Community activists exemplify the saying, “think global, act local.” Pat Toombs, a resident of rural Santa Clara County, embodies this maxim. Her work demonstrates how Green Foothills’ partnerships with local communities stop sprawl development and protect crucial habitat. Pat and her husband Larry live west of Gilroy along Uvas Creek, in an area where farmlands...
Potrero Nuevo Farm, located eight miles south of Half Moon Bay and one mile inland from the Pacific Ocean, was established in 2008 by Christine Pielenz and Bill Laven. Their vision of a charitable farm based on healthy soil, healthy food and wildlife habitat that provides food to those in need is the fulfillment of...
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...
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....
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...
By David Simon What do marketing for Green Foothills, studying international affairs, and training people to do COVID investigations have in common? Don’t worry, we’re not giving up local conservation to work on intercontinental contagion. These, actually, are all past and current activities of Cherise Orange, who currently volunteers as the chair of our Marketing...
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...
By: Jennifer Hetterly, Green Foothills Governance Committee Co-Chair Last fall, with several Green Foothills’ directors terming off the board, we published an article inviting the community to apply. We are deeply grateful for everyone who expressed interest and patiently went through our first open recruitment process. COVID-19 might have eliminated our in-person meetings for...
Erin Tormey, Founder of Coastside Farmers Market This spring marks the 20th season of the Coastside Farmers Market in Half Moon Bay and its 14th season in Pacifica. Erin Tormey’s vision of a place where coastside farmers, ranchers, and fishermen sell their locally produced food and flowers directly to residents of the area has become...
Darlene Tenes cares deeply about the community and she knows how to get things done. When she saw a social media post by Assemblymember Robert Rivas in April about a Farmworker Relief Drive in Watsonville, Tenes quickly mobilized her large network to bring critical donations to agricultural workers who have been impacted by COVID-19. In...
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