Chris joined Valley Vision in Jan 2006 and recently completed his master’s degree in community development from the University of California, Davis. His fields of study were economic development, affordable housing, urban design, community participation, labor and nonprofit organizations. Chris previously completed his BA in ethnic studies from Sacramento State University. He worked previously as a firefighter and squad boss for the US Forest Service, a graphic arts assistant, a guest teacher and a financial services associate for E*Trade Financial. Chris also completed internships with the Senate Office of Research and the California Legislature’s Select Committee on Economic Development. Chris supports the many facets of Partnership for Prosperity, the Community Needs Assessment, and manages fundraising and stakeholder outreach projects.

• Session: Experiences, the civic amenities exhibit
  
• Session: Civic Amenities

Dr. Hashem Akbari is a Group Leader, Staff Scientist, and principal investigator in the Environmental Energy Technologies Division at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He has obtained his Ph.D. in engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the leader of the Heat Island Group and has been instrumental in the organization and initiation of the group at LBNL, funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency, and several other sources. He has led LBNL's efforts to investigate the energy conservation potential and environmental impacts of increased tree planting and modifications of surface albedo. His research has identified the attributes of these energy efficiency strategies to mitigating the urban heat island effect. In addition, he has performed research in energy use and conservation in buildings; advanced energy technologies; utility energy forecasting; advanced utility-customer communication, computation, and control systems; energy-efficient environment; air pollution control; and environmental simulation and modeling. Dr. Akbari is the author of more than 200 articles and coauthor of four books. Finally, he is an active member of ASME, ASTM, Cool Roof Rating Council, and ASHRAE and serves on several technical committees within each society.

• Session: Energy efficiency programs

Ricardo Amon is the manager of the California Energy Commission’s Energy in Agriculture Program. He is responsible for the implementation of energy efficiency programs that promote conservation, peak load reduction, and efficiency measures as well as renewable energy development in the agricultural and food processing industries. Ricardo earned a Masters in Science from the University of California at Davis, specializing in international agricultural development and economics.

• Session: Sowing seeds of change

• Session: Writing in your own back yard

Founding CEO of Bloo Solar, previously known as Q1 NanoSystems. He has an extensive background in large-scale program and project management, consulting, and operations management. Mr. Argo's has 20 years industry experience, including 17 years in many roles at two Fortune 500 technology companies, in Europe and the US. He earned his MBA in Finance at the University of California, Davis. He holds a Project Management Professional (PMP) credential from PMI. He is a co-inventor of Q1 NanoSystems' core technologies.

• Session: Green entrepreneurs and how to help them grow

• Session: Climate change means innovation for agriculture

Thor has been involved in the biomass industry throughout California for 25 years and helped develop fuel supply programs for many of the original wood power plants built in early 1980s starting with the 18 megawatt plant on Oroville. Thor is a founding member and President of the Ag Biomass Council Inc. (ABC). ABC is focused on public education and information transfer related to Resource Conservation, Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Economic Development through biomass conversion technologies. In addition, Thor is a founding shareholder in Applied Biomass Technology Inc. (ABT) headquartered in Chico. ABT is an integrated feedstock and project management company. ABT shareholders & associates have extensive experience in wood power plants, feedstock supply, ethanol & bio-diesel, anaerobic digesters, soil amendments, marketing, government & public relations.

• Session: Sowing seeds of change

Mitchell Baker is the Chief for the Office of Special Projects for the California Department of Transportation’s (Caltrans) Division of Transportation Planning. He has worked in the public sector for more than 27 years and has been with Caltrans since 1980. His assignments have taken him to offices in Los Angeles, the San Joaquin Valley and for the past 13 years, Sacramento. During his career, Mitchell has performed a variety of assignments, including long-range planning, regional transportation planning, intergovernmental planning, and local land-use development review. He has also participated in a number of special projects including the Governor’s Commission on Building for the 21st Century, and the Great Places Program for the San Joaquin Valley region, which is helping to provide better access to natural resources data that is critical in developing sustainable, long-range land-use plans. Mitchell is currently the Project Manager for the transportation planning tasks of the GoCalifornia Construction Industry Capacity Expansion Initiative (ICE). GoCalifornia ICE is part of the Governor’s Strategic Growth Plan to address the future growth and infrastructure needs of California. Caltrans is responsible for identifying strategies to ensure the transportation infrastructure needs are met to “improve mobility across California.” One of the major tasks Mitchell is responsible for is increasing the availability of construction materials within California. To help address this issue, Mitchell recently coordinated a “Materials Summit” meeting (with the help of the construction industry) between State and Federal agencies, the construction industry, local planning officials, and local decision makers. Mitchell is married and lives in Elk Grove with his wife and daughters. Mitchell Baker is the Chief for the Office of Special Projects for the California Department of Transportation’s (Caltrans) Division of Transportation Planning. He has worked in the public sector for more than 27 years and has been with Caltrans since 1980. His assignments have taken him to offices in Los Angeles, the San Joaquin Valley and for the past 13 years, Sacramento. During his career, Mitchell has performed a variety of assignments, including long-range planning, regional transportation planning, intergovernmental planning, and local land-use development review. He has also participated in a number of special projects including the Governor’s Commission on Building for the 21st Century, and the Great Places Program for the San Joaquin Valley region, which is helping to provide better access to natural resources data that is critical in developing sustainable, long-range land-use plans. Mitchell is currently the Project Manager for the transportation planning tasks of the GoCalifornia Construction Industry Capacity Expansion Initiative (ICE). GoCalifornia ICE is part of the Governor’s Strategic Growth Plan to address the future growth and infrastructure needs of California. Caltrans is responsible for identifying strategies to ensure the transportation infrastructure needs are met to “improve mobility across California.” One of the major tasks Mitchell is responsible for is increasing the availability of construction materials within California. To help address this issue, Mitchell recently coordinated a “Materials Summit” meeting (with the help of the construction industry) between State and Federal agencies, the construction industry, local planning officials, and local decision makers. Mitchell is married and lives in Elk Grove with his wife and daughters.

• Session: On the road again . . .

Kevin Barnes is the Solid Waste Director for the City of Bakersfield. He has managed public and private waste collection systems for 30 years. He has been on all three sides of the fence – an independent family owned company, a national waste service corporation, and two city operations. His education is in Environmental Engineering and Business/Management. As he grew up in the trash business, he started his first newspaper recycling venture at eight years old. His problem solving approach has led to a few industry improvements, including two refuse truck patents. During recent years in Bakersfield, he has handled a wide range of projects in solid waste and air pollution reduction. With all the new challenges related to air issues, he says he is not so much a garbageman anymore as an air handler

• Session: When green missions collide

Jayne Battey is the executive director of the Pacific Forest and Watershed Lands Stewardship Council (Stewardship Council). Ms. Battey manages and directs the organization’s long term strategy to ensure that more than 140,000 acres of watershed lands located across the state of California are conserved and enhanced to provide a broad range of beneficial public values. Additionally, Ms. Battey oversees the Stewardship Council’s Youth Investment Program to connect underserved youth in Northern and Central California to the outdoors. Prior to joining the Stewardship Council, Ms. Battey served as President of Essex Environmental, an award-winning environmental consulting firm she co-founded in 1988. From 1983 to 1988, Ms. Battey worked as an environmental planner at Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) Company. Ms. Battey served a two-year term as Chair of the San Mateo County Workforce Investment Board from 2002 to 2004, and served on the board from 1999 to 2005. She is actively involved in her community and is a board member for the Cabrillo Education Foundation. Ms. Battey received a Masters of Science degree in Urban and Regional Studies from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Communications from Boston College. In 2007 Ms. Battey completed Stanford University’s Executive Program for Philanthropy Leaders.

• Session: Developing the next generation of environmental stewards

• Session: Where do the children play?

• Session: Green Collar Jobs

Jim is a Senior Associate with PMC, a public agency consulting firm. His experience over 25 years of successfully innovating housing and community development programs and projects, including co-housing, and award winning transitional housing has positively impacted over 60 communities throughout the West Coast of California, Arizona and beyond. He was the project manager for the acquisition and rehabilitation of the LEED AP certified City Hall complex for Rancho Cordova, CA. Mr. Carney has assisted thousands of homeowners and renters with energy efficiency programs to relieve their energy cost burden with is unique, cost-effective solutions. He is dedicated and passionate regarding the influence of housing to the future environment. He received his BA in Urban Studies from Temple University and his Master’s in Urban and Regional Planning from San Jose State University.

• Session: Going beyond green: Fostering sustainable communities

• Session: Constructive responses to issues of race, poverty and immigrants in the Central Valley

Joshua Channell is a CEQA/NEPA specialist and leads the Climate Control Strategic Service Area for CirclePoint in San Francisco. He works directly with City and County agencies, Main Street Programs, business owners and community groups in California and throughout the United States on projects that include master planned mixed-use developments, commercial district revitalization, urban in-fill development, and transportation projects. Mr. Channell is actively working with public agencies to examine how they can reduce their carbon emissions, as well as responsibly plan for future development. Mr. Channell has been actively involved in the development of California Air Resources Board protocols for implementation of AB32, and he was involved in the beta version evaluation of the LEED for Neighborhood Development (LEED-ND). His research includes evaluations of the compatibility and use of multiple Smart Growth planning tools in greater metropolitan areas. Mr. Channell and others in CirclePoint’s service area provide consulting services to community, private and non-profit groups looking to prepare Climate Action Plans or conduct emission inventories, and to elected and public officials seeing to understand the regulatory environment as it relates to climate change. The group also provides customized greenhouse gas evaluations for projects in CEQA/NEPA documents, including analysis of carbon emissions, potential sea level rise, and strategies for greenhouse gas reductions on a project level.

• Session: Local government strategies for addressing climate change

• Session: Writing in your own back yard

John Clinkenbeard (PG, CEG) is a Supervising Engineering Geologist with the California Geological Survey. He is currently manager of the Mineral Resources Program within the California Geological Survey and supervises mineral land classification and other minerals related studies.

• Session: On the road again . . .

Born and raised in Oakland, CA, Randall was the youngest of three siblings. After graduating from Oakland Technical High School in 1971, Randall then chose a career in law enforcement and dedicated the next 29 ½ years, from 1975-2005, to the City of San Jose Police department where he retired as a Deputy Chief. In January of 2005, Randall began his career with the City of Fresno, as Director of the Parks, After School, Recreation & Community Services Department where he remains actively serving the community of Fresno and spends much of his time leading the ‘Destination Fresno’ campaign to help create a City that is an attractive place to live, work, play and vacation!

• Session: Developing the next generation of environmental stewards

Judith A. Corbett is the founder of and, since 1982, has served as the Executive Director of the Local Government Commission. She holds an M.S. in Ecology from the University of California, Davis and was co-developer of the highly acclaimed Village Homes development in Davis, CA. Village Homes continues to attract international attention as a ground-breaking model for sustainable development. Corbett has co-authored three books on resource- efficient land use and building design, and published over 50 policy guidebooks for local government officials on topics ranging from hazardous waste reduction, recycling, energy conservation and resource efficient land use patterns. Judy has been a featured speaker at conference throughout the United States, Mexico, Canada and Europe and serves as a board member for several organizations including the Congress for the New Urbanism and the Rail-volution Conference. She is a 2001 recipient of a German Marshall Fund Fellowship and was named a 1999 “Hero of the Planet” by Time Magazine. Most recently, Judy was recognized by the American Planning Association as the recipient of the APA’s 2005 Distinguished Leadership Award for a Citizen Planner.

• Session: Going beyond green: Fostering sustainable communities
• Session: LEED your next neighborhood development

Temra has been working with Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF) for the past 5 years to create a more localized food system for California. She is the Director of the Buy Fresh Buy Local program – a program that links farmers with urban markets and educates consumers about the importance of buying locally grown food. Buy Fresh Buy Local has regional campaigns in five locations and has a statewide database for finding local eats at buylocalca.org. The program works with retailers, restaurants, institutions, farms and organizations to increase the transparency and viability of our food system. Materials have recently been translated into Spanish and are being implemented in the Central Coast, Salinas area. Temra is passionate about supporting and eating local food as she believes food is one of the most impacting daily acts of our lives; one that impacts community health and nutrition, the environment and the economic vitality of our economy.

• Session: Greening the food system: A local approach

Senior Program Manager, Central Valley Initiative is a native of Patterson, in the heart of the Central Valley. Sergio received his bachelor's degree in History from California State University, Fresno. The Great Valley Center tapped Sergio to be an IDEAL Fellow, and to participate in a leadership development program aimed at identifying and supporting emerging leaders in the Central Valley. As a former Social Science teacher and commissioner of Patterson's Recreation Board, Sergio weds together his understanding about the principles of youth development and empowerment with a strong community development framework. Sergio is on the Executive Committee for the California Fund for Youth Organizing as the Movement Building Committee Chair, and represents the Central Valley on the Fund.

• Session: Constructive responses to issues of race, poverty and immigrants in the Central Valley

Robin Maria DeLugan is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at UC Merced. She received her B.A. (1994), M.A. (1995), and PhD (2004) in Anthropology from UC Berkeley. Her primary research centers on collective identities as related to race, ethnicity, community, and nation. She studies nation building in post-civil war El Salvador including how massive out-migration influences a redefinition of the nation so as to incorporate far away citizens, as well as how El Salvador’s indigenous people struggle for greater inclusion and participation. Closer to home, she studies indigenous migration from Latin America to California and how new collective identities are formed around notions of indigeneity. She is co-chair of CURAJ (Community University Research and Action for Justice) an innovative alliance of Central Valley community-based organizations and university academics finding ways to collaborate in problem-solving efforts to address regional inequities.

• Session: Disparities, inequality, and civic engagement

Peter joined the Institute of Transportation Studies in February of 2008 as the program manager for the Toyota Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicle Demonstration. He has a B.S. in Aeronautical Science and Engineering (UC Davis), along with a M.S. in Biological Systems Engineering (UC Davis). His graduate work focused on energy systems and bio fuels. He was a researcher for the California Biomass Collaborative, visiting many of California's waste-to-energy facilities. Peter has devoted his professional career to promoting, and educating the public about, climate change solutions.

• Session: Green vehicle demonstration
• Session: All kinds of green cars

Kathy Diehl joined the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's San Francisco regional office in 1984 after receiving a Master's in Environmental Engineering from the University of California. She is currently the Regional ENERGY STAR Program Manager responsible for promoting energy efficiency within the residential and commercial building sectors.

• Session: Energy efficiency programs

Alma Du Solier is a landscape designer and architect with extensive experience in the practice of landscape design, urban design, architecture and planning. She has been working for more than a decade as key designer and project manager for a wide range of projects from urban parks and streetscape projects, covering the entire spectrum of tasks, from concept and master planning to detailed construction documentation and implementation. Alma employs a detailed construction documentation and implementation. Alma employs a unique multidisciplinary design approach due to her strong background in both landscape design and architecture, and her interest on collaboration and on the meaningful integration of design with site and culture. Her experience includes significant projects in the US and in Mexico, where she is a licensed architect. For the last 5 years Ms. Du Solier has been the lead designer and project manager for the first phase of implementation within the Tuolumne River Regional Park, a new park known as the Gateway Parcel, located adjacent to the Tuolumne River and in proximity to downtown Modesto and the City of Ceres. For the project, Ms. Du Solier has led an inter-disciplinary team of consultants including designers, biologists, and engineers to develop a Precise Plan for the Gateway Parcel and to construct its initial phases. The Precise Plan work is a winner of the ASLA Northern California Chapter 2005 Honor Award.

• Session: Great Valley greenways: Making communities livable

Patsy Dugger is the Senior Program Manager for both Agriculture and Food Processing Programs within PG&E's Customer Energy Efficiency department. Ms. Dugger and her team of eight Project Managers and Program Managers provide integrated energy management support and services - from audits and energy efficiency to generation projects - to food processors, dairies, wineries and vineyards, growers, greenhouses, and refrigerated warehouses. Program services include no-cost facility energy assessments, system assessments, calculation assistance, retrofit and new construction rebates and incentives, and integrated energy workshops designed around specific customer segments and technologies. Prior to managing energy efficiency programs at PG&E, Ms. Dugger worked at Honeywell DMC as well as an internet startup company. She has a B.A. from Connecticut College in Anthropology and Environmental Studies

• Session: Sowing seeds of change

Jeff Ferber, ASLA is a principal with RRM Design Group, a 160 person design firm that provides landscape architecture, planning, civil engineering, architecture, and surveying services. A licensed landscape architect with 23 years of experience, Jeff is passionate about healthy communities and in particular the benefits that greenways bring to communities. In the earliest stages of greenway development, Jeff works collaboratively with agencies, property owners, and citizens to discover the characteristics that capture the individuality of a community, taking their vision from a concept to a built, practical greenway that complements its context. Jeff’s implemented greenway projects include the Prince Memorial Greenway and the Arroyo Grande Creek Promenade. He also completed the Arroyo Simi Greenway Visioning Study. His work has been published in Landscape Architecture Magazine and recognized with awards from CPRS and ASLA. Jeff earned his Bachelor of Science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.

• Session: Great Valley greenways: Making communities livable

As a principal in a large northern California landscape architecture practice, Brian Fletcher has provided guidance and leadership in the development of plans for trail systems throughout northern California. Brian counts among his clients and collaborators the Cities of Modesto, Stockton, San Jose and South San Francisco. His creativity and commitment to trails as a critical element of all communities has resulted in adoption of Master Plans, securing of State and Federal Funds for planning and implementation and the installation of miles of trails. The importance of trails in the urban fabric is evident in all of Brian’s work. His site-specific designs reflect the character of the community and relate thoughtfully to existing and planned developments to act as an environmental resource and to spur economic vitality. Key to Brian’s trail planning and urban design success is his commitment to community outreach as part of the design process. His patience in working with individuals and groups has enabled him to listen and elicit their concerns and issues. Thoughtful and creative responses to public input often employ neighborhood icons and materials or familiar public spaces comfortable to the users. Brian’s thoughtful and efficient preparation of design alternatives, creative use of quality materials and sensitivity to neighborhood’s character have provided for an endless supply of design ideas. This approach has garnered several design awards, but more importantly, a real sense of pride and ownership from the community. Some of these projects include Virginia Corridor in Modesto, Tidewater Bikeway in Manteca, and Centennial Way (BART Linear Park) in South San Francisco. In addition, Brian’s efforts in obtain funding for new trails has dramatically improved trail systems throughout the region. For Centennial Way, Brian prepared grant applications which succeeded in obtaining at least $3.2M in funding for the project. Brian is a licensed Landscape Architect in the State of California with 14 years of experience in trail planning. He graduated in 1994 from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo where he was awarded the ASLA National Honor Award for excellence in the study of landscape architecture. Brian is a partner and principal at Callander Associates Landscape Architecture, Inc. The firm will be celebrating 35 years of providing landscape architectural services throughout Northern California and currently has offices in San Mateo, San Jose and Rancho Cordova.

• Session: Great Valley greenways: Making communities livable

Sam Fong currently attends the University of California, Merced, as a third-year Management student. At UC Merced, Fong is the founder and president of the Business Society and co-founder of the Collegiate Alumni Foundation. He also researches a variety of solar technologies with Dr. Roland Winston. Previously, he published a book on high school success to raise money for tsunami relief. Fong is passionate about cleantech, entrepreneurship, and investing, and spends his free time reading, attending conferences, and meeting people.

• Session: Civic (student) entrepreneur

Pat became president/CEO of the Sacramento Asian-Pacific Chamber of Commerce in 2002 after serving as the organization’s executive director, and has helped the organization grow as a vital link to Sacramento’s Asian-Pacific Islander businesses. She has spearheaded programs to help member businesses, formed collaborations with many community-based organizations on issues related to the API community, carried out government advocacy and developed funding programs. She’s also a member of the Sacramento Children and Families Commission, and is a board member of the United Way California Capital Region, the Broadway Downtown Partnership and the American Leadership Forum’s Mountain Valley Chapter. Pat serves on the Community Benefits Committee for Sutter Health, is Vice-President and Chair of Fund Development for the Sacramento Asian Sports Foundation and a business liaison for CAPITAL.

• Session: Regional economic development

Josh Franco was born in Mexico and raised in Bellflower, a city located in Southeast Los Angeles County. After graduating from Bellflower High School in 2003, he attended Cerritos Community College where he studied Economics and Political Science and served as the Student Body President and Student Trustee. In fall 2005, Josh transferred to UC Merced and completed his full-time studies in spring 2007 with a Bachelors in Public Policy. At UC Merced, he served as the first Student Body President, worked as Special Assistant to the Director of Governmental Relations, interned for Congressman Dennis Cardoza and is a Class of 2006 Great Valley Center IDEAL Fellow. Currently, Josh is the founder of Civic Entrepreneur, serves as Advisor to California Students for Barack Obama and works as Assistant to Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi.

• Session: Civic (student) entrepreneur

Jesse D. Frederick, Vice-President of WZI, Chemical Engineer, has thirty years professional experience as an engineer, project manager and department manager, having served as the Manager of Environmental Affairs for a Fortune 1000 company. Mr. Frederick has developed cost effective permitting and compliance strategies for various sized projects ranging from $50 million to $500 million, including international projects, and has been involved in numerous CEQA and NEPA documents. He has been worked in regulatory development and the public review process throughout the United States. Mr. Frederick is a recognized expert in the field of environmental compliance strategy for the electrical production industry and has published papers on environmental issues including CEQA, as well as serving as an editor for a Society of Petroleum Engineers Monograph on environmental issues for the oil and gas industry.

• Session: AB32: Air quality and climate change

Isao Fujimoto grew up on the Yakima Indian Reservation in eastern Washington. His family was farming around the reservation towns of Wapato and Toppenish along with 125 Japanese immigrant families on Yakima land. The Alien Land laws forbid the sale and lease of land to “people not eligible for citizenship.” No Asian immigrant could become a citizen of this country until 1952, so the laws directly targeted the immigrants from Japan. Many left farming but others found ways to continue, as in the Yakima Valley where the Indians made land available to the immigrants. When WWII started, all the Yakima Valley families were sent to the Heart Mountain, Wyoming, concentration camp. After Fujimoto’s family got released, they started up again by share-farming strawberries with the Driscoll company in the Morgan Hill area of California’s Santa Clara Valley. Fujimoto attended U.C. Berkeley and also conducted Cornell rural-sociology fieldwork researching village development in the Philippines. Soon after he started teaching at U.C. Davis in spring 1967, he sought out Cornell colleague Jerry Brown, who was research director for the United Farm Workers. He found Brown and his wife Juanita on the picket lines at Guimarra farms in Delano, where he joined them. There’s an inscription on Hilgard Hall at U.C. Berkeley that Fujimoto says he took to heart: "To Rescue for Human Society the Native Values of Rural Life." Those words have guided his work over the last 40 years, starting the U.C. Davis graduate program in Community Development and serving on the boards of Global Exchange, Food First, American Friends Service Committee, California Institute for Rural Studies, Rural America, the Rural Development Leadership Network and the Data Center. For the last ten years, Fujimoto has been the project facilitator for the Central Valley Partnership for Citizenship, a collaborative of active community-based organizations working with emerging immigrant, migrant and low-income community organizations throughout the 450-mile stretch of California’s Central Valley.

• Session: Regional planning and community sustainability

Pat Furr founded Computers for Classrooms in her home in 1991. Pat’s background includes teaching, being a Realtor and serving at the state and national levels, being elected as a school district trustee and attending CSU, Chico to get a Masters Degree in Computer Science (she is two classes short). Pat decided to take these experiences in business, computers and education to form a non-profit volunteer organization to refurbish computers and place them in schools. The program is nationally recognized and was recently featured in Business Week. CFC is an environmental leader in Re-use and furnishes thousands of computers to schools and low-income families each year.

• Session: Closing the digital divide in rural communities

Kelli Furtado is the Assistant Director of the Office of Community and Economic Development at California State University, Fresno. The Office of Community and Economic Development is the lead agency for the Fresno Regional Jobs Initiative and California Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley. Ms. Furtado’s former position was the Chief Operating Officer of the Central Valley Business Incubator, a business development organization that provides entrepreneurial services to small businesses in the Central Valley. Ms. Furtado led efforts to develop the concept, raise funds and construct the Claude Laval Water and Energy Technology (WET) Incubator on the Fresno State campus. Designed to establish the Central Valley as a world leader in water and energy innovation, the WET Incubator is the region’s latest economic development booster. Opened in March 2007, the resources of business incubation, education and industry are utilized in the $5 million project. The WET Incubator is a center of activity for entrepreneurs who have access to industry, incubation services and the technical expertise and research capabilities of Fresno State. Prior to this position, Ms. Furtado has worked in the financial and legal fields as well as a family-owned land development company. Ms. Furtado is engaged in her community through a variety of different organizations. She has worked with Habitat for Humanities, Creative Fresno, Fresno Leading Young Professionals (FLYP) and was involved in Leadership Fresno, class 21.

• Session: Regional economic development

As CEO/Executive Director of Build It Green since 2004, Brian directs green building programs and initiatives that promote healthy, energy and resource efficient buildings in California. He combines passion and extensive experience working in the environmental and construction industries. Brian was instrumental in organizing and launching a diverse network of building industry stakeholders committed to mainstreaming green building including the Public Agency Council, Builders Council, Suppliers Council, Real Estate Council, and Non-Profit Network. Brian is a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Accredited Professional certified by the U.S. Green Building Council and a Certified Green Building Professional. In 2003, the Environmental Leadership Program (ELP), a national fellowship program recognizing leaders in the environmental field, awarded Brian a two-year fellowship. Brian received his education in ecological design and environmental studies at Prescott College in Prescott, Arizona.

• Session: Green building

• Session: Our future, our choice

Jon Gregory co-founded the Golden Capital Network in September 1999 and has served as President and CEO since its inception. Companies featured through Golden Capital Network have gone on to raise over $1 billion in angel or venture capital investments. Jon is co-fonder of Wildcat Angel Fund, a $1.6 million angel fund. He is a member of Angel Capital Association and is a referral source for growth companies to various angel groups and venture capital firms throughout the western U.S. Jon is a co-founder of the Sacramento Regional Technology Alliance. Jon currently serves on the Board of Directors of several entrepreneur, technology or economic development-focused organizations, including the California Association for Local Economic Development (CALED), the Sacramento Entrepreneurship Academy, and the Sacramento Regional Technology Alliance, and Venture Capitalist Advisory Council member of the Entrepreneurs’ Foundation of the Capital Region. Jon started his career within the Inspector General’s Office of the 32nd Army Air Defense Command in Germany. Jon graduated from California State University, Chico.

• Session: Green entrepreneurs and how to help them grow

• Session: Green Collar Jobs

• Session: How should California grow?

Steve Hagler manages the Stewardship Council’s youth investment and grant program for Northern and Central California. Over ten years, the program aims to award an estimated $30 million to non-profit organizations dedicated to enriching the lives of California youth with outdoor experiences. Prior to joining the Stewardship Council, Mr. Hagler spent 15 years with the San Francisco Unified School District, helping raise the level of academic achievement and personal growth of low performing youth through outdoor and experiential education programs. From 2004 to 2005, he served as a teacher on special assignment, teaching and developing experiential and outdoor education programs for the district’s county and continuation high schools. He also worked in the district’s Risk Management Office, where he helped create outdoor and experiential education field trip protocols. In 1991, Mr. Hagler founded the Galileo Outdoor Adventures Program (GOAPe) to facilitate experiential education and intervention methodologies to teach and engage at-risk youth. Mr. Hagler is an active member of his local community. He has held leadership positions in many youth-focused organizations, including the San Francisco Police Wilderness Program Board, the West Region of the Association of Experiential Education, and the Presidio Stewardship Program. Mr. Hagler received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of California, Berkeley and a Masters of Education from San Francisco State University. He is credentialed in the social sciences and as a Language Development Specialist. He also holds a Certificate of Completion from Headlands Institute’s Environmental Educators Training Program.

• Session: Developing the next generation of environmental stewards

Gary Hambly is a third-generation Californian, raised in South Pasadena. Mr. Hambly attended college at the University of Oregon in Eugene where he received his Bachelors Degree in Political Science and also earned his Masters of Science in Public Administration. Hambly went to work for the Homebuilders Association of Northern California (HBANC) in 1980 as its first regional Director of Governmental Affairs and Staff Vice President. He was appointed as President / CEO in 1990 with the goal to make the HBANC a “proactive, professionally-managed organization.” Mr. Hambly was responsible for the Associations fundamental reorganization by implementing the recently adopted strategic plan. The reorganization resulted in a 100% increase in revenue and a doubling of membership to over 1,400 members while changing the primary focus of the organization to an advocacy organization working to advance the public policy and business objectives of its members Mr. Hambly is credited for conceiving and implementing several state and nationally recognized policy and outreach programs and developing a talented staff to carry out the objectives of the new organization. During his tenure the HBANC was credited with defeating a number of local anti growth initiatives, prevailing in a landmark federal court victory against the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s designation of 4.1 million acres as critical habitat for the California red-legged frog, and insuring local government compliance with state laws governing the imposition of impact fees. Hamby’s tenure saw the establishment of HomeAid of Northern California, the HBA’s official charity that in two years donated $2 million worth of in-kind labor, materials and services to build and renovate shelters for transitionally homeless men, women and children. Mr. Hambly has a wife and two daughters.

• Session: On the road again . . .

Joe Heinzmann is the West Region Director of Business Development for FuelCell Energy. At FuelCell Energy Mr. Heinzmann is responsible for working with clients to develop economically justified and environmentally sound solutions that promote the use of Fuel Cells in the municipal and commercial marketplace. Recent FuelCell Energy WWTP projects at the City of Turlock, Tulare, Riverside, Eastern Municipal Water District and the Dublin San Ramon Service District are a clear indication that the greater awareness of the benefits that this technology can bring, to both the plant and their local communities, are leading facilities to choose ultra clean and efficient fuel cells to maximize the value and limit the emissions of this valuable renewable fuel. Joe’s practical expertise encompasses the technical and economic aspects of onsite-distributed generation, generator controls, electrical protection and automated control systems. Prior to joining FuelCell Energy, Mr. Heinzmann was the West Region Application and Technical Sales Leader for the General Electric Company.

• Session: Climate change means innovation for agriculture

• Session: Green Innovation Index

Jennifer Hernandez brings a diverse background of campaign management, lobbying and community organizing experience. Presently Jennifer is with the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation (CRLAF), where she coordinates efforts on Policy Development and implementation with the Poder Popular Program, a project funded by the California Endowment. Prior to joining CRLAF, Jennifer served as the Deputy Executive Director of Communities United to Strengthen America a 501c4 non-profit organization that empowered middle-class voters and their families in 12 Congressional districts during the 2006 Congressional mid-term election cycle. Jennifer helped craft and administer Communities United’s unique approach of fully integrating a Research, Communications and Field operations component to create a truly cohesive program. In the 2004 Presidential Election cycle Jennifer worked with Voices for Working Families, one of the largest 527s of that conducted voter education, registration, mobilization, and voter protection activities in communities of color in seven battleground states. Prior to joining Voices for Working Families, Jennifer worked with the United Farm Workers Political Department in California where she coordinated the s1 a concentration on Latin America from Georgetown University and completed a Masters in Public Policy from George Mason University.

• Session: Constructive responses to issues of race, poverty and immigrants in the Central Valley

Marcia Hernandez earned her Ph.D. from the University of Albany-SUNY. Her research primarily explores how race, gender and class intersect to influence culture, as well as relationships and power dynamics between groups in contemporary society. She is a co-principal investigator with the Partnership for the Assessment of Communities project focused on quality of life issues in the Central Valley.

• Session: Disparities, inequality, and civic engagement

ConSol is a privately held company, which has been providing energy solutions for production builders since 1981. ConSol commits to promoting business practices that respect the earth and the environment. Helping to increase builders’ profitability while reducing builders’ risk. ConSol provides energy code compliance, mechanical engineering design services, ComfortWise ®, ComfortWise ® Green, ComfortWise ® ZEN, and consulting solutions for the residential production builder. Mike Hodgson founded ConSol in 1981. He brings over two decades of experience in energy efficiency in the residential new home construction market. He has positioned ConSol as the builder’s energy advocate at the local, state, and national level. He has worked extensively in resource utilization, market research, and assisting in the development of energy regulations. Hodgson led the development and implementation of ComfortWise ®, ConSol’s flagship product, which is the largest, most successful energy efficiency program in the Western United States. He helped develop the California Community Energy Efficiency Program, which works with over 100 local jurisdictions to recognize energy efficient builders. Most recently, Hodgson played a key role in the creation of the California Green Builder program, which affords California builders an industry-coordinated program not based on jurisdictions. Hodgson has been awarded the US Department of Energy’s Technical Assistance Award, the Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star® Award, the Energy Star Market Leader Award for 2005, 2006 and 2007, and the Pacific Gas & Electric’s Energy Efficiency Services Excellence Award. He currently serves as chair for the California Building Industry Association’s Energy Subcommittee, and is an active member of the National Association of Homebuilders’ Energy and Green Building Subcommittee Codes., the NAHB/ICC ANSI 700 National Green Building Standards Subcommittee, and the State of California Association of Building Energy Consultants. Hodgson holds a Master of Science degree in systemic physiology from the University of California at Davis.

• Session: Green building

• Session: Meet the funders

Judy Horn has a long history of community activism and leadership on behalf of children and families in the Kings River area. Judy was instrumental in the development the Hand in Hand Family Resource Center. Among the projects Judy is currently involved with an effort to improve access to basic infrastructure in the community of Home Garden.

• Session: Addressing infrastructure deficits in Great Valley colonias

Robert Horowitz is a Senior Integrated Waste Management Specialist with the CIWMB's Statewide Technical and Analytical Resources Division. He has worked in various Board programs over the past eight years, including data analysis, local government assistance and market development. Among other projects, he helped develop the CIWMB's Electronic Annual Report, which allows California cities and counties to file their legally required AB 939 progress reports over the internet, saving jurisdictions considerable time and money. Currently, he specializes in analyzing compost emissions data, and in working with air quality regulators in the San Joaquin Valley and in Southern California. Prior to coming to the CIWMB, Mr. Horowitz was a newspaper reporter, a small business owner, a legislative staffer, and also worked for the Department of Consumer Affairs' Smog Check Program. He is a graduate of California State University, Fresno.

• Session: When green missions collide

Daniel Iacofano, Ph.D., FAICP, is a founding principal of MIG, with over 25 years of experience in urban planning and community design specifically for downtowns, transit-oriented development, neighborhoods and urban centers. He is nationally recognized as an expert and innovator in the areas of community participation, consensus building, and facilitation. His projects have addressed issues including public transit, traffic, housing, economic development, land use and regional growth. He has worked in a wide range of communities, from Downtown Los Angeles and Downtown Denver to Anchorage and Washington, DC. Dr. Iacofano received his Ph.D. in Environmental Planning from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of several books including “Meeting of the Minds” and “The Inclusive City”.

• Session: Local government strategies for addressing climate change

Barbara is a resident-activist in the rural community of Happy Valley, CA. Barbara and her family moved to Happy Valley from the Los Angeles area in 1997 – like many north state residents, to escape some of the negatives of big city life. Barbara telecommuted for the next nine years, while becoming increasingly involved in her new community. Barbara joined the PTA, at first for her own ulterior motives – they were offering a free grant writing class – and went on to become involved in the local community foundation, she was elected to the school board, and is co-chair of the local park development committee and most recently, was appointed to the park commission of the City of Anderson and the Steering Committee for Shasta Forward, a regional blueprint project. For the past two years, Barbara has also worked on the California Endowment’s Healthy Eating Active Communities Initiative in South Shasta County, focusing on promoting livability and healthy development in the unincorporated areas.

• Session: Our future, our choice

Curt Johansen has been creating high quality mixed-use communities for over 25 years. Large projects that have prospered from his vision include Kingsmill in Williamsburg, Virginia; the Vintage Club in Indian Wells, CA; and Hiddenbrooke in the SF Bay Area. He has been in responsible charge of all California development for Triad Communities since 1997. For many years Curt has pioneered Triad’s commitment to sustainable development. Recently he entitled a New Urbanism mixed-use, mixed income community in Solano County preserving 80% of the project in open space, agriculture, park land and recreational uses with a jobs/housing balance. Currently he is working on downtown transit-oriented infill projects in Napa, Santa Rosa and Vallejo, California, which recently received the award for Best Specific Plan in California by the American Planning Association. Triad is also developing the Seattle Civic Square mixed-use project in downtown Seattle, a 44 story tower that is being designed to LEED Platinum standards. Curt is also the visionary behind Triad’s newest venture, California’s first developer-inspired ecovillage, in Napa County. In partnership with Pacific Union College, this compact sustainable community will mandate PV solar and geothermal energy, local transit, a 70 acre CSA farm, ecoliteracy in local schools, extensive water conservation and wastewater re-use infrastructure, and place-centered local goods and services in a traditional Town Square. Conservation will preserve 90% of the community as forested open space, agriculture, and park land. The village will integrate a significant percentage of affordable and local preference homes seamlessly within two market-rate neighborhoods. Curt is a long-standing member of numerous organizations, including the Urban Land Institute, and is active on many civic, city and county boards and committees. He is currently working on his first book about sustainable development theory and practice, and he is frequently an invited speaker on his vision of sustainable development concepts and innovative practices in the industry.

• Session: Sustainable development and the ecovillage

• Session: Sowing seeds of change

Dana Johnson was born and raised in Bakersfield, California and is proud of the strong family values found in the community. She received her undergraduate degree from Cal State Bakersfield in Public Administration in 1994, her teaching credential from University of Phoenix and master’s degree in School Administration from Fresno Pacific University. Dana worked for several yeas in Los Angeles before deciding to move back to Bakersfield to be closer to family and raise her two children. Dana started her teaching career with the Bakersfield City School district teaching Kindergarten and 1st Grade for 3 years and was promoted to program facilitator for the Even Start Program. Currently she is excited to be the Coordinator for the Bakersfield City School District’s School Readiness Program sponsored by First 5 Kern. Dana is very proud of the work she is doing with the families in Bakersfield to help them reach their dreams, goals, and potential.

• Session: From literacy to leadership

Ocean Jones is a poet, artist and educator who was born and raised in Tracy, California. After high school, she left Tracy to continue her education at UC Berkeley, where she majored in literature and theater arts. She received her BA from UC Santa Cruz in theater arts and psychology and her MA in education from Fresno Pacific University. She has multiple subject, theater arts, art, and language arts, credentials and is a certified language development specialist. She is a California Writing Project fellow. She has been the director of the Valley Voices Poetry Program for the Merced Union High School District for 9 years. In 2005, she received the River of Words Teacher of the Year award. Her work is included in the new HIGHWAY 99 literary anthology. She is currently working on a project with Heyday Books to spread Valley Voices Writers' Clubs to more schools in the San Joaquin Valley and is preparing her first book.

• Session: Writing in your own back yard

Dana Karcher is a project developer for the Davey Resource Group, a division of the Davey Tree Expert Company. Ms. Karcher has over seven years professional experience in the urban and community forestry industry including work as a non-profit executive for both a local and statewide organization. In addition, she owned her own consulting company working with private companies and municipal foresters. Working for Davey, she assists communities with the development of urban forestry programs including, management plans, inventories, fire safe plans and grant procurement Ms. Karcher holds a degree in Political Science from the California State University, East Bay. She is a Certified Arborist and a member of the Board of Directors of the Western Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture. She sits as an advisor to the state urban forester on the California Community Forestry Advisory Board. She is a member of the Society of Municipal Arborists and the Utility Arborist Association and serves as a faculty member for the Municipal Forester Institute. In addition, she is a member of Governor Schwarzenegger’s Transportation Task Force for the Central Valley and an appointed member of the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District’s Citizen Advisory Committee. She is a member of the San Joaquin Valley Urban Forests Council and is the former President of the California Urban Forests Council

• Session: Green canopied cities

• Session: Green Collar Jobs

• Session: Green Collar Jobs

Sibella Kraus has developed innovative and successful sustainable agriculture marketing and education projects in the Bay Area region for over 20 years. Sibella directs Sustainable Agriculture Education (SAGE), a nonprofit organization whose mission is to broaden the constituency for sustainable regional food and agriculture. The primary focus for SAGE is the preservation and viability of urban edge agriculture, meaning agriculture within a hundred miles of a major city or metropolis. Prior to forming SAGE, Kraus founded, and directed from 1993-2000, the Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture (CUESA) and its predecessor organization, the San Francisco Public Market Collaborative. Under her direction, CUESA developed its signature project, the Ferry Plaza Farmers’ Market, as well as acclaimed education programs at the market, in schools, and in the community. During the 1980s, she created other seminal urban-rural linkage projects, including the Tasting of Summer Produce and the Farm-Restaurant Project and developed an organic and specialty produce department for Greenleaf Produce Company, a San Francisco produce wholesaler. In the early 80’s, Kraus was a cook at Chez Panisse Restaurant. Throughout her career, Kraus has also worked as a print and television journalist covering regional agriculture. Kraus has received frequent recognition for her contributions to sustainable agriculture. These include the Steward of Sustainable Agriculture award at the 2003 Ecological Farming Conference; the Catalyst Award for Leadership presented by Project for Public Spaces at the 2002 Great Public Market Conference; and the Kathleen L. Barsotti Pioneering Agriculturalist Award presented by the University of California Small Farm Center at the 2001 Family Farm Conference.

• Session: Sustainable development and the ecovillage

Robyn Krock is a project manager at Valley Vision, which was hired by The California Endowment to facilitate and manage the Hmong Health Collaborative in its initial phases. Valley Vision facilitates the Collaborative's convenings and working groups and coordinates technical assistance and training. Robyn manages this project at Valley Vision. Robyn joined Valley Vision in 2006 as a consultant to the Open Space Project. She continues to focus on that initiative as well as the Hmong Health Collaborative. Before joining Valley Vision, Robyn worked as a Research Assistant in the Pacific Regional Humanities Center at UC Davis, where she managed an oral history project with multi-generational landowner families in the Sutter Buttes. She holds a master's degree in cultural anthropology with additional graduate work in community development.

• Session: Going beyond refugee health

Rob Lechner currently serves as the Manager of Customer Service and Programs for the City of Lodi Electric Utility Department. Rob has been with the City since May 1998. His responsibilities include: serving as key account representative for all commercial and industrial electric customers in Lodi; managing the utilities energy efficiency, renewable energy and low-income customer service programs; and serving as one of the lead representatives for the City of Lodi’s economic development efforts. Prior to joining the City of Lodi, Rob was a Public Affairs Manager for Pacific Gas & Electric Company, base out of San Joaquin County. He worked for PG&E in this capacity from 1991-1998. From 1987 to 1991, Rob was a Media Consultant and Legislative Aide at the State Capitol, working for then Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, and the Assemblymember Sal Canella of Modesto. From 1984 to 1987, Rob served as a News Director for radio stations in Coquille Oregon, Redding, California, and finally in the late 1985 in Sacramento, California. Rob received his Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Communications (as well as minor in Speech Communication) from San Francisco State University in December 1983. Rob and his 16 year old son Stephen have resided in Lodi since April, 1992.

• Session: LEED your next neighborhood development

Laura became interested in the Hmong and Mien communities of Sacramento while completing an MA in Anthropology at CSU, Sacramento. Her thesis involved research into Hmong and Mien community gardens and food patterns, including how diet and lifestyle changes were affected by their resettlement to the Central Valley. Laura’s subsequent career in refugee services began in 1987 as a Volunteer Coordinator for the Hmong Project at Catholic Social Services. From 1988-2003 she served as Program Coordinator at Sacrament Lao Family Community, a community based organization which provides English as a Second Language classes, employment services, health education, and other culturally appropriate programs to refugees. In 2003 Laura joined South Asian Assistance Center as Executive Director. SAAC provides interpreting services for mental health, medical, legal and other appointments. SAAC has a diverse staff which speak 9 languages, including Hmong, Mien, Lao, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Russian, Bosnian, and Spanish. SAAC has been a member of the Hmong Health Collaborative, representing 10 agencies in 4 counties that work together to promote culturally competent medical and mental health care for Hmong through coordinated systems change

• Session: Going beyond refugee health

Russ Lester is co-owner of Dixon Ridge Farms and a fourth generation California farmer. Dixon Ridge Farms is a vertically integrated organic walnut farming and processing operation based in Winters, CA. Dixon Ridge Farms is the largest handler of organic walnuts in the US. Russ began farming organically in 1989 and has helped shape many sustainable organic farming concepts and practices for orchards. An advocate for farmland protection, Russ serves on the Board of Directors for Solano Land Trust and as a member of the California Advisory Committee for American Farmland Trust. He has been a featured speaker at national conferences on farmland protection and organic agriculture. In addition, Russ is past president of the Winters Joint Unified School District as well as a member of the Solano County Agricultural Advisory Board. He attended University of California at Davis and completed a two-year fellowship with the California Agricultural Leadership Program in 2001. In 2007, Russ set a company goal to be energy self-sufficient by 2012. Part of the goal is to achieve this while being carbon neutral or negative and maintaining steady production growth. He since has added other environmental goals that will achieve a truly sustainable business.

• Session: Climate change means innovation for agriculture

• Session: Meet the funders

• Session: Green & Sustainable Economy

Rubén Lizardo, Associate Director, leads equitable public investment efforts to ensure public investments in infrastructure generate community benefits including employment, small business opportunities, transportation access and quality, affordable housing, and socially just allocations of environmental costs and resources. His work includes research and public education to shed light on the implications of infrastructure investment; he also provides training and technical assistance to strengthen community and civic participation in decision-making, and works with public officials to develop investment strategies and policies that further equity and economic vitality. Prior to joining PolicyLink, he was the capacity building director of California Tomorrow, where he led advocacy, training, and technical assistance efforts to address diversity and equity issues in community colleges, K-12 education, after-school and youth development, community building, family resource centers, and philanthropy. He also served as director of the Community Planning and Economic Development Program at Los Angeles Trade Technical College. He is a former president of the Los Angeles County Human Relations Commission and was awarded The California Wellness Foundation’s California Peace Prize for his work to address root causes of youth violence. He currently serves on the boards of Californians for Justice and Justice Matters

• Session: Addressing infrastructure deficits in Great Valley colonias

Ken Loman is a policy consultant for the California Climate Action Network (CCAN), a project of the Institute for Local Government, the research and education arm of the League of California Cities and the California State Association of Counties. CCAN helps California communities play a leadership role both to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to prepare for the consequences of climate change. His background includes work in strategic marketing, opinion research, public policy and campaign consulting. Most recently, he served as Executive Director of a local Transportation Management Association, where he worked to reduce traffic and improve air quality in the Sacramento area. Ken holds a graduate Certificate in Collaborative Governance from the Center for Collaborative Policy and is currently working on a Master of Public Policy and Administration from California State University, Sacramento.

• Session: Local government strategies for addressing climate change

• Session: Treating Nature Deficit

Ronald Manfredi received his bachelors degree in Political Science from UC Berkeley and his master’s degree in Political Science/Public Administration from CSU San Francisco. He is currently the City Manager for the City of Kerman for the past 14 years. Before that he was the Assistant City Administrator for the City of Madera. Mr. Manfredi currently serves on various boards including the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority- A Community Choice JPA Electrical Energy Provider (10 cities and one county) in Central California, State Center Community College District, and the CEN-CAL Business Finance Group. He has been married for over 27 years and has four children and two grandchildren.

• Session: Community choice aggregation, green energy and choice

Ms. Martinez was born in Harlingen, Texas on January 29, 1945, to immigrant parents from Mexico. Her family migrated to California in 1954, settling in Farmersville, California. Her mother, a housewife until then, joined the ranks of farmworkers, picking oranges to support her family. Thus Graciela became aware of the injustices of being a farmworker. After graduating from high school, Graciela started working for the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Farm Labor Program, as it was putting together what was to become one of the most successful self-help housing programs in California, Self-Help Enterprises. This program made it possible for farmworkers to own a home, something unheard of until then. As an AFSC employee, Graciela was given the opportunity to travel to Alabama, to join the historic voting-rights march led by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. Thus she was infused with activism for justice and a few months after returning from Alabama, she left AFSC to join the farmworker movement being led by Cesar Chavez. There, aside from being on picket and boycott lines in Delano, Los Angeles and San Francisco, she worked in the legal department when the ALRB was being created. Up until that time, farmworkers were not covered under the National Labor Relations Board. She worked with the UFW as a volunteer for seven years, after which she struck out on her own. After working for the California Rural Legal Assistance in Delano when that program first began, and with private attorneys and Central California Legal Services, she ran her own business for 10 years, where she helped people advocate for their rights in social security, unemployment and welfare issues as well as being a notary public and self-employed professional secretary. Civil rights and organizing has stuck with her all these years and until she was again employed by the AFSC in 1997, she was engaged in all sorts of civil and social justice activities, co-founding the Concerned Citizens of Goshen at a time when that community was in serious need of a sewer system to replace the old crumbling septic systems that led to serious backups into the back yards and even the school ground in that community. After several years that struggle was won and Goshen finally got its sewer system and the community today is a growing, thriving community. Ms. Martinez continues working for peace and social justice and knows that that is her life’s work. Now she is a 63 years old and willingly respond to issues arising out of health, housing, education, labor and immigrant rights, doing her best to help keep members of Tulare County communities, particularly farmworking communities, informed and encouraged to continue the struggle for better working and living conditions. She is currently the project coordinator for the same program that hired her in my teens and that has set the course for the rest of her life.

• Session: Constructive responses to issues of race, poverty and immigrants in the Central Valley

Eunize is a leader in the community of Tooleville. Among the projects Eunize is currently involved with is an effort to improve access to basic infrastructure in the Tooleville and other unincorporated communities in the San Joaquin Valley.

• Session: Addressing infrastructure deficits in Great Valley colonias

Chris is passionate about renewable energy and understands the need for sustainable and responsible growth in California. Chris spends much of his time advocating for renewable energy standards and educating the public about the financial and environmental savings of solar energy. He graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in Industrial Technology. REC Solar, Inc., based in San Luis Obispo, California and with 11 offices in six states from Hawaii to New Jersey, specializes in grid-tied solar electric design and installation, offering the latest technology, state of the art equipment, and financing opportunities for all commercial and residential customers. REC maintains a dedicated staff of engineers, designers, and installers to make solar a turnkey solution for our customers. With a focus on quality, professionalism, and service, REC Solar has excelled to become a trusted market leader. REC Solar's vision is to make solar electricity part of the mainstream energy supply. By commercializing energy sources that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reliance on fossil fuels, we can contribute to a more secure and sustainable world.

• Session: Solar electricity

Jene McCovey,Yurok currently living in Arcata California about ten miles from her reservation. Jene has been an environmental activist seeking to educate the public and public officials for over 32 years about issues especially concerned with the tradition perspectives of water issues, salmon and other ecological issues. She is a graduate of Humboldt State University and shares her tribal stories and songs that balance the world. She travels to Sacramento frequently to lobby about issues of the Klamath river and disability rights. She did attend the UN Conference on women and carried her stories and song to the international community in 1995 Beijing World Conference.

• Session: The lore of air, water, and earth

Joseph McIntyre is the Executive Director of Ag Innovations Network (AIN), a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and enhancing the vitality of California agriculture at every step from “farm to fork” . He joined AIN in 2001 and over the past seven years has lead the effort to create county-based citizen-led organizations working to solving the problems facing growers and the community around food and food production. These Ag Futures and Food Systems Alliances are now operating in five counties and have a state-wide counterpart, the California Roundtable on Ag and the Environment (CRAE). Joseph is a trusted facilitator, mediator, and advisor between agricultural and environmental perspectives. Building on his academic training (Masters degrees in Organization Development and Economics) and 25 years of experience as a leader in commercial and non-profit organizations, he uses his ability to identify shared interest and keep the focus on the common good to lead change efforts. Joseph’s experience with agriculture and sustainability began in the early 70’s when he attended the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. There he was simultaneously exposed to the rich farming heritage of California and the work of sustainability thinkers such as Herman Daly and Donella Meadows.

• Session: Greening the food system: A local approach

• Session: Where do the children play?

Patrick Mealoy is a Managing Director with Navigant Consulting Inc. (NCI) and an economist and policy planner with over 17 years experience in the energy industry. He has extensive experience in strategic planning, market assessment, economic forecasting, and industry trend analysis. Mr. Mealoy has been heavily involved in the California electric utility restructuring process since its initiation in the early 1990s. He has aided numerous clients in the development and implementation of strategic plans, resource decisions, and rate designs. Mr. Mealoy serves as NCI’s Project Manager for our services to the Kings River Conservation District including creating and managing the development of the San Joaquin Valley Power Authority, California’s first Community Choice Aggregation (CCA) Program. In this capacity, he lead the development of the CCA Implementation Plan, Resource Plan, RFP for both conventional and renewable resources, and all contractual requirements for the CCA start-up.

• Session: Community choice aggregation, green energy and choice

• Session: When green missions collide

Dave Merchen is the Director of Community Development in the City of Madera, coordinating and overseeing the City’s Planning, Engineering, Public Works, and Fire Prevention Departments. His exposure to public planning issues began early in life, raised by a planning consultant for a mother and a professor of urban and regional planning for a father. He earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in public administration from California State University, Fresno, receiving a variety of academic honors and distinctions along the way.

• Session: Going beyond green: Fostering sustainable communities

Stephen Miller serves as Deputy Director for Strategic Energy Innovations, a Marin County-based nonprofit organization, where he heads-up sustainability initiatives in higher education and rural communities. At present, Stephen serves as project lead for SEI’s start-up support for the San Joaquin Valley Clean Energy Organization (SJVCEO.) Stephen joined SEI with a master’s degree in Business Administration from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, and an undergraduate business degree from Penn State University. Prior to SEI, Stephen worked to implement U.S. Department of Energy programs out of the Mid-Atlantic Regional Office, in support of energy sustainable communities and the market adoption for solar energy technologies across a 7-state region. Prior to this role, Stephen directed market research for a new ventures division of Exelon (PECO Energy), after conducting similar work for a market research supplier that included managing public opinion polling for ABC News and The Washington Post. In 2004, Stephen was one of thirty associates selected to complete the Environmental Leadership Program’s Mid Atlantic Regional Training Series.

• Session: Sowing seeds of change

Darla Mills is an Urban Forester with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CalFire) based in Fresno. She works with communities, special districts, schools, and non-profit organizations throughout the San Joaquin Valley and Central Coast of California to help enhance their urban forests. She does this by administering grant funds for tree planting, tree inventory, management plans, educational, and innovative urban forestry projects. In addition, she serves as a resource to communities and other entities by providing them with processes, methods, and additional educational resources to enhance their urban forest projects and programs. Ms. Mills worked for the US Forest Service where she gained her love for forestry. She started working for CalFire in 1987 and found her niche in the Urban Forestry Program in December 2001. In addition to her urban forestry duties, Ms. Mills holds a position on CalFire Incident Command Team 9 as the Compensation and Claims Unit Leader. Her team position deals with employee injuries and property damage issues during statewide emergencies. These emergencies include wildfires, earthquakes, floods, major pest infestations, and other natural disasters. Ms. Mills has Finance Section training within the Incident Command System and spent three weeks supporting CalFire crews in Montana in the summer of 2003. She is a graduate of the first Municipal Forester Institute in 2006 and a current fellow in the Great Valley Center’s IDEAL program. Ms. Mills has a Bachelor of Science in Forestry from Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, Arizona.

• Session: Green canopied cities

Palee Moua was born and educated in Laos. She arrived in the United States in 1976 as a refugee. Over the past 30 years, Pa