Staff - Committee for Green FoothillsCommittee for Green Foothills

Megan Medeiros

Executive Director

Megan joined Committee for Green Foothills as Executive Director in November 2013. In her role, she develops and implements the organization’s strategic goals and manages its operations. She is a people-oriented, tenacious environmental nonprofit executive passionate about civic engagement and the common good.

Prior to joining Committee for Green Foothills, she managed the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter's conservation programs and fundraising efforts. A year prior she served as Community Director for GenerationEngage Silicon Valley, an organization later acquired by Mobilize.org. While at San Jose State University pursuing an environmental studies degree, she worked with the Silicon Valley Land Conservancy and directed the university's Environmental Resource Center. She’s a graduate of Community Leadership San Jose

Megan lives in downtown San Jose. She enjoys running, hiking, reading, camping, and adventures with her toddler.

Lennie Roberts

Legislative Advocate, San Mateo County

lennie@greenfoothills.org

As San Mateo County Legislative Advocate for 40 years, Lennie has led CGF in a number of critical open space campaigns on the San Mateo coast, including the passage in 1986 of Measure A, the first-ever county-wide citizen’s initiative that permanently protected the rural coast from sprawling development, and Measure T in 1996, which mandated that Caltrans build a tunnel at Devil’s Slide instead of a growth-inducing freeway bypass. She is a vigilant and attentive watchdog of the San Mateo County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors, and helped found the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in 1972 and its expansion into San Mateo County in 1976 and the coast in 2009.

Lennie first became involved with Committee for Green Foothills in 1968, when she joined our Board of Directors, and then followed in Jean Rusmore’s exemplary footsteps as San Mateo County’s first Legislative Advocate.

Lennie holds a B.A. in Art from Stanford University. She has been a nursery school teacher in Palo Alto, and Manager of the Ladera Recreation District. She has served on several park-related boards and commissions, including Yosemite Association, Yosemite Fund, and Yosemite Conservancy, as well as the Golden Gate National Recreation Area Advisory Commission. She is currently a member of the Congestion Management/Environmental Quality Committee of the City-County Association of Governments.

She and her husband, Mike, along with a group of friends who perhaps trusted them too much, have clocked hundreds of miles backpacking in Yosemite and the southern Sierra Nevada, as well as in Alaska, and have made a number of major ascents of minor peaks.

Julie Hutcheson

Director of External Affairs and Advocacy

julie@greenfoothills.org

Julie is responsible for bridging Committee for Green Foothills’ advocacy and marketing and communications efforts through strategic campaign planning and implementation. A staff alumni, Julie is excited to return to CGF to help in increasing the organization’s impact.

Starting off with CGF in 2008 on a part-time contract as the Organizational Coordinator for the South Valley Environmental Collaborative, Julie joined full-time staff as a Legislative Advocate in September 2010. She served in that capacity until May 2017, when she left for a year to be the External Affairs Manager for the San Jose Conservation Corps and Charter School. There she focused on strategic partnerships, marketing and communications, project management, fundraising, and increasing the effectiveness of the Board of Directors as their staff liaison.

Julie is a Board Member of the Friends of the Santa Clara Valley Habitat Agency, and serves on a number of committees related to CGF’s mission including the Habitat Agency Public Advisory Committee, the Santa Clara Valley Water District’s Independent Monitoring Committee for Safe, Clean Water and Natural Flood Protection Program, the Santa Clara County Food System Alliance, and San Jose Food Works Advisory Committee.

Julie holds a M.A. in Slavic Linguistics from the University of Virginia.

Alice Kaufman

Legislative Advocacy Director, San Mateo & Santa Clara Counties

alice@greenfoothills.org

As Legislative Advocacy Director, Alice is responsible for overseeing Committee for Green Foothills' advocacy campaigns as well as engaging in direct advocacy in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

Alice's relationship with Committee for Green Foothills began in 2009, when as a resident of Redwood City she became engaged in opposing the massive Cargill/Saltworks DMB development on the Redwood City salt ponds. Alice then became a CGF advocacy volunteer, joined our Board of Directors in 2010, and then joined CGF staff as a Legislative Advocate in 2012. Alice became Legislative Advocacy Director in 2017.

Alice holds a B.A. from the University of Chicago and a J.D. from the University of California Hastings College of the Law. She practiced environmental law for four years with the Environmental Law Foundation in Oakland before leaving the work force in the late 1990's upon the birth of her two children. Alice's desire to move from litigation to public policy and advocacy work led her to Committee for Green Foothills as the best fit as she re-entered the working world.

Alice is a founding member of Redwood City Neighbors United and serves on several committees related to CGF's mission, including the Santa Clara Valley Water District's One Water stakeholder group and the High-Speed Rail Authority's San Jose Community Working Group.

When not advocating for CGF, Alice can usually be found hiking with her husband in nearby Edgewood Park, cooking complicated new recipes, or reading books from previous centuries.

Leslie Holder

Associate Director of Marketing

As Associate Director of Marketing, Leslie is responsible for creating and leading data-driven marketing campaigns with our staff and consultants to build momentum and community support for our advocacy, education, and fundraising goals.

Leslie graduated in 2016 from UC Davis with a B.A. in Design and Economics. Paving her way into marketing, she transitioned into the role of Internet Marketing Coordinator at a full-service marketing agency in Murrieta, CA. She coordinated social media, email campaigns, digital advertising, and general marketing strategy to drive awareness and sales. After moving to San Jose, Leslie was looking for an organization to use her skills and passion for people and giving back to our earth. She found Committee for Green Foothills and found a place where she could drive that vision of instilling passion and learning in our local communities in order to protect our open spaces.

An INFJ and a foodie, she is often traveling with her best friend (who happens to be her husband), eating some good food, snapping some pictures, and having some life-inspiring conversations.

Helen Wolter

Legislative Advocate, San Mateo County

helen@greenfoothills.org

As one of CGF’s San Mateo County Legislative Advocates, Helen Wolter has been able to combine her love of the outdoors with her passion for the public process and wonky policies. Such skills means she is often tasked with educating policymakers on why there should be more open space on the Peninsula - as well as housing.

Prior to joining CGF, Helen managed Congresswoman Anna Eshoo’s reelection campaign, where she assisted with outreach in three counties, worked with Democratic Central Committees, and led efforts to support Democratic candidates up and down ticket.

Additionally, while Chair of the City of Mountain View Parks and Recreation Commission, Helen assisted in overseeing parkland use in the densest city in Silicon Valley. During her tenure with the Commission, she guided Mountain View’s updated canopy policy, and worked to make the parks in-lieu fees assessed on new developments more just and equitable, as well as economically viable.

Many moons ago, Helen competed nationally in luge. Today, you can find Helen hiking in our local parks, reading, or chasing her son. She has a BA in Government from Scripps College, and a MPA from the University of Colorado. A west coast native, she has lived in the Bay Area for over 35 years.

Justyne Schnupp

Community Engagement Manager

justyne@greenfoothills.org

Justyne joined Committee for Green Foothills in May 2015. She is responsible for building, retaining and engaging the CGF community through outreach and educational programming. In addition, Justyne manages our fundraising events including our annual celebration, Nature’s Inspiration. Justyne has always enjoyed exploring natural open spaces and took her first step in environmental field, working for the Environmental Volunteers where children learn through hands-on science and nature education. Justyne holds B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco.

Ava Lindstrom

Development and Communications Manager

ava@greenfoothills.org

Ava has been with Committee for Green Foothills since September 2016. As Development and Communications Manager, Ava oversees fundraising campaigns, member stewardship, and regular updates to members about the organization's work. She is passionate about fostering ethical and socially just environmentalism--and as a native Midwesterner, she has been in continual awe of the foothills since moving out to California.

Before working at Committee for Green Foothills, Ava studied for a BA and MA in French at Stanford University, during which she interned for the California Governor's Office of Planning and Research in Sacramento, taught a student-led class on local food systems, and fed algae to sea hares studying abroad in Queensland, Australia.

Ava lives in Palo Alto and is active in local politics. She enjoys reading old novels, writing elaborate lists, and hunting vegan desserts.

Chris Sturken

Outreach and Administrative Associate

A resident of Belmont, Chris is passionate about community outreach and civic engagement. He's worked for a number of non-profits across the Bay Area on issues ranging from urban forestry to fair housing. At CGF, Chris is excited to learn about land-use and open space preservation, and to put his community outreach skills to work for the Protect Coyote Valley campaign. Before CGF, Chris served as a CivicSpark AmeriCorps Fellow for the Utilities and Environmental Services Department at the City of Hayward where he completed a community-wide greenhouse gas emissions inventory. He graduated from San Francisco State University in 2016 with a degree in Environmental Studies.

When not in the office, Chris helps organize LGBTQ+ events with the San Mateo County Pride Center. Chris has many fond memories from growing up in Belmont and continues to spend time in Twin Pines Park and Hallmark Park. He also visits Half Moon Bay to enjoy the calming crash of the waves on the beach.