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...
Category: Impact Stories
Building Bridges Over Barriers
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...
Learning By Doing: How One Concerned Citizen Deepened His Impact
Bryan Beck is an accomplished computer engineer who has always been passionate about helping the environment. His first foray into local environmental advocacy also happened to be his introduction to Green Foothills: when the Cargill company was fighting to build 12,000 homes on salt ponds along the bayshore in Bryan’s hometown of Redwood City. Bryan...
The Importance of Nature and Giving Back
Ravi Pathak is someone who seems to always have a smile on his face. With his presence alone, he offers a generosity of spirit to anyone who says hello. This graduate of the Green Foothills Leadership Program sat down to chat with me in July 2022 about his leadership journey. Ravi grew up in and...
From Fed to Local: Planning for a Better Future
When Cherise Orange took a job as a Planner with Santa Clara County’s Parks and Recreation Department in 2016, she knew that she would be working with vastly different populations from those she was used to in her previous life as a military planner. “Transitioning to the County … I had a huge learning curve...
Chris Sturken – Keeping a Broad Perspective for Change
Chris Sturken applied to the Green Foothills Leadership Program at the recommendation of his cousin, Andrea Savage (class of 2014). “It was right up my alley,” says Chris (class of 2017) who was taking a grassroots organizing course as an Environmental Studies major at San Francisco State. “I was excited and ready to soak up...
Ofelia Bello – In Service of Community in EPA
The daughter of Mexican-born immigrants, Ofelia Bello knew at a young age that she wanted to make an impact through community organizing. She studied Urban Planning and achieved early career success as a regional housing policy analyst. But she felt that the work she was doing was too disconnected from her home and her community....
From Retirement to Reach Codes
After a long career at the Environmental Protection Agency, Kathleen Goforth had a 35-year backlog of personal projects to do. Yet, she decided to add one more to her list: she applied to the Green Foothills Leadership Program. “I was just starting to consider retiring and thought it would kick-start my thinking about what I...
Kyra Brown: More Than Just a Bench
Kyra Brown had been working at Youth United for Community Action (YUCA), a social justice and environmental justice organization, when her supervisor suggested the Green Foothills Leadership Program. “Oh, hey look. Is this something you’re interested in?” she quotes. “I had never heard of the program, but when I saw the words ‘community advocates,’ I...
Ray Larios: Leading from the Back, For Now
Author: David Simon “You don’t just gain knowledge; you gain wisdom,” says Ray Larios of his experience in the 2020 Green Foothills Leadership Program cohort. Before applying to the Leadership Program, Ray was getting settled in his role with the Citizens Advisory Committee for Peninsula Clean Energy, and he thought the Leadership Program would be...