Earlier this year, you might have caught an image of nine Green Foothills employees smiling in a Zoom conference. That image has recently undergone a change as we welcome two new employees to our growing team. In addition, another member of the team is transitioning to a part-time role in anticipation of an exciting career change.

These staff developments further strengthen our team, in particular our advocacy program and marketing efforts. We’re excited to introduce you to Juan Estrada and Jenny Green, and to let you know about Leslie Lopez Holder’s new role.

Juan Estrada, Advocacy Associate and Organizer

Juan took up the mantle this summer of the newly created position of Advocacy Associate and Organizer. Working with Legislative Advocacy Directors Alice Kaufman and Brian Schmidt, Juan provides crucial support for Green Foothills’ land use advocacy and movement-building work. His addition to the Advocacy team further bolsters our relationships with and mobilization of community members to effect change together.

In the short time he has been with us, Juan has shown his mettle by plunging into the high-profile, environmental justice issue of closing Reid-Hillview Airport and repurposing it to new uses that could include sorely needed parks and open space for East San Jose. Among his other projects, Juan will also be contributing to Green Foothills’ work in San Mateo and San Benito Counties. With over a decade of advocacy and organizing experience as a community activist in East San Jose, Juan previously facilitated community meetings and discussions on the future of Reid-Hillview Airport. He also founded San Jose’s District 5 United which seeks to improve the quality of life in East San Jose and address citywide issues.

Juan’s experience also extends to the greater San Jose community. He served on the 2020 San Jose General Plan Task Force, and in 2018, he organized an email-writing campaign to the City Council for the citywide No On B, Yes On C ballot measures to help prevent sprawl development.

Prior to joining Green Foothills, Juan worked for Working Partnerships USA, where he supported COVID-19 education and outreach efforts during the pandemic. Juan holds an M.B.A from Mills College in Oakland and Bachelor’s degrees in Business Management Economics and Sociology from the University of California Santa Cruz. In his leisure time, Juan enjoys spending time with his family, exercising, and enjoying the outdoors.

Jenny Green, Marketing Manager

Jenny comes to us with more than two decades of experience managing communications for Bay Area tech companies and nonprofits. As Marketing Manager, Jenny is responsible for implementing our marketing strategy to support our programs and raise funds and awareness. She’s looking forward to working with the rest of the team to strengthen and promote our organization’s brand, community partnerships, and people.

Joining the Green Foothills team allows Jenny to align her passion for working on environmental issues with her professional career. She is a volunteer on the leadership team of Mothers Out Front Silicon Valley, a grassroots organization working to combat climate change. Jenny is currently driving their efforts on electrification reach codes in the South Bay. Mothers Out Front is part of the Protect Coyote Valley coalition led by Green Foothills, and is partnering with us and others on stopping development at Juristac, and on the closure and reenvisioning of the Reid-Hillview Airport.

Previously, Jenny served as the Marketing Director for the Addison-Penzak JCC, a nonprofit organization serving the South Bay with an emphasis on wellness, education, and cultural programs. A native of Virginia, Jenny has lived in the Bay Area since 1995. She has a Ph.D. in History from UCLA and enjoys reading, hiking, and the beach. We are thrilled to have her level of experience and skill added to our team to help lead our marketing efforts into the next phase.

Leslie Lopez Holder, Graphic Designer

After serving as Green Foothills’ Marketing Manager for three and a half years, Leslie has transitioned to Graphic Designer. With a career change in mind, Leslie chose to serve the organization in this part-time role so she could pursue a Master of Library and Information Science at Dominican University.

Leslie is now responsible for creating the visual communications that inform and inspire our community of supporters, which is in part a continuation of the work she accomplished in her previous role. As Marketing Manager, she designed the Protect Coyote Valley visual brand and was instrumental to Green Foothills’ rebranding process, leading the effort to design and launch our new website in January of 2020, and in 2021, creating a new visual design for our annual Nature’s Inspiration.

We are very excited for Leslie as she embarks on a path to become a public librarian, a role in which she hopes to champion accessibility to information and bridge communities, especially those who have been historically lacking needed resources like the public library. Leslie is off to a great start having been selected by the American Library Association’s Office for Diversity, Literacy and Outreach Services for a 2021 Spectrum Scholarship, which is awarded to exceptional students pursuing graduate degrees in library and information studies.

A big three cheers for Juan, Jenny, and Leslie for joining our team  which has now grown to 11 diverse and dedicated people serving Green Foothills’ mission!