Board of Directors
Officers
President
Terri Thomas, Sausalito
Terri Thomas is a natural resources manager, ecologist, and planner. She worked in Crater Lake, Yosemite, and Everglades national parks and was Chief of Natural Resources Management and Science at Golden Gate National Recreation Area, followed by the Director of Conservation, Science and Research at the Presidio Trust. Terri has a BS in Forestry and an MS in Forest Ecology. She has served as a board member of Fire Safe Marin and the Director of Natural Resources and Climate Resiliency for Conservation Corps North Bay. Currently she also serves as Vice President of the George Wright Society, and as Director of Ecology for the Environmental Forum of Marin.
2nd Vice President
Pam Reaves, San Rafael
Pam has served on the MCL board since 2012 and was co-founder of the Climate Action Working Group with Doug Wilson. She has a passion for helping others decrease their carbon footprint especially by finding the joy and economic benefits of driving electric. In 2022, Pam co-ordinated the first Marin Green Home Tour (virtual) and is planning the 2023 tour. Pam served on the San Rafael 2040 General Plan Steering Committee as well as the San Rafael Climate Action Plan Update Working Group. She was a County of Marin Integrated Pest Management Commissioner and successfully helped create a new ordinance which improved oversight, transparency, and collaboration. She and her wife have lived in San Rafael for 25 years and together, have created a water wise, luscious edible garden as a bird, bee, and butterfly habitat. Pam loves to hike for rejuvenation and exercise. She is newly retired from her clinical psychology practice.
1st Vice President
Linda Novy, Fairfax
Linda is a long-term MCL member, serving on the Board for many years and as President from 2018-2020. She is an active landscape management consultant in the Bay Area and has a passion for protecting the environment. She has served as Marin County Economic Commissioner, Parks and Open Space Commissioner, Marin Horse Council volunteer, Marin Stables and Trails board member, and former IPM Commissioner. She is also a Volunteer Mounted Patrol member for the Marin County Parks and Open Space District. For the last two decades, Linda has been involved with MCL's Business & Environment Breakfasts, which foster communication and collaboration between businesses and environmental advocates.
Secretary
Larry Minikes
Larry served as President of Bay Area Trails Preservation Council and the Tamalpais Conservation Club board. As founder and executive director of Mount Tam Jam, Larry launched the first music festival in 46 years at the Sidney B. Cushing Memorial Amphitheatre on Mount Tamalpais, resulting in raising much needed funds for Mount Tamalpais State Park. Larry also founded the Marin Municipal Water District Watershed Citizens Advisory Committee, which successfully developed Mount Tamalpais Watershed Management's 50-year watershed protection plan. Larry also recently served on the MMWD Citizen Advisory Panel on Infrastructure, and runs a consumer electronics health and wellness product design and development company, A/V Stim, LLC.
Treasurer
Richard Jensen, Corte Madera
Rich joined the Marin Conservation Board of Directors as Treasurer in February 2021. He retired after working in the financial services industry for over 40 years. Before joining Wells Fargo, he worked for Bank of America and American Express. He is now a Business Management Consultant to nonprofits in Marin County, providing strategic and marketing planning advice with a focus on goal formation, fundraising, board governance and financial control. Richard received his BA in Economics and MBA in General Management from Golden Gate University in San Francisco and serves on a variety of nonprofit boards.
Directors
Belle Cole
San Rafael
Belle Cole, a resident of San Rafael since 2006, came to Marin County with years of experience in economic development, higher education administration, establishing and managing her own consulting firm- the PMR Group, Inc. Her experience prepared her for problem solving of complex, high stakes public policy issues. She took on new challenges in Marin county- advocating for climate change and other progressive causes (OFA Marin): forming a coalition of leading environmental and climate action groups (Lead on Climate); advocating for Measure C and helping establish the Ecologically Sound Practices Partnership (ESP) and winning endorsement and funding for the Marin Biomass Project. She has a BA from Mount Holyoke College in Mass and an MA from the Johns Hopkins school of Advanced International Studies.
Ken Drexler
Fairfax
Ken is an estate planning attorney in San Rafael. He formerly chaired the State Bar Commission on Administration of Justice and serves as Secretary to the PRE Road Advisory Board. He is on the Board of Environmental Action Committee of West Marin and is a member of the California Planning & Conservation League, Sierra Club, and other environmental non-profits.
Paul Jensen
San Rafael
Paul's career in city planning started with the City of San Rafael in 1980, and included owning and operating a planning consultant business specializing in development project management, environmental review, and policy writing. Paul has served as the City of San Rafael Community Development Director, and believes that balancing environmental protection with community needs such as housing and commerce is necessary for a healthy future. Paul is a native San Franciscan and have lived in Marin County since 1980. He has been a member of MCL for 30 years. He holds a BA in Geography/Urban Planning and an American Institute of Certified Planner (AICP) certification.
Larry Kennings
Mill Valley
Larry is a land use planning consultant with 45 years of professional experience in Marin County, including the Master Plan for the GGNRA, General Plans for Fairfax and Mill Valley, and community plans for Bolinas and Marshall. He currently serves as a member of the Marin County Parks and Open Space Commission. He also is on the Board of Directors of the Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative and the Steering Committee for the Housing Crisis Action Group. He was a Founding Director of the Environment Group Hawaii, the International Association of Public Participation, and the Alumni Association of the University of California's College of Environmental Design.
Kate Powers
San Rafael
Kate has been a member of MCL's Board since 2014, serving as President from 2015 to 2018. She tracks transportation projects for MCL's Land Use, Transportation and Water committee with a focus on improving and protecting watersheds and integrating environmental planning in early stages of all land use and transportation planning. Kate is the current editor of MCL's newsletter. She serves on Transportation Authority of Marin's Citizen Oversight Committee and San Rafael's Bicycle Pedestrian Advisory Committee. She previously served on San Rafael's 2040 General Plan Steering Committee. She holds a BA in Environmental Design.
Mike Swezy
Fairfax
Mike was Watershed Manager with Marin Municipal Water District, protecting watershed lands on Mt. Tamalpais and West Marin for 23 years. Prior to MMWD, Mike worked as an ecologist for California State Parks, helped create the Marin Conservation Corps, and served on fire crews with the US Forest Service. He holds a Bachelor of Science in forestry from UC Berkeley and a Master of Science in fire ecology from the University of Washington, and is a California Registered Professional Forester. Mike served on FIRESafe MARIN's Board of Directors for ten years, including three as President. In 2014, he was awarded MCL's Green Award for Environmental Leadership.
Roger Harris
Corte Madera
Roger is a Certified Wildlife Biologist, and has served as assistant director of the Richardson Bay Audubon Center for the National Audubon Society and principal of an environmental consulting firm where he specialized in endangered species, wetlands, and native habitat restoration. Now retired, Roger leads field trips and lectures locally for a number of environmental organizations and internationally for the Oceanic Society. He is on the Marin County Parks and Open Space Commission, the boards of the Marin Audubon Society and the Task Force on the Americas, and on the executive committee of the U.S. Peace Council.
Nancy Hughes
Novato
Nancy Hughes is the executive director of The California Urban Forests Council leading staff and partners in advocacy, education, outreach, and large-scale tree plantings throughout California.
She has served as the executive director of both the Consensus Organizing Institute and People for Trees. She has also participated on the Board of the National Alliance for Com- munity Trees.
Hughes earned a BA in Communications from Rowan University in New Jersey.
At home she cares for 5 chickens and is transforming her yard to drought tolerant and na- tive plant communities. Her heart's desire is to hike in the hills of Marin County amongst the Oaks and Redwoods.
She has served as the executive director of both the Consensus Organizing Institute and People for Trees. She has also participated on the Board of the National Alliance for Com- munity Trees.
Hughes earned a BA in Communications from Rowan University in New Jersey.
At home she cares for 5 chickens and is transforming her yard to drought tolerant and na- tive plant communities. Her heart's desire is to hike in the hills of Marin County amongst the Oaks and Redwoods.
Jane Medley
San Rafael
As a child in Berkeley, Jane was introduced to reptiles and insect collecting, which planted the seeds for her lifelong interest in animal life. Later her family moved to San Rafael where she continued to explore the out-of-doors. After graduating from UC Berkeley, she worked for the National Park Service in Yosemite before moving with her husband and sons to Oakhurst where she worked as a Reading Specialist. Following retirement, Jane returned to her roots in San Rafael. She served on the Marin Audubon Board where she organized field trips and programs. She now participates in the Marin County Breeding Bird Atlas project. She is also an aspiring Botanist and volunteers with Marin CNPS.
Georgia McIntosh
Mill Valley
Georgia is a nonprofit management and marketing communications executive with experience in strategy development, team leadership, brand and advocacy communications, change management, and research. For the first part of her career, she held strategic planning positions at the global marketing communications firms BBDO and J. Walter Thompson, working with private sector and nonprofit clients such as YWCA, Big Sisters, Telus Canada, and B.C. Ministry of Forests. She served many years at Earthjustice, the national nonprofit environmental law organization, as VP of Marketing & Program Communications, and she currently works on special projects at Trust For Public Land.
Robert Miller
San Rafael
Bob is Emeritus Professor of Health Economics at University of California, San Francisco. He received his PhD in economics from the University of Michigan. He was a member of the Environmental Forum of Marin's Master Class 42, served on the City of San Rafael's Climate Change Action Plan Update Committee, and currently serves on the General Plan 2040 Steering Committee. At MCL, he is active in the Climate Action Working Group and serves on the Executive, Finance, and Membership Development Committees. Bob moved to San Rafael in 2013 in part to be closer to Marin's protected park lands, open spaces, and farmlands.
Aviva Rossi
Fairfax
Dr. Aviva Rossi is an ecologist with over 25 years of work experience in wildlife ecology, vegetation management, policy/permitting/planning, and habitat restoration. She has worked within non-profit organizations, government, private companies, and academia. Her general research interests include biogeography, natural history, mammalogy, climate change, conservation, and land regeneration. Dr. Rossi’s recent projects have quantified the natural history of small mammals, including the niche space, resource selection, and modeled distributions to better understand how species are likely to respond to climate change. Her current work is focused on tracking changes to soil and wildlife biodiversity trends during regenerative agriculture transitions.
Jeff Stump
Inverness
Jeff has worked in land conservation and policy at the local, state, and national level for 26 years and is currently a Land Protection Manger for Save the Redwoods League. Previously he held leadership roles with the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, American Land Conservancy, and the California Coastal Commission. He holds a Bachelor of Science in environmental policy analysis and planning from the University of California at Davis. Jeff lives and works out of his home in Inverness and spends much of his free time hiking the local trails.
Greg Zitney
Novato
Greg is a consulting Environmental Planner and Certified Wildlife Biologist®. He has been involved with the first master plan for GGNRA; environmental assessment for McInnis County Park; a study of the cumulative effects of dock development and boat traffic on wildlife of Richardson Bay; a peer review of the San Rafael Rock Quarry reclamation plan; and impact assessments for a variety of development proposals. Greg previously served on the Board of Directors for the Western Section of The Wildlife Society and the Association of Environmental Professionals, and most recently served as Chair of the Marin County Parks and Open Space Commission.
Staff
Office Administrator
Martha Richter Smith, San Anselmo
Hailing from New England, Martha moved to the Bay Area in the mid-nineties to work in the entertainment sector but in recent years has transitioned to the non-profit arena. Most recently, she worked at The Life You Can Save where she contributed her project management skills to assisting in the research and publication of the 10-year Anniversary edition of The Life You Can Save authored by Peter Singer. She enjoys hiking in the hills of Marin, gardening, and cooking for friends and family.