Many people sign up for the Green Foothills Leadership Program to gain career skills, but it’s also a great way to forge a new path and develop new interests during retirement. Karen Madsen is a retired lawyer who volunteers for marine and land conservation causes. In 2022 she enrolled in the Leadership Program to learn...
In 2020, Iliana Nicholas was finishing her master’s degree in city planning and working for Climate Resilient Communities (CRC) when her supervisor suggested she sign up for the Green Foothills Leadership Program. Iliana was well versed in topics such as housing and land use planning, and the Leadership Program offered an opportunity for her to...
When Nicole Fernandez signed up for the Green Foothills Leadership Program class of 2016-17, she was looking for new and interesting ways to contribute to her community. Dedicated to making the world a better place, she was working at the time in the elder abuse prevention unit of San Mateo County Aging and Adult Services....
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...
Santa Clara County has enacted a new ordinance requiring mining operations to maintain a 50-foot protective buffer from groundwater. We’re celebrating this important step by the County to protect our groundwater resources from the potentially harmful impacts of mining. And we’re proud that the initial idea for this ordinance came from a Green Foothills Leadership...
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...
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