Visionary, inclusive, equitable, and regenerative are just a few adjectives woven into the community that Jered Lawson and Nancy Vail have built at Pie Ranch over the past eighteen years. Now, in addition to COVID-19, they face tremendous new challenges due to destruction of some critical parts of the farm’s infrastructure, including the historic Steele Ranch...
Valentin Lopez is and has always been a steward, selflessly caring for people and nature. From looking after his disabled grandmother and raising his children as a single parent to the restoration of indigenous landscapes, Chairman Lopez exemplifies an intentional sense of care, reciprocity, and respect toward others. He grew up in agrarian Santa Clara...
Since 2013, Green Foothills has been hosting an annual cohort of activists who service both Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties through the Community Advocates Leadership Academy (CALA). During this 8-month program, Green Foothills shares internal expertise on how to conduct effective advocacy in the benefit of land conservation while exploring the ways in which...
Belinda Hernandez-Arriaga has been responding to the needs of the Latino community in the Half Moon Bay area since she founded Ayudando Latinos A Soñar, or ALAS, in 2011. A Licensed Clinical Social Worker who holds a PhD in Education, Belinda has focused her efforts on farmworker families, their children, and the youth of the...
Youth Climate Strike was born out of an international school walk out of 1.4 million students on March 15, 2019. This movement – entirely led by high school students – is bringing awareness of the urgency of climate change and advocating for change at the national, state, and local level. With 90 young activists organizing...
Photo by Bryan Patrick. Nuestra Casa has been a true champion of the Latino community in East Palo Alto since its founding in 2002. In standing up for environmental justice in their community and throughout the Bay Area, the non-profit has been influential in the fight for inclusionary access to green spaces throughout the region,...
Carolyn Tognetti has been a true champion of southern Santa Clara County’s environment for decades. A native of Gilroy, Carolyn became involved in city land use issues with a local group called Citizens for Balanced Growth in the late 1980s and has remained a core member as it transformed into Save Open Space Gilroy in...
Zoe Kersteen-Tucker has been a coastal advocate for decades, helping to craft some of the coast’s most iconic campaigns like the Devil’s Slide Tunnel initiative. She has represented the coastside as a San Mateo Planning Commissioner, directed the Coastside Land Trust, and helmed Committee for Green Foothills as an Executive Director and President from 2001-2003....
John Lynch, volunteer extraordinaire, has helped propel the Dunes Beach campaign forward by personally collecting over 2,000 signatures in Half Moon Bay for a petition we crafted with members of the community to express support for protecting the area adjacent to Dunes Beach from development. John is a former member of the Committee for Green...
Smita Patel is a member of the Committee for Green Foothills Advisory Board and a tireless advocate for change. She is a co-founder of the Mountain Children’s Foundation, which provides support and empowerment for children in mountainous areas of Uttarakhand, India, and now works in education journalism. Recently she shared a remarkable episode of the NPR...
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