Local First program. Mary currently serves on the Mammoth Unified School Board. She graduated from Indiana University with a M.S. in Recreation Administration and a B.A. from DePauw University in Sociology.

John Chapman, Board Member, East Bay Community Foundation and Greenbelt Alliance
John, working with Mike Howe, is a member of the Community Leadership Initiative consulting team, a project of the Coalition of Community Foundations for Youth and the John Gardner Center.  In 2007 John was on assignment in Chicago working directly with the CEOs and Board Chairs of seventeen community foundations in the Midwest.

John was the founder and played a key role in one of EBCF’s most successful initiatives, the Livable Communities Initiative (LCI).  During that time at EBCF, John was responsible bringing some $15 million of funding to LCI and its programs.  This included multi-year funding from Ford, James Irvine, Surdna and San Francisco Foundations.  LCI is now ten years old and has become a Bay Area-wide Initiative which includes as partners the San Francisco Foundation , five Bay Area regional non-profits and several large national and regional foundations.   

Cheri Chastain, Environmental Sustainability Coordinator for Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, CA
Cheri Chastain is the Environmental Sustainability Coordinator for Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, CA. At Sierra Nevada, Cheri is responsible for educating employees on environmental issues and programs, runs the recycling and waste diversion program and energy conservation program, and manages the green house gas inventory and emission reductions projects. She also makes biodiesel, researches “green” procurement, and works to conserve and recycle water. Cheri has been with Sierra Nevada for the past two years and has worked in the environmental education field for six years. Cheri holds a Bachelor’s degree in physical geography from CSU, Sacramento and a Master’s degree from CSU, Chico in Environmental Geography.

Susan Clark PhD, Dynamic Competence, LLC
Susan received her Ph.D. in Biochemical Physiology and Biophysics at Brown University in 1987, focusing on cell communication and synergy. Following the birth of her children, Susan switched from academic research and began to focus on consulting and teaching.
In 1997, she created her first non-profit to explore collaborative processes at the regional level. This work, culminating in a $2.7M National Science Foundation grant, focused on the interface between academic, governmental, and non-profit cultures.

Augmenting her academic and non-profit work, she then created a consulting business, Dynamic Competence LLC, to test her theories in corporate environments and to raise revenue for non-profit activities.

Based on her extensive background in strategic facilitation over the past 15 years, Susan developed a suite of consulting products known as Cognitive Competence™.  In 2007, Susan became the exclusive Master Trainer for Thinking Styles® in North America.
Thinking Styles®, a psychometric test designed and used in the UK for over a decade, effectively melds Susan’s work in strategic group facilitation with individual coaching. By breaking down thinking into twenty-six different types, Thinking Styles® shows each individual how motivated, demotivated, or flexible they are in thinking at work, school, or play.

Used in tandem with Cognitive Competence, Thinking Styles® becomes a powerful tool to support collaborative processes in the workplace, enabling teams to effectively communicate, getting the job done efficiently, on time, and on budget.

Stacy Corless, Eastside Magazine
Stacy Corless traded the East Bay hills for the Eastern Sierra ten years ago after earning an M.A. at the University of California, Berkeley. Like most ski town residents, she's had a lot of jobs, often at the same time. Experience in education, journalism, marketing and community organizing informs her current work as co-founder and editor-in-chief of Eastside magazine and as the communications director for Friends of the Inyo, a Bishop-based non-profit conservation group. Stacy is also an active member, onstage and off, of Sierra Classic Theatre in Mammoth.

Darren Dinsmore, Regional Planning Partners
Regional Planning Partners (RPP) is an innovative consulting firm comprised of planning professionals based in Truckee, California. RPP encourages communities to think regionally and act locally.   Founded by Darin Dinsmore, a professional urban planner and landscape architect, the firm is working to pioneer a new approach to redevelopment that will preserve the distinctive character and environmental resources of communities. RPP uses a  comprehensive community-based planning process to plan at both place-based and regional scales.  RPP’s planning experience includes Sierra Nevada wide planning and design.   Recent experience focuses efforts on the Lake Tahoe Basin and a new regional plan. The new plan focuses on revitalizing the urban areas in the Basin for environmental improvements, utilizing tools such as environmental performance zones, regional transect-based planning, form-based codes, and a community enhancement program to revitalize Basin communities.

Darin’s unmatched knowledge of Western historic town patterns and best practices in developing vibrant, pedestrian friendly, and compact communities provided a solid foundation to master plan the Truckee railyard redevelopment project and the redevelopment of Lake Tahoe communities.  Recent innovations include the first steps of a climate action plan for the City of South Lake Tahoe with the development of a community based Sustainability Plan.  Darin just returned from touring leading northern European cities to explore opportunities for implementing Ecodensity programs based on the Vancouver Model.

Nichole Dorr, Recycling Coordinator, Town of Truckee
Nichole Dorr was hired as the Town of Truckee’s first Recycling Coordinator in January of 2006.  She is responsible for the consolidation and development of the Town’s Solid Waste and Recycling Division, which oversees all solid waste and recycling services and programs offered in the town. 

Nichole has nine years of waste management related experience.  Prior to her employment with the Town of Truckee, Nichole worked with Nevada County Recycles and the California Integrated Waste Management Board. 

Nichole graduated from Sacramento State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Studies and a Minor in Biology. 

Chuck Durrett, Principal Architect, McCamant and Durrett Architects
Charles Durrett, introduced the concept of cohousing to the U.S. with his wife, Katie McCamant, and their book Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves. Charles authored, Senior Cohousing:  A Community Approach to Independent Living – The Handbook and they coined the word “cohousing” for which they are credited in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Charles Durrett has designed over fifty cohousing communities in the United States, including Muir Commons, the first cohousing community in North America, and has consulted on many more around the world.

Krissy Gilbert, Program Director, Sierra Business Council and Assistance Conference Coordinator for 2008 Sierra Solutions
Ms. Gilbert is currently managing Ski Area Erosion Control, Supplemental Environmental Projects, and she in the early design phase of a Low Impact Development Handbook with Placer County.  She earned her Bachelor’s Degree from UC Davis in 1999 and her Master’s in Environmental Science from CSU Chico in 2004.  Prior to joining the Sierra Business Council in 2007, Krissy worked as the Project Coordinator for the Agricultural Water Quality Team at the University of California Cooperative Extension in Ventura County where she oversaw the implementation and monitoring of BMPs in commercial agricultural properties and coordinated the publication of a manual for protecting water quality in greenhouses and nurseries. She has conducted ecotoxicological research at the University of California Marine Pollution Studies Lab at Granite Canyon in Big Sur and limnological research with the UC Davis Castle Lake Research Group.  In addition to her work at Sierra Business Council, Krissy is a part-time instructor of biological and environmental sciences at Sierra Community College.

Paul Hardy, Executive Director, Feather River Land Trust
Paul was born and raised in Portola and is a founder of the Feather River Land Trust. A wildlife biologist by training, Paul and his wife Rhonda moved back to Plumas County in 1998. He enjoys spending time with his family and friends, and cherishes the opportunity to share the places he loves with his wife Rhonda, their daughter, Emmalyn, and son, Drew.

Pam Hennarty, Executive Director Mammoth Lakes Housing, Inc.
A native of the Eastern Sierra, Pam Hennarty’s career has been focused in non-profit organizations. She started her career with Bishop based Inyo Mono Advocates for Community Action. In 2004, Pam joined the Mammoth Lakes Housing, Inc. (MLH) team as the Project Manager. Since that time, she has worked to expand the organization’s delivery of workforce housing options available to the Town of Mammoth Lakes and Mono County. Pam was appointed Executive Director of MLH in 2007 and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the California Coalition for Rural Housing.

Pam graduated with a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture before receiving her Masters in Business Administration from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. She currently lives in Bishop with her husband and two sons.

Eric Holst, Managing Director and California Regional Director, Center for Conservation Incentives (CCI), Environmental Defense Fund
Eric is an ecologist and expert on conservation and environmental stewardship of working forests, farms and ranches. He directs the Center for Conservation Incentives, a national program of the Environmental Defense Fund which seeks to strengthen incentives for private landowners to restore wildlife habitat, improve water quality in rivers and estuaries, and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. He has previously held positions at the Resources Legacy Fund, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Rainforest Alliance. Holst has a B.S. in Botany from UC Davis (1990), as well as an M.E.M. in Natural Resource Ecology (1994), from the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences at Duke University.

Tracey M. Harper, Recycling Coordinator, Nevada County
Tracey M. Harper has over 25 years experience in the environmental policy arena. Ms. Harper’s past experience includes nearly 20 years at the California Environmental Protection Agency working for the California Air Resources Board and the California Integrated Waste Management Board. During her time at Cal/EPA Ms Harper worked with local governments assisting in their efforts to meet the mandates of the California Clean Air Act and the California Integrated Waste Management Act. She also works on issues concerning sustainability and legislation. Ms. Harper was also an advisor to the CIWMB Chairperson. For the past seven years, as the Recycling Coordinator for the County of Nevada, Ms. Harper has been charged with the responsibility of meeting the 50 percent recycling mandate. Challenged with the recycling rate of 20 percent in 2002, Ms. Harper recently met that challenge, achieving a 59 percent recycling rate. Ms. Harper is now looking to more sustainable and cost-effective ways to achieve even higher rates of recycling while treating the County’s materials as valued resources not to be squandered.

Ms. Harper has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science – Public Policy with an emphasis in environmental issues from the University of California at Davis.

Patricia Hickson, Land Use Associate for the Sierra Nevada Alliance
Patricia Hickson is a Program Associate for the Sustainable Sierra Land Use Campaign Program at the Sierra Nevada Alliance. The Land Use Program at the Alliance works to protects Sierra lands, water, wildlife and rural quality of life by shaping smart land use planning in all Sierra Nevada counties. Patricia graduated with a double major in Environmental Studies (focus on land use policy) and Philosophy from UC Santa Cruz in 2002. Before joining the Alliance she worked as a project assistant for the Environmental Consulting Firm, EDAW, and as a reporter for the North Lake Tahoe Bonanza. Patricia has also held positions with a variety of environmental non-profits including: Sierra Forest Legacy, Tahoe Area Sierra Club, and Earthworks. Having grown up in Colfax, CA, a small town in the foothills of the Central Sierra, Patricia bore witness to the rapid population growth and subsequent sprawling development of Placer County’s western slope. She has been interested in land use planning and the pursuit of more sustainable development options every since.

 
Lisa Isaacs, Environmental Programs Director, Mammoth Mountain Ski Area
A native of the San Francisco Bay Area, Lisa Isaacs first came to Mammoth Mountain Ski Area in 1980, where she worked for several years as a professional ski instructor. In 1999, she returned to the company to focus on resource conservation after gaining years of experience developing environmental programs within private industry, non-profit and government sectors. With her Masters of Science degree in environmental studies and undergraduate degrees in journalism and biology, Lisa directs Mammoth’s environmental programs department, focusing on education, impact reduction and conservation throughout the resort’s properties and beyond. Lisa, is also a Sierra Leadership Institute ’01 alumni, and currently serves on the board of directors for the High Sierra Energy Foundation and the Coalition for Unified Recreation in the Eastern Sierra (CURES), as well as working in advisory roles on Mono County’s Solid Waste Task Force and the National Ski Areas Association’s environmental committee.

Betony Jones, Director of Program Development, Sierra Business Council
Betony is the Director of Program Development, focusing on identifying new partnerships and opportunities to implement SBC's mission. Prior to taking on this role, she worked as SBC's Program Director for Forestry and Sustainable Business Practices.

Betony moved westward after five years on the east coast. For three years, while in graduate school, she taught biology, ecology, land measurement, and botany courses at Yale University. Before graduate school, she worked in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy under both Clinton and Bush administrations on environmental science and then moved on to the US Global Change Research Program to improve the nation’s understanding of climate change science. While in DC, she also worked with the Grameen Foundation, helping to develop a program to expand micro-credit in Latin America.

Prior to joining SBC Betony worked with the League of Conservation Voters as a field coordinator and community organizer managing a campaign office in Salem, Oregon for the 2004 Presidential election.

Meea Kang, President, Domus Development, LLC
Meea Kang is President and a founding partner of Domus Development, LLC with offices in San Francisco and Irvine, California. Her career has contributed to the production of over 1600 units of affordable and market rate housing, valued at an estimated $400 million. Her firm's focus is on sustainability and community revitalization through infill of multi-unit housing. She achieves difficult projects through robust community consensus and public/private partnerships, assembling complex, layered financing. Her projects are often recognized as catalysis for neighborhood revitalization. Recent projects include sustainable low-income senior, family and workforce housing. She is now working on the first LEED affordable workforce housing project in Lake Tahoe.

Meea's expertise includes real estate finance, public private partnerships, site acquisition, entitlements, community outreach, oversight of design, construction and lease up.  Meea holds a Masters of Architecture from University of California at Berkeley and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Cornell University.

Marcus Kauffman, Resource Innovations, University of Oregon
Marcus Kauffman has extensive experience working with rural communities in the Pacific Northwest. His work focuses on developing public-private collaborations with rural communities to improve natural resource and economic development opportunities. He has developed collaboratives that have addressed ecosystem restoration, sustained yield units, community fire protection planning, stewardship contracting, and more recently woody biomass utilization.

Marcus is a long-time Oregonian. He was raised in rural southern Oregon where he worked in his father’s post and pole construction and log furniture business. Among the many skills he learned from his father was horse-logging. He earned a bachelor’s in international studies from the University of Oregon, including a year abroad in Poitiers, France. He served in the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic where he worked with community leaders to provide more potable water and coached a youth baseball team.

After the Peace Corps, Marcus worked in his hometown of Cave Junction, Oregon for two years with the AmeriCorps program. His efforts to develop sustainable businesses and eco-tourism opportunities helped him realize the complexity of the challenges rural communities face and the inadequacy of his training. He returned to University of Oregon where he earned a Master’s of Community and Regional Planning with an emphasis on rural community development.

Prior to joining Resource Innovations Marcus worked for Sustainable Northwest and the Watershed Research and Training Center. He lives in Eugene with his wife and energetic three-year old daughter Eleni. His interests include mountain biking, woodworking, gardening, and spending time with friends and family.

James Mayer, Executive Director, California Forward
James Mayer is executive director of California Forward, a bipartisan public interest effort committed to bolstering democracy and the performance of government in California. Jim is responsible for working with the Leadership Council to develop and guide strategic reform projects, manage theexecutive team, and develop and work with project teams focused on specific governancechallenges. In 2007, Jim was part of the team that developed California Forward from a concept to a strategic plan, and then led the establishment of the organization.

In 2006, Jim became the founding executive director of the New California Network, a nonpartisanproject to improve the state's fiscal decision-making. In addition to developing potential reforms to the state's budget process, in 2007 the New California Network contributed to the development ofCalifornia Forward.

Prior to joining NCN, Jim was the executive director of the Little Hoover Commission, an independent state agency and bipartisan panel that reviews state programs and policies for efficiencyand effectiveness. As executive director, Jim managed the Commission's staff, oversaw the researchand production of all Commission studies, and represented the Commission in a variety of publicforums. Jim joined the Commission's staff in 1994 as a project manager and served as deputyexecutive director prior to being appointed executive director in January 1999.

For more than a dozen years, Jim was a daily newspaper journalist. He was a senior writer with the Sacramento Bee for seven years, and was a staff writer for the Bakersfield Californian and the Press-Tribune in Placer County. During his career as a journalist, he was recognized statewide for his coverage of education and public resource issues.
Jim has an associate of arts degree from Diablo Valley College, a bachelor’s degree in journalismfrom California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo and a master's degree from thegraduate program in public policy administration at California State University, Sacramento. He was a mid-career fellow at the schools of Communications and Natural Resources at the University ofMichigan. Jim is Scoutmaster for Boy Scout Troop 139 in Davis. He serves on the board of the Yolo County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, is a director of the Yolo County Resource Conservation District, and is a member of the advisory board of the Inmate Correctional Education Project.

Gareth Mayhead, Academic Coordinator - Forest Products, University of California Berkeley
Gareth has a Masters in Forest Industries Technology from the University of Wales, Bangor, UK.  He worked for five years at the BioComposites Center, at the University of Wales, in a number of research roles, carrying out contract research and development in the utilization of natural fibers. 

Five years were spent as a project manager at a community forest in the UK.  This involved project development and management delivering support and assistance to the timber sector in North West England.  Projects focused on utilization of waste wood, development of added value products, streamlining forest certification, biomass for energy, business and financial support tools. 

He is currently Academic Coordinator for Forest Products within the Center for Forestry at the University of California Berkeley.  In this role he works under a USDA Forest Service grant coordinating outreach in woody biomass and forest products issues in California, Oregon and Washington. 

He is an associate member of the Institute for Wood Science and Treasurer/Secretary for the Forest Products Society Pacific Southwest Section. 

Kathryn “Katie” Michiko McCamant, President, CoHousing Partners
A licensed architect and co-author of the book Cohousing:  A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves, Kathryn McCamant founded McCamant & Durrett Architects and The CoHousing Company with her husband, Charles Durrett in 1987. The firm, with offices in Berkeley and Nevada City, California, specializes in sustainable design, cohousing, affordable housing, urban planning, and childcare facilities.
 
In 2006, she founded CoHousing Partners with Jim Leach, a cohousing development company, of which she is now president. CP is currently working on projects in Fresno and Grass Valley, CA.
 
Kathryn graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture at UC Berkeley and did her graduate work at the Royal Academy of Art and Architecture in Copenhagen, Denmark. She sat on the CohoUS Board for six years from its initial founding.  After living in Doyle Street Cohousing in Emeryville, California for 12 years, she now lives with her husband and teenage daughter in the Nevada City Cohousing Community.

Rachel McMahon, Director of Regulatory Affairs, Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies
Rachel’s work for CEERT started in 1998. She has worked on several landmark policies related to alternative energy and the impacts of energy on the environment- California’s Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard policy, incentives and emissions criteria for “ultra-clean” onsite generation, the California Solar Initiative, green building incentives, and policies enacted after the state’s energy crisis of 2000 and 2001. Rachel has also worked for Global Green USA in 2006, the US affiliate of Green Cross International, where she helped to develop solar and climate change policies and pilot projects for California and New Orleans schools. She completed two books about renewable energy and the hydrogen economy for Gibbs-Smith to focus on clean energy policy development and the role of renewables in the AB 32 development process. Rachel currently focuses on climate and clean-energy issues before the California Air Resources Board, energy agencies and legislature.

Rachel holds a B.A. in Government from California State University, Sacramento.

Wilfred J. Nabahe, Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe
Wilfred J. Nabahe is a member of the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, located in the remote area of the Eastern Sierra Nevada (CA) adjacent to the town of Lone Pine.  In 2002, Wilfred began working for his Tribe as the Environmental Coordinator.  Here he works with fellow tribal members to address resource protection concerns.  In 2004, he began service as an elected member of the USEPA Region IX RTOC Eastern CA Representative.  His sensitivity and dedication gained him recognition amongst his peers, and in October 2005, Wilfred was elected to serve as the RTOC Co-Chair for two years.  As the RTOC Co-Chair he furthered communication between USEPA and the 147 Region IX tribes and currently Wilfred is in his second term as the Eastern CA RTOC Representative.  Wilfred is a veteran of the US Marine Corps and served as a Special Warfare Operator with the elite 2nd Force Reconnaissance Company, II MEF. 

Michelle Passero, Senior Climate Policy Advisor to The Nature Conservancy
Michelle Passero has over twelve years of experience working in land conservation, environmental law, and policy with particular expertise in forest and climate policy and related conservation transactions. Currently, Ms. Passero is leading TNC’ policy efforts to establish a comprehensive role for forests and natural systems under the California Global Warming Solutions Act and is a member of the California Climate Action Registry’s workgroup process to update its forest protocols.  

She has also led or advised processes to develop greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting standards for forest and land use projects, including the California Climate Action Registry Forest and Urban Forestry Protocols, as well as GHG project standards published by the World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development.  Ms. Passero holds an LL.M. in Sustainable International Development from the University of Washington, a J.D. from the University of San Francisco and a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Vermont

Nancy Richards, Program Director, Sierra Business Council
Nancy is a Program Director focusing on SBC’s Planning and Sustainable Business and Development Practices programs. She is in tune with local community needs, values, and resources and has the ability to match them with innovative planning and development practices. Nancy has extensive experience in both the private and public sectors and solid facilitative and community outreach skills. She is adept at building relationships with local agencies, the private sector, special interests, and the public. Nancy is skilled in the areas of land use planning, sustainable communities, green building, and workforce housing. She is a valuable asset for communities seeking to balance and grow their social, natural, and financial capital.

Prior to joining SBC, Nancy served as a Truckee Planning Commissioner from 1997 to 2006 and chaired the Commission for two years. She is a founding Board Member of the Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation and has served on the Buildings Division Board of the American Solar Energy Society. She was Director of Business Development for a Physician’s Private Practice and Director of Sales and Marketing in the Solar Industry. She starter her career as an English Teacher for a California High School.

Nancy Holds a BA in English from the University of California at Los Angeles and a Lifetime Secondary Teaching Credential. She has continued her education with workshops and seminars in passive solar design, sustainable communities, and leadership.

Leah Seagraves, AmeriCorp Member, Sierra Business Council
Leah is passionate about contributing to her community in ways that help restore healthy social and ecological systems in the Sierra Nevada. In her work she is interested in facilitating creative applicable solutions to complex problems in ways that address everyone’s needs. Leah earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies from the University California, Santa Cruz. While in school she worked with the Education for Sustainable Living Program, facilitating a course and leading an Action Research Team on transportation solutions for the area. Currently she is serving with the AmeriCorp Sierra Nevada Alliance Partnership for the Sierra Business Council. Here she works primarily on the Think Local First program, Forestry Workshops and Thriving Forestry Compendium articles. Leah feels that the quality and array of skills that she is gaining with the Sierra Business Council now will be of great importance in addressing her community’s needs in the future.  Leah loves to write, paint and spend time outdoors.

Charles Segerstrom, Supervisor, Energy Training Center, Workforce Education and Training, and Codes and Standards, PG&E
Charles Segerstrom is the Manager of the Energy Training Center-Stockton, Workforce Education and Training, and Codes and Standards for Pacific Gas and Electric Company, (PG&E) of Northern California.  He has twenty one years experience managing the Energy Training Center– Stockton (ETC), the organization responsible for developing and delivering training, program development, and technical support for PG&E’s Customer Energy Efficiency programs. In December 2008, the ETC celebrates its 30th anniversary of technical training for residential weatherization programs-the longest continuously operating training center of its kind in the United States.  Each year the ETC conducts hundreds of training sessions for thousands of contractors, builders, regulators, energy raters and other market actors emphasizing “hands-on,” tactile learning.  Training at the ETC emphasizes the “house as a system” and building performance approach to home improvement.

His tenure as Supervisor of the ETC was preceded by seven years as a Trainer and Training Specialist directly responsible for classroom instruction and oversight of the testing and certification of Residential Conservation Service (RCS) Energy Auditors according to State and Federal guidelines.  The thousands of individuals trained and certified to perform residential energy efficiency programs by the ETC have performed over two million energy audits in Northern California homes.

In addition to supervising the ETC, Charles has been involved in the development of the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) industry and is the current Chairman of the California Home Energy Efficiency Rating System (CHEERS) Technical Committee and Vice President of its Board of Directors.  Charles was appointed to the national HERS Council Technical Committee that wrote the national guidelines for HERS program certification and accreditation.  He is also the original author of the Training and Certification and field inspection guidelines for the HERS Council. Currently, he is a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of Affordable Comfort Inc. and a Board Member of North American Technician Excellence (NATE).

Charles lives in Sonora, California.  He is married with two sons age 18 and 24.

Brenda K. Smyth, California Integrated Waste Management Board, Statewide Technical & Analytical Resources Division
Ms. Smyth is currently a Division Chief for the California Integrated Waste Management Board in charge of the Statewide Technical & Analytical Resources Division that works on projects related to organics, green building, conversion technologies, climate change, extended producer responsibility, tires, and special wastes.  The Division also manages the Board’s databases and web sites.  Ms. Smyth is a graduate from the Colorado School of Mines with a degree in Chemical Engineering and has 24 years of experience in both the public and private sectors.   Prior to working for the State of California, Ms. Smyth worked in the private sector and has 15 years of business experience as a public relations manager, operations manager, engineering manager, process engineer, and environmental consultant. 

Catherine Stifter, Community Media Maker, Saving the Sierra
Catherine Stifter has worked in public radio as a producer and editor for 28 years and has been a member of online communities since 1988. She’s won two Peabody Awards for groundbreaking programs. Her one-hour documentary, “Saving The Sierra: Grassroots Solutions to Sustaining Rural Communities,” (co-produced with jessikah maria ross) has aired on 185 stations across the country. She commutes to work via satellite form her Nevada County homestead.

Nikki Streegan, Think Local First Project Manager, Sierra Business Council
Nikki joined the Sierra Business Council in June 2007 and brings with her a diverse background in education, marketing, media relations, and freelance writing. Nikki earned a Bachelor of Arts in 2002 in English Literature and Creative Writing from Santa Clara University. Currently she plays a leading role for SBC Program staff while also providing outreach and communications for the organization. Nikki has worked as the Project Manager for Truckee and North Tahoe’s Think Local First Campaign since November 2007, which kicked off the first Think Local First Festival in the Sierra Nevada region. Her enthusiasm for the program is shared with a committed and local group of leaders and business owners in Truckee and North Tahoe. Currently she is working on a Second Annual Think Local First Festival and launching retail kits for Think Local First Members region wide.

Joel Southall, Director of Environmental Health & Safety for Xanterra Parks & Resorts, Death Valley National Park (the Furnace Creek Inn & Ranch Resort, Stove Pipe Wells Village, and Scotty’s Castle). 
Originally from Chelmsford, MA, Mr. Southall received a Bachelor of Science in Organismic and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.  He then received a Master of Environmental Management in Environmental Economics and Policy from Duke University in Durham, NC.  Mr. Southall has also worked in Environmental Education while at the New England Aquarium in Boston, MA, served as an Environmental Policy Advisor for a successful Congressional campaign, and co-Founded the ‘Green Devils’ student group at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment.  

Mary Tucker, Energy Program Manager Environmental Services Department, City of San Jose
Ms. Tucker has had a major role in planning and managing energy and environmental programs on a local, state and national level for more than 20 years.  She has organized and managed local, state and national education and advocacy programs dealing with a wide range of energy and environmental issues, such as high level nuclear waste legislation, director of a solar installers' training and energy conservation installation program, coordination for numerous state, local and national conferences/strategy workshops, and has assisted community-based groups in establishing job-training/energy rehabilitation programs.

Since 1989, she has been with the City of San Jose’s Environmental Services Department where she is responsible for energy programs, developing urban environmental policies, and managing various environmental and energy programs ranging from urban sustainability issues, watershed management, water quality, and urban climate change to legislative issues.  She is currently responsible for coordination of the City’s Energy activities, including energy supply, renewable energy installations and opportunities and other energy demand reduction activities.  Ms. Tucker also helped create and coordinate the City’s Green Building Program, ensuring that new city construction meets green building standards as defined by the U.S. Green Building Council.  More recently, she had also coordinated the City’s Climate Change activities.

Ms. Tucker has been on the Board of Directors for the U.S. Green Building Council, representing state and local governments.  She was also Past-Chair of the American Solar Energy Society, a national membership organization. She has been president of the Northern California Solar Energy Association, a chapter of the American Solar Energy Society (ASES).  She has also been very active in the Solar Cities Project of the International Energy Agency and the Urban Consortium Energy Task Force, a national consortium of cities and counties, on issues related to sustainability, long range planning and utility restructuring.  Ms. Tucker was asked to include an essay in the publication Sustainable Architecture,  a collection of essays celebrating the connection between our built and natural environments published by the Earth Pledge Foundation.  Her work has also been featured in several other publications.

Ms. Tucker is an accomplished and inspirational speaker, as much at ease in front of neighborhood groups of twenty to international conference presentations with more than 200 participants.  She is also the proud owner of a 2.6 kW PV system on her 1909 craftsman bungalow home, a net zero home.
 

Chris White, Water Quality Specialist, Balance Hydrologics
Chris White has been a water quality specialist with Balance Hydrologics since 1991. His diverse background in agricultural, animal and social sciences has proved key to understanding interactions between terrestrial, wetland and aquatic ecosystems in environments affected by land-use changes.  He has designed, implemented and helped to monitor stormwater management BMPs and water quality management plans for protection of sensitive habitats at residential, agricultural and recreational development sites representing a wide range of conditions in northern California.