Committee for Green Foothills is governed by a
dedicated Board of Directors, each of whom offers his or her volunteer services in order to further the Committee's protection of local open space.

Nancy Arbuckle, Redwood City
Nancy devotes herself to preserving, protecting, and enjoying the natural world. She is a founding member of Redwood City Neighbors United, a local, grassroots group whose purpose is to protect the Redwood City salt ponds from development. She joined CGF's Board in 2011 after many years of membership. Nancy also advises Sequoia Audubon Society on local conservation issues and has written and edited a number of books including city guides to sustainable businesses.

Clinton Brownley, Los Gatos
Clinton is an independent policy and analytics consultant. He has worked with federal, county, and city organizations, including the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, the County of Santa Clara, and the City of Campbell. A former Planning Commissioner for the City of Cupertino, Clinton also serves on several local policy advisory committees, including the Santa Clara Valley Water District's Environmental Advisory Committee and the Valley Transportation Authority's Citizens Advisory Committee. He and his wife enjoy walking through and exploring the region's many beautiful open spaces.

Matt Burrows (Vice President), San Carlos
Matt developed his passion for our foothills as a lifelong Peninsula resident and hiking enthusiast. He is Vice President/Partner of The Stock Answer, a gaming industry consulting firm, and administrates the Frank Burrows Memorial Scholarship Fund, benefiting mathematics for the East Side Union High School District in San Jose.

Helen Chapman, (Secretary) San Jose
A 30 year resident of San Jose and currently employed by San Jose Unified School District, Helen served six years as a Parks Commissioner for the City of San Jose and board member of Our City Forest and is the Vice President of Programs for the San Jose Parks Foundation. She continues to be a vocal advocate for open space and accessible parks in her area. Growing up in the East Bay, Helen has an appreciation for open space and outdoor activity and dedicates her time so that the next generation will have the same opportunities. Helen received the Outstanding Women of Silicon Valley award in 1996 for her work on establishing a park in her neighborhood and is currently serving on the board of directors in her neighborhood association. She has been on the board of Committee for Green Foothills for the last four years.

Ron Erskine, Morgan Hill
A native Bay Area resident, Ron has volunteered for over 20 years at Henry Coe State Park and serves on the Board of Directors of Coe Park’s Pine Ridge Association. An avid outdoorsman and lifetime backpacker, he has twice hiked the John Muir Trail. Ron has been a homebuilder, a real estate agent, and founder and owner of Coast Range Brewing Company, a local microbrewery. He writes a regular outdoor column called “Getting Out” for the Morgan Hill Times and Gilroy Dispatch that he hopes will entice others to hike our local parks and preserves. Ron values the open spaces near his home in south Santa Clara County and wants to join with CGF in the work that must be done to protect it.

Gail Kaiser, Palo Alto
Gail Kaiser is the Finance, Grants and Operations Manager for the Natural Capital Project at Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment, where she forwards the work of an inter-disciplinary partnership developing concepts and tools for valuing land and seascapes and their contribution to human well-being. During the over 20 years she has lived with her family in Santa Clara County, she has treasured and hiked our ecologically diverse open space. Gail graduated from Santa Clara University with a B.S. in Economics, earned her MBA there 5 years later, and taught a marketing strategy class to SCU undergraduates while working at IBM. She has worked in telecommunications and Internet applications as a product manager and marketing consultant, focusing on creating productive teams to successfully develop and market new products and services. Gail has volunteered extensively in public schools and youth sports to develop children’s physical, mental, and social skills and in non-partisan public advocacy to build a better world for future generations.

Peter LaTourrette (Treasurer), Los Altos
Retired from electronics consulting and currently an active birder/photographer, Peter serves on the boards of Peninsula Conservation Center Trust Fund and Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, where he is Treasurer.

Margaret MacNiven (President), La Honda
Margaret has owned and managed Buck’s Restaurant in Woodside together with her husband since 1991. She lives on 80 beautiful acres in San Mateo County, and raised her three sons in their alternative energy house — solar electricity and no TV! She also serves as the President of the Woodside Friends of the Library.

Jeff Segall, PhD, Mountain View
A Bay Area resident for over 17 years, he enjoys hiking and biking in local open space. Jeff has 10 years of dedicated service with CGF and affiliated organizations, and 14 years working on open space issues, including efforts to protect the Dana Point Headlands. He holds a doctorate in chemistry from Stanford.

April Vargas, Montara
Long-time coastal protection activist and MidCoast Community Council member, April was named the 19th Assembly District’s Woman of the Year in 2002 in recognition of her environmental leadership, was one of seven women named to the 2002 Coastside Hall of Fame, and was named Favorite Coastside Activist by the Half Moon Bay Review in 2003. April served as an elected member of the MidCoast Community Council for four years, one of which she served as chair, and was active in the “Yes! on F” and “Yes! on Measure T” Campaign Committees. She serves as a member of both the San Mateo County Agricultural Advisory Committee and the Citizens Advisory Committee, San Mateo County Transportation Authority and served as a Legislative Advocate for CGF from 2003–2005.

Bill Whitmer, Palo Alto
A retired Manufacturing VP at Komag, Inc., Bill also serves as Chair Emeritus on the Hidden Villa Board. Bill helps seniors as a volunteer income tax preparer and as a computer teacher at Avenidas. Since retirement, he has consulted with a variety of non-profits on organizational, financial and strategic planning issues. Hiking the foothills reminds Bill of our responsibility to thoughtfully conserve our precious open space.

Director Emeritus
Tom Jordan, Palo Alto
A Palo Alto resident since 1965, Tom is a retired attorney who specialized in land use and environmental law. He is a former Adjunct Professor in environmental law at San Jose State University, and has served as President of Committee for Green Foothills, Vice President and General Counsel for Save San Francisco Bay Association, and Director and General Counsel for the Peninsula Conservation Foundation. Tom is also a past President of both the San Jose Symphony and the San Jose Symphony Foundation.