Action Committee Chairs
Building and Construction
Kerry Miller -- Kerry Miller is a designer, builder, project manager, consultant, and artist. He has been designing and building houses, additions, and remodels for 10 years in the Ojai Valley, following his previous 20 years in Corrales, New Mexico, where he built with adobe, stone, ICF (insulated concrete forms), standing dead spruce, and many other products that we now call green, using energy-efficient products, passive solar energy, and the natural terrain of the land. Those products and designs, along with many of the new green products and designs, are now incorporated into his Ojai Valley work. With a bachelor’s degree in sculpture from the University of New Mexico, Kerry incorporates his artistic skills into every project he works on, creating functional art.
In New Mexico, Kerry was on the board and organizing committee of the Corrales Harvest Festival, an event similar to Ojai Day. In Ojai, he has been on the organizing committee of the October Classic Run, a fundraiser for the Ojai Hospital Foundation, since its inception. Kerry lives in Ojai and can be reached at kerry@kerrymillerdesigns.com
Energy
Shawn Jacobson -- Bio coming soon!Environmental Health
Marleen Luckman holds an MS in Family Environmental Science and is a certified Building Biology Environmental Inspector (BBEI). She is a teacher through the International Institute of Building Biology and Ecology, a nutrition/cleansing coach, and is a public speaker on environmental issues as they relate to our health.
Food and Agriculture
Dulanie Ellis-La Barre has been a filmmaker for the last 25 years, first as a Script Supervisor for feature films and television, and later as an Associate Producer on four award-winning documentary films for Tell The Truth Pictures.
In 2002, Dulanie launched her own production company, Walk Your Talk Productions. Believing that the world-class farmland and agriculture of Ventura County was worth protecting, she began making a series of films that addressed various elements of sustainable agriculture for the Ag Futures Alliance. That lead to a film for the real estate industry on mortgage fraud and more recently to an educational film about Community Emergency Response Training.
Dulanie serves on a number of community committees and is the Co-Chair for the OVGC Food & Agriculture Committee
Transportation
Suza Francina was born in Holland, the bicycle capital of the world. She has lived in Ojai since 1957, attended local schools, and raised two children here. A freelance writer specializing in health and environmental issues, she is a longtime bicycle/pedestrian advocate and has been a featured speaker at conferences on alternative transportation and sustainable communities.
In 1995, Suza was a founding member of the Ojai Bicycle Coalition, a group that helped to create the Ojai Bicycle Pedestrian Master Plan. Inspired by the Worldwatch Institute booklet entitled The Bicycle: Vehicle for a Small Planet, she reminds us that "Bicycling is good for the air, the water, the earth, and the quality of life in our community. It helps to conserve energy, increases property value, increases business and tourism, and makes our streets and highways more efficient. At the same time, it's good for our health and makes us more fit--plus it's fun!"
Suza was elected to the Ojai City Council in 1997, and she served as the cityʼs mayor in 2000. During her tenure as mayor, she was known as "California's mayor without a car." During her term as an elected official, she championed many transportation-related issues such as traffic calming, the Safe Routes to School program, and pedestrian/bicycle-friendly policies.
Suza also served on the Ventura County Transportation Commission, where she advocated for bus shelters and improved public transit. She can be reached at Sfrancina@aol.com.
Waste Management
Brad Hudson Since moving to Ojai in 2003, Brad has developed a small town outlook that encourages keeping it local while still striving to have a positive global impact. He believes in Growing Green personally, professionally and as a community, and that doing so is a continuing life process. Brad is a Shaklee Distributor focusing on their GET CLEAN™ line of environmentally-friendly household products. Contact Brad at contactwastemgmt@ojaivalleygreencoalition.com
Deborah Pendrey has lived in Oak View for eight years. The Coalition is her first volunteer participation in a formal organization and she says “I’ve been waiting for something like the Coalition to join” At an early age, Deb’s mom had her and her siblings digging in the golf course trash cans in the wee hours of the morning for aluminum cans. So, Deborah’s had a role model from the start, making the waste management committee a natural fit. She also joined the communications committee to expand her horizons.
Deborah and her husband run a wholesale retractable screens business from their home, a home and property they plan will eventually be a model green living space. Contact Deborah at deborah.ovgc@yahoo.com
Watershed
Brian Holly, is a wildlife biologist and environmental policy specialist with BioResource Consultants, Inc. (BRC), an environmental consulting firm based in Ojai. With BRC, Brian works on a variety of projects locally in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties including focused environmental studies, ecological restoration and California native flora and fauna inventories. Since 1998 Brian has been working on ecological restoration projects throughout the Ojai watershed and other southern California watersheds.
Brian also serves as an active member of the Ventura County Search and Rescue Team, Upper Ojai Chapter. He is an avid outdoorsman and has a unique local knowledge about the mountains and stream systems surrounding Ojai and Santa Barbara. Brian has a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from the University of California at Santa Cruz, is a Master’s Candidate in Environmental Science and Management at Duke University and is a Registered Environmental Assessor with the State of California Environmental Protection Agency. Contact Brian at Brian@BioRC.com.
Paul Jenkin is the Environmental Director of the Ventura County Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, and founder of the Matilija Coalition. The Surfrider Foundation is an international environmental organization dedicated to the protection and enhancement of the world’s waves and beaches through conservation, activism, research, and education (CARE).
Since 1994, Paul has worked to restore the coast and watershed where he lives, in Ventura, California. He serves on the Surfers Point Working Group, a multi-agency task force working to solve beach erosion problems near the mouth of the Ventura River. From 2000 – 2004 Paul served on the various work groups within the Matilija Dam Ecosystem Restoration Feasibility Study, and acts as the coordinator of the non-government efforts to remove Matilija Dam and restore the Ventura River watershed.
Paul Jenkin has a B.S. in Ocean Engineering from Texas A&M University (1985) and a M.S. in Ocean Engineering from Florida Atlantic University (1989). Contact Paul at contactwatershed@ojaivalleygreencoalition.com
Government Liaison
Renee Roth joins the OVGC with extensive experience in the public sector as a provider of financial systems and consulting services to government agencies. Most recently, she worked for the City of Los Angeles, LA County, and Ventura County as a project manager on financial system selection and implementation. Before that, Renee helped implement financial systems for the City of Salinas and City of Chicago, along with developing training and documentation materials on purchasing, fixed assets, and inventory control software developed by American Management Systems. She has also worked with State of Oregon agencies and local governments to develop the budget and financial information needed to enter the municipal bond market to fund capital improvement projects, and has worked as a consultant for the City of Pasadena, assisting with the implementation of a utility billing system. Renee graduated with a B.S. in Public Policy and Government from the University of Oregon. She brings to the Coalition an understanding of public policies and issues, along with an ability to drive new concepts through design, planning, documentation, and ultimately to implementation. As a volunteer, Renee has also served on the Ojai Green Schools Committee and with Food for Thought, and has coordinated Art Trek volunteers at San Antonio School.
Sheri Ann Cate has a degree in Communications with an emphasis on business and non-profit organizations. She has served as Chair of Ojai’s Redevelopment Commission, President of the Ventura County Professional Women’s Network, and has sat on many boards and commissions including the Ventura County Community Foundation’s Women’s Legacy Fund grant committee and the Ojai Valley Chamber of Commerce. She is Chairperson of the Chamber’s Environmental Affairs Committee. Recently she served as a table discussion leader for Supervisor Steve Bennett’s Valley-Wide Discussion Group.
Sonia Nordenson grew up in San Diego County, attended Fordham University and the New School for Social Research in New York City, and first moved to Ojai in 1978. Before she began her present career as a freelance editor of nonfiction, she was a magazine editor in New York and (while on the staff of The Mother Earth News) North Carolina. She has two daughters, two grandsons, six acres in an eco-reserve area of Brazil, and a long-standing interest in sustainability.
Kale Starbird has been concerned about Global Warming for 15 years and has been more focused since she is now a grandmother. Climate Change is the number one issue in current times and for future generations. She is thrilled with the attention it is receiving now and eager to participate in helping the Ojai Valley to become a model green community.
Anca Colbert was born in Romania, raised in France, and has lived most of her life in Los Angeles and Ojai, California. She has a classical European education in the arts, literature, and languages, holds a License ès lettres from the Sorbonne, with additional studies at L’Ecole du Louvre and at L’Ecole des Arts Décoratifs in Paris.
Caryn Bosson - Treasurer
