Environmental Consulting | Project Management | Grant Programs

Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, I bring over two decades of professional experience in the public, nonprofit and philanthropic sectors to my consultancy. I specialize in working with organizations and programs facing a transitional stage of growth. I have strengthened programs with capacity building support, project design and work plan development, project management, grant writing, technical report writing and other communications.

Early Career

For 10 years I worked in the environmental consulting field, supporting projects for public agencies, nonprofits and educational institutions including the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board, City and County of San Francisco, Lawrence Berkeley National Labs, UC Berkeley and the Oakland Zoo, among others. I provided technical assistance, wrote reports, developed budgets and managed projects. My work ranged from regulation development and oil spill prevention inspections for the U.S. EPA to helping California businesses and nonprofits to prevent pollution and find and implement green business solutions for StopWaste.org and other agencies. My experience also included supporting two binational projects in Mexico, sponsored by the U.S. EPA.

Education

I hold a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of California, Berkeley, and have extensive training in strategic planning, development, and communications. I have also completed course work in leadership, feature writing, visual strategies in design, theater and photography.

Publication writing

I published articles in Bay Nature magazine, Philanthropy News Digest and Terrain magazine including a quarterly column for Bay Nature’s print magazine and a popular historical and ecological account of the Bay’s native oyster. For Bay Nature online and for Together Bay Area’s blog, I wrote about the California State Parks crisis in 2012 and 2013, drawing on interviews with park leaders, park rangers and scientists.

Community service

I am dedicated to community service, which I believe offers opportunities to build multi-cultural understanding and learn about issues up close. My studies at UC Berkeley and early volunteering changed my thinking about the world. Early in my career, I enjoyed leading hikes to cultivate support and promote open space protection for organizations like the Greenbelt Alliance. I took a sabbatical to live and travel for six months in South America, where I volunteered in a remote village in the Ecuadorian rainforest to teach English classes to adults interested in pursuing eco-tourism to support their livelihoods and indigenous rights. After returning to California, I completed a 40-hour training program for certification as a domestic violence counselor and volunteered for La Casa de Las Madres, in San Francisco, where I answered crisis line calls for domestic violence victims and conducted intake interviews for the shelter. Other organizations I have served include the Randall Museum in San Francisco, Girls on the Run Bay Area, Felidae Conservation Fund, and Women’s Environmental Network. As an avid public library patron, I enjoyed facilitating a literacy program for English Language Learners in the Write to Read: Reading Club program, which is offered by Alameda County public libraries.

Inspiration

The images on this website come from my experiences in open spaces and wilderness areas in California and the Pacific Northwest. The stunning landscapes on the Pacific Crest Trail and in the High Sierra refresh my thinking and energy. The high passes and peaks in the High Sierra offers rugged beauty while long distance trails like the PCT offer opportunities to meet other people from all walks of life and discover small towns in remote locations.