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...
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...
The connection between Aztec dancing and the environment might not be immediately apparent, but Lizbeth “Xochipapalo” Amador will tell you why they’re linked. Liz is a longtime member of San Jose Aztec dance group Calpulli Tonalehqueh and is also a 2021 graduate of the Green Foothills Leadership Program. She explains that nature and Aztec culture...
Kian Nikzad was a computer science student at UCLA when he signed up for the Green Foothills Leadership Program to learn how to make a difference for the environment. “I’ve always had a really deep passion for sustainability, but in college I got interested in computer science. I viewed information technology (IT) as a path...
Mel Sarmento’s passion is connecting people with the outdoors. This 2020 graduate of the Green Foothills Leadership Program works for Guadalupe River Park Conservancy in San Jose as a Program Director. As a direct result of her participation in the Leadership Program, she now also serves as an Associate Director with Guadalupe-Coyote Resource Conservation District...
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