Staff Notes

We are pleased to be joined by Ashely Gamboa, our new office manager who is a delight to work with. A Bay Area native, Ashely joins the Committee for Green Foothills with a background in Ecology and a passion for environmental stewardship. Committed to making a positive impact on her community, Ashely has volunteered with organizations such as the USGS and the National Park Service, with projects ranging from wildlife monitoring to habitat restoration. Driven by a deep love and respect for the natural world and recognizing the ever growing need for its protection, Ashely is pleased to join the efforts of CGF and its mission of conservation on the Mid-Peninsula. Ashely's current achievement is her ongoing field training and recent swear-in as a member of the California Explorer Search and Rescue team.

India Arnold, recent office manager, moved with her husband to greener (more affordable) fields in Portland. India is happily continuing her environmental work there as the receptionist for Three Rivers Land Trust.

Board Notes

The fiscal year brings new energy, new plans, and new faces. We bid good-bye to several of our loyal and committed board members — Directors Holly Mitten, Cindy Rubin, Elena Pernas-Giz, and Karen Kidwell have rotated off the Board. They had a combined total of 38 years of service! Board Member Cindy Rubin has left after 22 years on the Board, which may be a record. Cindy, as you can tell from the length of her tenure, is a passionate and successful advocate for keeping our area green. She filled many roles at CGF, perhaps the most important being wise counsel. She and her husband are moving to Aptos where she will continue her environmental activism.

Several new members will be elected this spring and will be led by new officers: President Chris Powell, Vice Presidents Zoe Kersteen-Tucker and April Vargas, Secretary Sue La Tourrette, and Treasurer Jeff Segal who is chair of the Finance Committee. Past President Peter La Tourrette will remain on the Executive Committee for one more year. Our vice presidents are not idle! Zoe chairs the newly formed Advocacy Committee and April chairs the Development Committee. They will be joined on the Executive Committee by a newly appointed chair of the Board Governance Committee (formerly Nominating Committee).

Former Board Fellow, Jeff Stein, and classmates from the Class of 2005 at the Stanford Graduate School of Business have produced a ground-breaking plan to help market San Mateo County farm products.

In December, the Board and staff spent a full Saturday on a retreat to plan our actions in 2006. The Board reaffirmed CGF's commitment to completing a truly-useful Stanford trail project and studied our role in promoting affordable housing and livable communities. The Board also determined how to be as effective as possible in southern Santa Clara County, reviewed support for local farmers, and supported bringing more ethnic diversity to the Board and membership as well as recruiting new members from a broader age set.

And lastly, a very warm thank you to Board Members who worked determinedly and successfully on our year-end fundraising campaign. CGF is fortunate to have a Board which will fundraise — many organizations don't!