Meet Our Team
Staff
We’re available to answer your questions and hear your ideas. Email [email protected] or find the contact information for a specific staff member by clicking their name.
Jenny Green
Julie Hutcheson
Alice Kaufman
Moises Mena
Alexandra Mendoza
Lennie Roberts
Jocelyn Rodriguez
Justyne Schnupp
Jessica Wohlander
Jenny Green
Jenny is responsible for implementing Green Foothills’ marketing strategy in support of programmatic, fundraising, and other organizational goals. She works in collaboration with the rest of the team to strengthen, position, and promote the organization’s brand, community partnerships, and people.
Jenny joined Green Foothills in 2021. With more than two decades of experience managing communications for Bay Area tech companies and nonprofits, she brings expertise in identifying and developing data-driven marketing strategies and creative solutions to marketing challenges.
Jenny has a Ph.D. in History from UCLA and enjoys reading, hiking, and the beach.
Email:[email protected]
Phone:(650) 968-7243
Julie Hutcheson
Julie partners closely with Green Foothills’ board to set the organization’s strategic direction and ensure the effectiveness of its programs, operations, and team to achieve lasting conservation victories. Her focus is on scaling Green Foothills’ impact, strengthening programs and operations, expanding funding and partnerships, and building a more inclusive local conservation movement.
Julie brings deep experience across every facet of the organization’s work. She has been with Green Foothills since 2008, serving as Organizational Coordinator, Legislative Advocate, and Director of Impact, before becoming Executive Director in 2023. As a Legislative Advocate, she helped protect thousands of acres of open space and farmland in Santa Clara County and represented Green Foothills on the Santa Clara County Food System Alliance, where she co-authored two publications on agriculture in the Santa Clara Valley.
A longtime resident of southern Santa Clara County, Julie has a strong personal commitment to protecting open space and farmland through responsible growth—an interest that first led her to Green Foothills more than a decade ago. Julie holds a master’s degree in Slavic Linguistics from the University of Virginia and enjoys traveling, hiking, art, and spending time with her two grandsons.
Email:[email protected]
Phone:(650) 968-7243
Alice Kaufman
Alice oversees the Advocacy Program’s priorities, strategies, and campaigns, as well as engaging directly in advocacy efforts, particularly in Coyote Valley and elsewhere in Santa Clara County. Alice began her service with Green Foothills in 2010 as a Board member before joining staff in 2012 as a Legislative Advocate and transitioning to her current role in 2017. She serves on the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency Public Advisory Committee, the Stanford Community Resource Group, and the Redwood City Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission.
Prior to joining Green Foothills, Alice was with the Environmental Law Foundation in Oakland, where she litigated cases under various environmental laws including Proposition 65 and the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act. She holds a J.D. from the University of California College of the Law San Francisco (formerly Hastings College of the Law). In her leisure time, she can usually be found hiking, cooking complicated new recipes, or reading books from previous centuries.
Email:[email protected]
Phone:(650) 968-7243
Moises Mena
Moises supports Green Foothills’ development, marketing, and program efforts through the management, reporting, and security of the organization’s CRM system. As Development and Marketing Associate Manager, he is responsible for executing CRM-related activities and supporting the organization’s data strategy by ensuring accurate, secure, and actionable data. He also serves as the first point of contact for the Green Foothills community, supervises the organization’s IT consultant, and manages office services, including office supply budgeting and ordering. Through these roles, Moises helps steward the Green Foothills community across multiple communication channels.
Before joining Green Foothills in April 2019, Moises worked for the Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association (PCFMA), where he managed farmers’ markets and gained hands-on experience with sustainable agriculture, local food systems, and supporting small-scale local farmers. As part of that work, he launched grassroots outreach campaigns for new and existing markets in San Jose. He continues to work part time with PCFMA.
Moises grew up in South San Jose along Coyote Creek, and the conservation of Coyote Valley and the surrounding foothills resonates deeply with him. In his spare time, he enjoys exploring Bay Area hiking and biking trails, dabbling in woodworking, and watching films as a devoted cinephile. He has also recently taken up fantasy football—earning second place in his very first season in 2025.
Email:[email protected]
Phone:(650) 968-7243
Alexandra Mendoza
Alexandra (Lexi) joined Green Foothills in January 2025. Her work largely focuses on advocacy issues within San Mateo County’s coast and bayside communities. She collaborates with other local organizations to try and influence decisions on key environmental issues in an effort to further Green Foothills’ mission of protecting local nature and farmland.
Before joining Green Foothills, Lexi worked at several other nonprofit organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. She worked as the Conservation Planning Fellow at the Peninsula Open Space Trust, where she contributed to ongoing efforts to conserve open space and create resilient landscapes. Prior to that, she worked at the Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA as an animal control officer dealing with both wildlife and domestic animals in San Mateo County.
Born and raised in Redwood City, Lexi grew up visiting the very places she now works to protect. She holds a B.S in Animal Biology from the University of California, Davis and an M.A in Biology from Miami University in Ohio. In her free time she enjoys playing tennis, walking her dog Canela, and reading for her book club.
Email:[email protected]
Phone:(650) 968-7243
Lennie Roberts
Lennie first became involved with Green Foothills in 1968 as a Board member before becoming the organization’s first full-time San Mateo County Legislative Advocate in 1978. She was inspired to join the Board of the organization because of founder Lois Hogle’s infectious enthusiasm and vision for protecting open space in a talk she gave to a local garden club. Lennie’s Bay Area family roots go back to the 1850’s; her passion is to preserve open space, farmlands, forests, and natural resources for all, now and in the future.
For 50 years, Lennie has championed the protection of the San Mateo coast and other key landscapes, leading a number of critically successful and historic open space campaigns and ballot initiatives. She was also instrumental in helping to found the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in 1972, and its expansion into San Mateo County in 1976 and the coast in 2009. Lennie’s legendary environmental accomplishments on behalf of Green Foothills have earned her numerous awards including Bay Nature Magazine’s 2019 Citizen Hero award, San Mateo County Historical Association Museum’s 2019 History Maker award, Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter’s 2016 Environmental Hero, and Cox Enterprise’s Cox Conserves Heroes award in 2009.
Email:[email protected]
Phone:(650) 968-7243
Jocelyn Rodriguez
Jocelyn joined Green Foothills in March 2022 and works to deepen Green Foothills’ connection with donors, volunteers, and residents of the region. She leads inclusive, mission-driven events, including our signature annual fundraiser, Nature’s Inspiration. She also oversees the Community Ambassador Program, empowering volunteers to amplify Green Foothills’ advocacy.
Prior to working in sustainability, Jocelyn served as Director of Legal Affairs for a law firm in Los Angeles. She holds a B.A. in English Education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Cal Poly Pomona and studied Urban and Regional Planning in Dubai and Hong Kong. She specialized in the education of students with cognitive disabilities, those who experienced homelessness, and multilingual learners. She also taught at Jinhua Foreign Language School in China.
Recognizing the critical role sustainability and climate action play in shaping equitable communities, Jocelyn transitioned her career through two fellowships with the City of Long Beach and Alameda County. Through this work, she supported climate adaptation and mitigation efforts and advanced community-centered initiatives. These experiences continue to inform and strengthen her work at Green Foothills.
Email:[email protected]
Phone:(650) 968-7243
Justyne Schnupp
Justyne leads the growth and stewardship of the Green Foothills donor community, building meaningful relationships that help protect local open spaces for generations to come. She previously served as Green Foothills’ Community Engagement Manager (2015–2021), where she connected supporters to the mission through memorable, mission-driven events—including our signature annual fundraiser, Nature’s Inspiration. Today, she brings that same creativity and relationship-centered approach to guiding Green Foothills’ overall fundraising strategy.
Justyne began her career in donor development with Environmental Volunteers and is a trained naturalist through the Santa Clara County Naturalist Program, deepening her lifelong connection to the landscapes Green Foothills works to protect. A trained chef and graduate of the International Culinary Center, she loves bringing people together over good food. When she’s not working, you’ll find her exploring local and national parks, gardening, or enjoying time outside with her family.
Justyne holds a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco and chose Green Foothills because, as she says, “our local environment needs a voice to speak for it—and to protect it.”
Email:[email protected]
Phone:(650) 968-7243
Jessica Wohlander
Jessica leads Green Foothills’ advocacy efforts in San Benito County and southern Santa Clara County, engaging on land use issues and development projects to protect the natural resources, rich farmland, and beautiful open spaces of the Upper Pajaro Watershed. Her work emphasizes fostering strong partnerships within the community, advocating for inclusivity in the conservation movement, and working collaboratively with interested parties to realize conservation successes. She joined the team in October 2023 as an Environmental Associate and was promoted to Policy and Advocacy Associate Manager in 2024.
Prior to joining Green Foothills, Jessica co-founded and was Co-Executive Director of Terra Cultura, an educational eco-arts farm based in Aromas. She oversaw programming that strengthened community resilience through education and collaborative projects around the intersection of sustainable agriculture, ecology, and the arts. She first fell in love with San Benito County while working for Food & Water Watch on the Measure J campaign to ban fracking in the county. Jessica continued to collaborate with the community in her role as Director of Operations for Rootskeeper, an organization she co-founded to build capacity among grassroots leaders to support the Californians Against Fracking Coalition’s efforts to end extreme fossil fuel extraction in the state.
Jessica holds an M.A. in International Development with a concentration on international food systems from The New School and a B.A. in Legal Studies from UC Santa Cruz. She serves as Secretary for the San Benito County Community Action Board, and is a founder of the Central Coast Mutual Aid Network. In her free time she enjoys painting, photography, and going on adventures in beautiful places. She feels very lucky to live so close to so many.
Email:[email protected]
Phone:(650) 968-7243
Contractors
Gretchen Hayes
Ari Turrentine
Gretchen Hayes
Gretchen has provided bookkeeping services to Green Foothills as a part-time contractor since 2020. She has run a small bookkeeping business since 2011. Previously, she served as the Administrative Services and Grants Manager for the Santa Clara County FireSafe Council and worked for the County of Santa Clara Green Business program. She graduated from University of California, Santa Cruz with a B.A. in Environmental Studies.
Email:[email protected]
Ari Turrentine
Ari is the contract, fractional, Chief Financial Officer for Green Foothills and is responsible for overall financial management of the organization. She has been with Green Foothills since 2024 and runs a nonprofit consulting practice focused on high-level finance, HR, and operations work.
Previously, Ari served as the Director of Finance and Administration at Beyond Emancipation, a nonprofit serving current and former foster youth in the Bay Area. Prior to that, she was the Operations and Program Director at Atma Connect, an international technology nonprofit and the Head of Operations at a technology start-up. Ari has a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Texas, Austin, a BA from Lewis & Clark College. In her free time she enjoys trail running and ceramics.
Email:[email protected]
Board
Jon Adams
Ian Bain
Manjeet Singh Bhamra
Greg Boro
Larry England
Fernando Fernandez
Jean Forstner
Susan M. Hansch
Bindu Kandoori
Lisa Liddle
Susan Michael
Ann Monroe
Lisa Munro
Claudia Rossi
Jeff Segall
Arpana Tiwari
Jon Adams
Jon has lived all over the U.S.–from Boston to Hawaii–and now resides in San Rafael in Marin County. He was drawn to Green Foothills because of his long-standing interest in environmentalism and planning/land use and his deep commitment, as a trail runner and hiker, to preserving the Bay Area’s beautiful natural environment for future generations.
Jon is currently a Director in LinkedIn’s Legal Department, focusing on legal matters relating to artificial intelligence, data governance, and LinkedIn’s strategic initiatives. Before LinkedIn, Jon worked in the Technology Transactions and Privacy groups at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati PC and Sidley Austin LLP. He holds a JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and an AB in History and American Studies from the College of William and Mary. Jon is also an advisory board member for the International Association of Privacy Professionals and OneJustice, and a member of the Sierra Club, the Friends of the Inyo, and the Friends of China Camp.
In his spare time, Jon enjoys native plant gardening, trail/ultra running, biking, hiking, and exploring the great outdoors.
Ian Bain
Ian served as a member of Redwood City’s city council from 2003-2020, including terms as Mayor and Vice Mayor. During that time, he was known as a leading voice for government transparency, a strong supporter of local businesses and a champion for the average citizen. He is a life-long Bay Area resident who grew up on the Peninsula, attended local public schools and graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in Political Science. In addition to serving on the City Council, Ian runs corporate communications for a global technology company.
Manjeet Singh Bhamra
Manjeet, a San Jose native, is a physician specializing in rheumatology. He sees a connection between his work with patients and his work for Green Foothills, because our environment influences our physical health.
Manjeet attributes his lifelong passion for the environment to his public school education. He began learning in elementary school about the environmental challenges that we face, and remembers reading about renewable energy and climate change in his sixth grade science book and wanting to help solve the climate crisis.
In an effort to better combat climate change, he stumbled on Green Foothills back in 2015. He carefully began reading about initiatives to help shape the landscape he calls home. He began encouraging members of his immigrant community to participate in bringing about positive change and was particularly proud to showcase Green Foothills’ posts on Measure B/Measure C in the June 2018 election. He participated in the Green Foothills Leadership Program, joined the Advisory Board, and then joined the Board of Directors in 2022.
He is a lifelong Golden State Warriors fan and enjoys trying different coffees and craft beers, exploring local wineries, doing HIIT workouts, and hiking in the Diablo Range and Santa Cruz Mountains.
Greg Boro
Taking advantage of the Bay Area’s incredible natural resources is one of Greg’s favorite pastimes. He feels a responsibility to protect those resources and that’s why he joined the Green Foothills board.
Greg is the Director of Business Operations for The SPHERE Institute. He began his career as a high school history teacher, and then moved into positions in human resources, finance, and business operations, including 20 years as Director of Human Resources for Max’s Restaurants. He is also a past member of the Board of Directors of Peninsula Temple Sholom in Burlingame.
Larry England
Larry England is a lifelong advocate for the outdoors and a committed supporter of environmental conservation. Originally from Chicago, Larry’s journey has taken him through New York, Oregon, and Germany before settling in Morgan Hill, California. His deep appreciation for nature and alignment with Green Foothills’ mission to champion open space, wildlife, and climate resilience is rooted in decades of personal outdoor experiences and a strong belief in environmental stewardship.
A retired software engineer with nearly 50 years of experience, Larry brings a thoughtful, data-informed perspective to his advocacy. He has witnessed firsthand the impacts of irresponsible land use and the dismissal of science-based evidence of climate change—experiences that have fueled his passion for preservation.
Larry is also an avid trail ultrarunner and former race director of the Ohlone Wilderness 50K, reflecting his dedication to giving back to the trail running community. Beyond his environmental work, he serves on the board of Hi5-USA, a nonprofit supporting over 4,000 underprivileged children in India through basketball and life skills programs.
Through Green Foothills, Larry is committed to protecting the natural beauty and biodiversity of Northern California and ensuring these landscapes remain vibrant and accessible for future generations. In his free time, he enjoys hiking local parks and exploring his passion for amateur photography.
Fernando Fernandez
Fernando joined the board of Green Foothills because he saw a critical need for his community to assume a more prominent role in environmental equity, food system management, and land conservation policy initiatives. He brings to Green Foothills his life experiences, including over a decade of expertise in leadership development and power building, as well as his connections with historically underserved community leaders in East San Jose.
Currently he is the Policy Director at local nonprofit Veggielution, where his work focuses on providing support and developing power building capacities in the community leaders who participate in Veggielution programs, so that they have opportunities to organize and advocate for systems change through policy change. Before Veggielution, he worked at Sacred Heart Community Service as a manager of La Mesa Verde, an urban growers and food justice community program, from 2019-2023. You can learn more about his work on LinkedIn.
Fernando was born and raised in Valparaiso, Chile. Between 2013-2015 he lived in Cochabamba, Bolivia as an international volunteer working with Indigenous communities on agriculture and cultural practices. He has lived in San Jose, California, since 2019.
He enjoys gardening and growing flowers in small spaces, spending time at the beach (which reminds him of his country), playing tennis, practicing restorative yoga, reading about philosophy, history, and economics, keeping up with the news about politics in Chile and the U.S., and spending time with his dog Pacha. Pacha is a word that Indigenous people in South America use for our planet Earth.
Jean Forstner
Jean is excited to be part of an organization that has accomplished so much to protect open space, preserve natural habitats, and address the threats of climate change in the region. She knows that the Peninsula would look very different if not for the efforts of Green Foothills.
She served as California State Director for Senator Alan Cranston. She is particularly proud of his work to write and pass the California Desert Protection Act, which established the Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Parks and the Mojave National Preserve.
In 2016, in partnership with Kepler’s Books in Menlo Park, she co-founded Kepler’s Literary Foundation, a nonprofit literary arts organization, serving as the Executive Director. During her tenure, Kepler’s welcomed over 100,000 readers of all ages and backgrounds to their events. She created the Changing Planet Series, bringing Al Gore, Naomi Klein, and Bill McKibben among other environmental leaders to the Bay Area to discuss climate change. She launched a partnership with the Ravenswood School District in East Palo Alto bringing award-winning authors to each of the district’s K-8 public-schools, sharing great stories and sparking a love of reading and writing. More than 15,000 students participated in the program.
Jean developed her love of the outdoors growing up in Idaho where she was lucky to have national forests at her doorstep. She attended Stanford University and lives in Redwood City. She enjoys hiking along the coast, reading, cooking, and live music.
Susan M. Hansch
Susan had a rewarding and satisfying public service leadership career at the California Coastal Commission and after over 46 years, retired in December of 2020. During her work in coastal protection, Susan had the opportunity to see the effectiveness of Green Foothills first hand through the amazing advocacy work of the legendary Lennie Roberts. The advocacy of Green Foothills, “Local. Vocal. Effective,” inspired Susan to seek to be involved with Green Foothills.
Susan is active in her second career as a certified Leadership and Life Coach with an emphasis on Somatics and the Enneagram as wonderful tools for self discovery and growth. Along with her work on the Green Foothills Board, Susan joined the UC Master Gardener Training and Volunteer Program for San Mateo and San Francisco Counties in 2024.
Susan attended the University of California, Santa Cruz where she earned her undergraduate degree in Biology and Environmental Studies. She also has a Masters Degree in Management.
Susan has been a resident of San Mateo County since the early 1980’s, and has lived in Half Moon Bay near the Coastal Trail since 2011. She loves spending time exploring the hiking trails and the coastal areas of the region.
Bindu Kandoori
Bindu is a resident of Milpitas and has lived in the Bay Area for more than 18 years. She is passionate about the outdoors, and is often found hiking through the Bay Area’s stunning landscapes. This love for nature fuels her commitment to environmental causes and is what drew her to Green Foothills.
On the professional side, Bindu is a Principal Engineer at Broadcom with over 15 years of experience in software engineering. With a proven track record of leading complex projects and driving innovation, she excels at translating high-level objectives into actionable engineering solutions.
Outside of work she enjoys reading books, exploring the natural beauty of the Bay Area, and discovering hidden gems in the local food scene.
Lisa Liddle
Lisa has lived her entire life in the Bay Area and is deeply connected to the land and its natural beauty, no matter how far she travels. She planned to follow her environmental passions as a career, and after experiencing Silicon Valley’s allure, she has circled back to environmental, educational, and social justice work. She is honored to serve on the Green Foothills Board to help protect open space, share the land with native species, and preserve ties to Indigenous peoples.
Currently, she is project manager of Democratic Messaging Project’s LED mobile billboard campaign, advisor to the 21st Century American Man Project, and Vice Chair of Santa Clara County’s Commission on the Status of Women. As former Vice Chair of Santa Clara County’s CEDAW Task Force, she was instrumental in helping the County to approve the CEDAW (Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women) Ordinance in spring 2023. She is a current Advisory Board Member of GENup and was former Director/Board Member of March On/Future Coalition for six years. In education, she dedicated over 10 years to leadership including Co-Chair & Chair Advisory roles with Common Ground Speaker Series, a 30-school parent-education consortium. In the 1990’s, she also co-founded Neighbors for Responsible Logging (in the Santa Cruz Mountains) whereby she lobbied with San Francisco Bay Area county supervisors across five counties on environmental policies.
Prior to her political work and community service, she was Vice President of Business Development at a tech startup, and spent 17 years prior in Silicon Valley negotiating strategic OEM and licensing partnerships and selling technology solutions to both consumer and corporate marketplaces.
Susan Michael
Susan was born in Los Angeles, moved to the greater San Jose area as a child, and currently lives in Campbell. From a young age, Susan would often accompany her family to the local foothills to enjoy picnics, hiking, and spending time together outdoors. As a young adult she was involved with an outrigger canoe club and participation involved camping all along the California coast to attend events. This led to backpacking trips all over California which fostered her love for open space and sleeping in tents.
A former volunteer for Ronald McDonald House at Stanford, she was eventually hired at Stanford University where she worked for 15 years perfecting her purchasing skills. It was a fast-paced and dynamic environment that provided her with access to tuition reimbursement for higher education, enabling her to complete her Bachelor of Arts in Management and graduate from Golden Gate University. She eventually left Stanford to join a Bay Area robotics company where she continues to sharpen her skills, and where she became the founding member of the company’s Hispanic Employee Resource group.
Susan is an avid backpacker and enjoys photography – especially taking photos of wildflowers she finds on her adventures.
Ann Monroe
Ann worked for Apple for 18 years and was the Vice President of Worldwide Marketing and Customer Success for Claris. During that time, she drove the successful rebrand of FileMaker to Claris and worked to expand the developer community to include more people from underrepresented groups.
She joined the Green Foothills board because of the organization’s work at the intersection of climate, environment and social justice to build resilient communities.
She is an active Girl Scout volunteer and enjoys spending time outdoors.
Lisa Munro
Lisa, a Bay Area native, grew up in Cupertino and currently lives in Los Altos. Living in such a beautiful area, Lisa has always enjoyed spending time outdoors. A friend introduced her to Green Foothills, and she was inspired by the organization’s mission to protect local open space for the benefit of all.
Lisa has spent her over 30-year career at KPMG and is currently an audit partner specializing in technology companies in KPMG’s national office. She earned her B.S. in Mathematics/Applied Science at UCLA and is a CPA and member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). She has served as a non-Board member of KPMG’s Nominating Committee, as a Boy Scouts volunteer, as auditor of Los Altos High School Music Boosters, and was recognized as one of the 2011 Silicon Valley Women of Influence by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal. She likes to spend her free time cooking, traveling, hiking (and birding), skiing, and playing tennis and lots of pickleball.
Claudia Rossi
Claudia is a registered nurse and a dedicated volunteer for local schools. She served on the Morgan Hill Unified School District Board of Trustees from 2010-2014 and the Santa Clara County Board of Education from 2014-2022. As a school board member she advocated for special education and for families facing socioeconomic and language barriers in school. She also championed environmental and climate resilience programs, among many other achievements.
Claudia was born in Colombia and moved to California with her family when she was nine years old. Her upbringing led to her strong sense of responsibility, integrity, and servant leadership. When she sees a need in her community, she steps in and works hard to meet it. Her lived experiences as an immigrant child in communities that suffer environmental injustices inform and fuel her desire to serve in the environmental advocacy community.
She has received the Morgan Hill Community Foundation Philanthropy Award, Silicon Valley NAACP Dorothy Irene Height Community Award, the California State Assembly Peacemaker Award, and the CARAS Community Champion in Government Award. She loves to dance salsa, read poetry, travel to Italy (the home of her grandfather), and cook empanadas at home.
Jeff Segall
Jeff was born in upstate New York, mostly grew up near Cleveland, Ohio, and now lives in Mountain View. He became involved with Green Foothills after learning about how the San Mateo coast and the lands west of Skyline retained so much of their natural beauty thanks to Green Foothills’ work. He met Lois Hogle, co-founder of Green Foothills; Mary Davey, who led the founding of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District; and the legendary Green Foothills advocate Lennie Roberts. It was like meeting the embodiment of the Margaret Meade quote about a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens changing the world.
Jeff has a Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry, and has worked in laser applications and development for 40 years. His recent work is in laser material processing and laser design for reliability.
Arpana Tiwari
Arpana, a resident of Los Altos, has lived in the Bay Area for more than 20 years. She is an SEO advisor and former Director of SEO at Adobe and Eventbrite, and has led digital marketing and business teams at many companies in Silicon Valley. She joined the Green Foothills board to support a cause that resonates with her interests and values. She loves nature and volunteering, and she is excited about Green Foothills’ mission to enable access to nature close to home.
Arpana received her education at Santa Clara and UCSC where she earned her MBA and professional certifications. She has volunteered with Junior Achievement, Humane Society of Silicon Valley, Pets In Need, Habitat for Humanity, and Asha for Education.
She originally comes from the city of Hyderabad in South India, where she was fortunate to experience nature — wooded forests, rivers, and preserves — in various cities where her father was posted. In addition to her volunteer work for Green Foothills, she is currently a foster pet parent for Pets In Need.
Advisory Board
Lizbeth “Xochipapalo” Amador
Matthew Burrows
Martha (Tate) Cohn
Julie Dominguez
Nancy Federspiel
Jennifer Chang Hetterly
Melissa Hippard
Lee Houskeeper
Violet Saena
Katie Sanborn
Mel Sarmento
Alexii Sigona
Jim Wickett
Lizbeth “Xochipapalo” Amador
Lizbeth is a long-time resident of San Jose and has been connecting her friends to nature through Calpulli Tonalehqueh, a Mexica dance group in San Jose, where she is a member and Chicomecoatl (sahumadora). Lizbeth is passionate about connecting people to nature and using this connection as the foundation for healing work.
Matthew Burrows
Matt, a native of Los Altos, is an old Greenfeet hand, having served on our Board from 2006 to 2014, including multiple years as President. His knowledge of our organization and long-time commitment for our mission are welcome additions. When not spouting unfounded opinions at our board meetings and events, Matt works in the automotive industry and also administrates the Frank Burrows Memorial Scholarship in east San Jose. He lives in San Carlos and enjoys hiking and traveling while he’s not working or volunteering with us.
Martha (Tate) Cohn
Tate Cohn is a Palo Alto resident and an active volunteer with Blue Planet Network, the Red Cross, and at Castilleja and the Peninsula French American Schools. Her childhood experiences of spending summers in mining camps led to a lifelong love of the outdoors. Among her favorite activities are horseback riding (including leading pack animals on camping trips), hiking, and skiing.
Julie Dominguez
Julie is a member of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area and is an advocate for the protection of land and waterways on her ancestral homelands. Following her mother’s leadership on food justice, she is an advocate for underrepresented communities, including her tribe. She lives in San Jose, is a California Native dancer, and is a lover of art, music, and culture. Her family is supporting the revitalization of dance, culture, and tradition with the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe of the San Francisco Bay Area. She graduated from the Green Foothills Leadership Program in 2022.
Nancy Federspiel
Nancy grew up in Ohio and currently lives in Menlo Park. Her interest in nature and the outdoors started at a young age and has continued over the years. She enjoys hiking, camping, canoeing and river rafting, backpacking, and other great adventures. In keeping with these interests, Nancy has been a long-time supporter of Green Foothills’ advocacy for local environmental issues, which led her to join the Board of Directors, where she served as Secretary and later as Vice President. In 2025 she moved to the Advisory Board.
Nancy’s professional background is in biochemistry/molecular biology with a PhD from the University of Minnesota, and she moved to the Bay Area in 1980 as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University. She has a diverse background working in academia and biotech as a faculty member/teacher and a bench scientist/project manager. For about 15 years before retiring in 2018, she worked at Stanford in research administration in the School of Medicine. In her free time, she enjoys continuing her outdoor exploits including backpacking in the Sierra and frequent hikes as a Volunteer Trail Patrol member with the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District, and kayaking in the Bay with the Western Sea Kayakers club.
Jennifer Chang Hetterly
Jennifer is a third-generation Bay Area native and long-time Palo Alto resident. She credits years of early education at Hidden Villa Ranch, local civic culture, and ready access to area natural resources for instilling and inspiring her public service and conservation values. She joined Green Foothills to pass on that legacy to future generations through effective local engagement and open space preservation.
Jennifer has worked in civil rights and environmental law, as a policymaker for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and as a public policy consultant in strategic planning and communications. In addition, she has served on multiple city advisory committees in Palo Alto, including seven years on the Parks and Recreation Commission where she spearheaded investment in comprehensive open space conservation plans, master planning for open space, parks, and the urban forest, and city-wide policies for ecosystem and habitat preservation. Jennifer is currently the staff lead for the Sierra Club’s Bay Alive Campaign and serves as a Trustee for Child Care Aware of Washington. She holds a J.D. from Georgetown Law Center and a BA from Brown University.
When not “wonking out” on news, politics and local government, Jennifer is typically outdoors, enjoying family and friends, or corralling her pets and a parade of foster animals.
Melissa Hippard
A Bay Area native, Melissa’s childhood in Marin County was a pastoral joy. Feeling a deep connection to the natural world has been at the center of her life and has guided her career. Melissa has extensive community organizing experience, enjoys mentoring, and loves a challenge. Since 2003 she has been leading efforts throughout the Bay Area to protect parks and open spaces through ballot measure campaigns, policy advocacy, and community building. Locally, Melissa has served as the Chapter Director for the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Conservation Program Director for Greenbelt Alliance; currently she is the Strategic Partnership Manager for Santa Clara County Parks. She also is a board member of the Santa Clara County League of Conservation Voters. Melissa has enjoyed being a partner of Green Foothills on many campaigns and knows that we can save Coyote Valley (and much more)!
Lee Houskeeper
Since 1985 Press Agent Lee Houskeeper’s News Services/San Francisco Stories has been recognized as one of the most effective public relations companies in Northern California. His clients include Cotchett, Pitre, & McCarthy and civil rights attorney John Burris. Lee Houskeeper specializes in producing well-attended Press Conferences for his clients. In the past year alone Lee Houskeeper’s News Services has drawn every major local & national television, radio & newspaper to over 30 successful Press Conferences including Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy’s environmental case of the of city of Oroville lawsuit against the state of California for the failure of the Oroville Dam, the Paradise, and Wine Country Wildfires and also spearheaded the media effort for the Surfrider Foundation v. Martins Beach case, that after a successful five-year battle, finally opened Martins Beach to the public.
Violet Saena
Violet was born and raised in Samoa in the South Pacific. She served the government and people of Samoa as a climate change expert for over ten years. Her earlier career as a biodiversity officer gave her the opportunity to manage national parks, marine reserves, and community resource management programs. Her passion for the environment is rooted from her upbringing where she values the environment as a source of life providing sustenance and resources. She believes people, in return, must treat the environment with respect to ensure its continued productivity and future existence.
Violet is the founder and Executive Director of Climate Resilient Communities. She previously worked as a Project Manager for Acterra‘s Green@Home to Grid Ready Project and holds a Master of Environmental Management from Duke University. She participated in the 2015-16 cohort of the Green Foothills Leadership Program.
Katie Sanborn
Katie has lived gratefully on the Coastside since 1990, enjoying the wide open spaces, ocean and beaches, trails and trees, and opportunities for cycling, hiking, sailing and boogie-boarding and simple contemplation. Finding an ally in Green Foothills – and, originally, Lennie Roberts – she has spoken up against inappropriate developments and embraced efforts to preserve open space and supported the organization’s development efforts. She has also volunteered as a Peninsula Open Space Trust easement monitor for a large ranch on the Coastside for more than a decade. In addition to her work as editorial director for an investment research firm, Katie also serves as the chair of the board of trustees of Mills College in Oakland and on the board of the Istituto Italiano Scuola in San Francisco.
Mel Sarmento
Mel Sarmento is a San José State graduate who studied youth Education and minored in Portuguese Studies. Mel’s passion is connecting all individuals of different backgrounds and abilities with the outdoors. She has worked, interned, and volunteered with various outdoor education organizations in the Bay Area for the last 15 years. As the current Education Program Manager with Guadalupe River Park Conservancy, she is able to foster her passion by bringing groups who typically experience barriers accessing nature to the outdoors – Title One students, students of color, groups with Special Needs, foster youth, and many more!
In addition to education experience, Mel was an intern Assistant Wildlife Biologist studying burrowing owls, specifically. This experience sparked her passion for maintaining and preserving natural habitats by increasing biodiversity (as well as a deep-rooted love for burrowing owls).
Mel was a 2020 Green Foothills Leadership Program graduate, and continues to advocate for safe, clean, and natural spaces for all to enjoy.
Alexii Sigona
Alexii is currently a UC President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Native American Studies at UC Davis. He received his Ph.D. in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management at UC Berkeley. His dissertation, “Revitalizing Stewardship: Amah Mutsun Tribal Band Land Access through Collaborative Caretaking,” examines questions of land tenure, environmental policy, and environmental governance for non-federally recognized Tribal nations. He has published on topics related to environmental justice, recognition politics, cultural heritage management, and environmental policy. He serves on the Lands Committee of the Amah Mutsun Land Trust, is a leader of the Amah Mutsun Youth Group, and is on the Native American Advisory Council for University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Jim Wickett
Jim is a 5th generation resident of the San Francisco Peninsula. He has been actively involved in protecting and enhancing the environment in San Mateo County for most of his life, starting at age 19 when he incorporated the first outdoor education program in the County and worked closely with Ollie Mayer to develop a broad ranging curriculum for adolescents from the County’s public schools, hospitals, and its juvenile hall. In the 1970s he worked with Lennie Roberts to develop the first heritage tree ordinance in the County, while also revising the County’s timber harvest ordinance to better protect the County’s forests. While attending law school, Jim worked as a staff assistant to Congressman Pete McCloskey, with whom he focused on coastal issues. More recently, he has served on the Board of Audubon California and as an alternate member on the California Coastal Commission. Professionally, Jim has worked over the past decades in Silicon Valley based start-up and large-cap media technology companies, leading their business development and/or corporate development teams. Jim has been a long term supporter of Green Foothills and is excited to be an advisory board member.
