Leadership Program

Photo of Lehigh Quarry

Protecting Our Groundwater From Mining Contamination

Santa Clara County has enacted a new ordinance requiring mining operations to maintain a 50-foot protective buffer from groundwater. We’re...

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Leadership Program class

Leadership Program Announces 2024 Capstone Projects

Each year, participants in the Green Foothills Leadership Program complete a capstone project. The project involves planning an advocacy campaign...

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Tamara Smith-Jones: The Need for Healing

Tamara Smith-Jones is the founder of Helping Others Maintain Earth (H.O.M.E.), an organization whose mission is community empowerment. She participated...

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Peter Ruddock with Fonzie the baby goat

Peter Ruddock: A Passion for Sustainable Food Production

Many of us dream of ditching our day jobs to follow our passion, but few people actually do it. Former...

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Wendy Chou: Becoming an Advocate for Environmental Justice

Wendy Chou is a climate change advocate who works as the Coalition and Project Senior Manager at Acterra: Action for...

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Isabella G.

Using Her Leadership Skills to Help Her Tribe: Isabella ‘Amne Gomez

Isabella ‘Amne Gomez is a Muwekma Ohlone Youth Ambassador and a first-year undergraduate student at Santa Clara University. Because of...

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Andrea and Ben

Welcome Ben Estrada, Gratitude to Andrea Fraume Valencia

October marks another transition at Green Foothills! After four years of service bringing the reimagined Green Foothills Leadership Program to...

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Leadership Program graduates

Leadership Program Graduates 10th Cohort! Applications for 2024 Now Open!

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Green Foothills Leadership Program, and we were excited to celebrate the graduation...

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Everything Comes from the Earth: An Interview with Lizbeth “Xochipapalo” Amador

The connection between Aztec dancing and the environment might not be immediately apparent, but Lizbeth “Xochipapalo” Amador will tell you...

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Kian headshot

Bees and High Tech: Kian Nikzad Creates a Buzz

Kian Nikzad was a computer science student at UCLA when he signed up for the Green Foothills Leadership Program to...

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Mel headshot

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...

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Bryan

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...

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