Radhika Thekkath, an executive board member of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS) Santa Clara Valley Chapter, cares deeply about native plants, the health of pollinators, and local ecosystems. She has a mostly native home garden, gives talks on native plants and related subjects for CNPS, and is passionate about preserving California’s remaining native flora...
People sign up for the Green Foothills Leadership Program for a variety of reasons–to learn how to advocate for the environment, to develop leadership skills that will advance a career or make a community group more effective, to understand more about environmental justice, and to make connections with others who care passionately about the environment....
John Ebneter was a member of the first-ever Green Foothills Leadership Program class in 2013-14. In 2015 he became a Planning Commissioner for the City of San Mateo, a position in which he continues to serve today. He also volunteers with a housing advocacy group. With a background in construction and a dedication to social...
In the heart of East San Jose, next to the Hwy 101 and I-680 interchange, sits a vibrant urban oasis where rows of lush, green vegetables flourish under the California sun. This is Veggielution, a 6-acre community farm that provides fresh, affordable food for underserved communities. The acting executive director of this nonprofit, food-justice based...
Each year, participants in the Green Foothills Leadership Program complete a capstone project. The project involves planning an advocacy campaign that benefits open space, farmland, or natural resources and advances race equity. Participants spend several months designing their campaigns individually or in small groups. Some later develop their projects in the real world, while for...
Tamara Smith-Jones is the founder of Helping Others Maintain Earth (H.O.M.E.), an organization whose mission is community empowerment. She participated in the Green Foothills Leadership Program in 2022 and created a capstone project focused on social justice in East Palo Alto. “The Leadership Program lit a fire under me in terms of realizing the urgency...
Many of us dream of ditching our day jobs to follow our passion, but few people actually do it. Former software developer Peter Ruddock is one who successfully made the leap. In 2011 he switched fields to focus on organic food, initially volunteering with a number of organizations, including Slow Food and the San Mateo...
Wendy Chou is a climate change advocate who works as the Coalition and Project Senior Manager at Acterra: Action for a Healthy Planet. In 2022, she participated in the Green Foothills Leadership Program. At the time, she was working as Acterra’s communications manager, and she wanted to gain more experience and training in advocacy and...
Isabella ‘Amne Gomez is a Muwekma Ohlone Youth Ambassador and a first-year undergraduate student at Santa Clara University. Because of her youth leadership work, she was accepted into the Green Foothills Leadership Program during her last semester of high school. She plans to use the skills, knowledge, and connections gained in the Leadership Program to...
We are thrilled to announce the winners of the Green Foothills 2023 Photo Contest! Hundreds of you sent beautiful, inspiring, and dazzling images of local nature, with so many outstanding entries that it was hard for the judges to choose. Congratulations to Susan LeClair, Jamal Edwards, and Zhiyuan Xu – this year’s winners! A number...
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