Executive Committee

Treasurer (non-voting): Bruce Rienzo, treasurer*lomaprieta.sierraclub.org

About our Wonderful Executive Committee members
 

Mike Ferreira - Chapter Chair

Following a 25 year Silicon Valley career Mike has held a number of public positions the most satisfying of which was, in his estimation, the role of planning commissioner - serving two years as the chair. He was a volunteer for several years with one of the Sierra Club's national campaigns before becoming engaged with the Loma Prieta Chapter's Coastal Issues Committee, then with the LP Chapter's Conservation Committee, LP Chapter Executive Committee, the California/Nevada Regional Conservation Committee (CNRCC), the Peninsula Regional Group (PRG), and the 3-Chapter Working Group (representing the Loma Prieta, San Francisco Bay and Redwood chapters to regional governmental agencies such as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG).

Mike is fond of saying "If you're suffering from a feeling of being unfulfilled, give us a call. We have surefire cures for that."

Sue Chow - Vice-Chair and Peninsula Regional Group Rep

My passion for the environment is rooted in a deep-seated commitment to wildlife and nature conservation. In addition to conservation work, I am also involved in environmental education, particularly climate change education, and community building.  Recently, my colleagues in the Peninsula Regional Group and I launched a new program for our members--the Environmental Stewardship Program--which combines film screenings/discussions of key environmental issues and participation in environmental advocacy projects.  This program is the first of its kind in our chapter and we are absolutely thrilled that many of our members will be joining this inaugural program.  

My goal as an Ex-Com member will be, first and foremost, to create a vibrant community for our members—one that provides meaningful environmental educational activities, hands-on engagement in environmental projects, and fun social activities that will facilitate the forming of strong social bonds among members.  I fervently believe that in our current fast-paced, highly mobile society most of us need meaningful social networks structured around common values and civic activities that express these values.  Community-building, then, will be my primary focus.   Another one of my goals is to engage more young people in environmental activities.  Having been an educator my entire life, I have seen how important it is to expose young people to environmental issues and activities.  We must devote time to building meaningful communities for our members and to nurturing the next generation of environmental leaders. 

Robin Montoya - Secretary

My experience and activism align well with the goals and mission of the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club. I am passionate about environmental issues (promoting sustainability, protection of the environment, among others) and believe the Sierra Club is at the forefront of the movement to address these issues. I have many years of experience with the Sierra Club and am currently a member of the Forest Protection Committee, EELA - Education and Environmental Legislative Action and am part of the Environmental Stewardship Program for the second time. As a long time activist, I believe we all can make time to volunteer and act on the issues we care about. I have a lot of experience in issues around voting, social justice and inclusion. All these issues are interrelated, and I can bring my experience in each of these areas to the work of the Executive Committee. As a project manager, I work in education in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) area.

Lisa Barboza - At Large Member

Lisa (she/hers) lived in Oregon for several years and was a treeplanter with Hoedads Treeplanting Co-op, planting over 300,000 trees. She also worked as a forest firefighter, and as an organic vegetable and goat farmer, a supplier to many farmer’s markets.

Her education is in Wildlife Biology and Mechanical Engineering. Expertise in photovoltaics led to a career at several aerospace companies designing commercial communications spacecraft. Later, she worked on earth imaging spacecraft, and the GPS constellation. As Director, she ran Mission Assurance for the company with her team of 300 people. Her last assignment focused on the Meerkat radio telescope in South Africa.

She joined the Sierra Club in 1998, has a lifelong love, spiritual relationship with nature, and is a birder, California Native Plant Society member, and a docent with the Santa Clara Valley Open Space District. She has been happily married for 16 years, with 3 grown kids.

As an outings leader, she led most of the climbs to finish, in 10 years,  the Angeles Chapter SPS List of 248 many technical peaks. She served on the Mountaineering Oversight Committee for 4 years. She is an accomplished mountaineer and has climbed thousands of peaks all over the world, including 3 of the seven summits.  She is devoting her life to combatting climate change.  She is currently serving as Outing Chair for the entire Loma Prieta chapter.

Mary Buxton - At Large Member

For the past year, I have had the opportunity to work with 350 Silicon Valley on California climate legislation and with the Sierra Club in promoting community choice energy in the Bay Area. In the past, I volunteered with GreenBelt Alliance and supported many environmental organizations with donations.  I have spent much of my life out of doors which makes me want to protect and preserve what I love through environmental activism. Onward! Click here to read more about Mary!

Nathan Chan - At Large Member

I first joined the Sierra Club in 2015 because climate change had become my number one political issue, and I was evaluating several environmental organizations. I was drawn to the Club because of its connection to John Muir and its history of advocating to protect California’s national parks.

I attended my first outing with the Club as part of the Bay Chapter’s Snowcamping Class in 2016. In 2018, I became an assistant leader for Snowcamping Group 5, and I also helped resuscitate the 20s and 30s outings section for our chapter. We ended up organizing two-weekend backpacking trips, four-day hikes, and two social happy hours.

Outside of the Sierra Club, I work as a data scientist and am interested in applying these professional skills to achieving a reduction in carbon emissions.

Shruti Chandrasekhar - At Large Member

Hello Fellow Environmental Activists! Like many of you, I joined the Sierra Club in 2017 to find my place in the Climate movement. Over the years, I’ve assisted with Environmental Stewardship Programs, Bay 2030, and Save Coyote Valley. Currently, I work on the San Jose City team, advocating for microgrids and urban tree canopy. Outside of Sierra Club, I work as a product and content marketing consultant. I’m also the Chair for Measure T - Community Oversight Committee in San Jose. I’m passionate about California native plants and enjoy planting them in our public spaces and school gardens. As a mom of two, I find joy in leading hiking clubs and nature workshops for school-age kids. I strongly believe in the Chapter’s Work and want to contribute to the organization that has nurtured the activist in me. If given an opportunity, I want to promote the Chapter’s work, bringing in new members from all ages and backgrounds, and thereby increasing our local footprint across all cities.

James Coleman - At Large Member

James Coleman currently serves as Mayor for the City of South San Francisco, and as a Director for Peninsula Clean Energy. From a young age, James has always had a passion for environmental conservation and climate change mitigation. Inspired by summer days spent surfing on the coast of Half Moon Bay and autumn hikes on San Bruno mountain, he joined his high school’s earth club and founded the Harvard Undergraduates for Environmental Justice during college. At Harvard, he worked on their Fossil Fuel Divestment Campaign, successfully pushing the university to divest its $40 billion endowment from the fossil fuel industry. On the Sierra Club Executive Committee, James hopes to grow the Sierra Club’s membership in northern San Mateo County and advocate for smart pro climate policies at the local level. James is passionate about building electrification, smart environmentally conscious land use, and the protection and expansion of our public green space.

Shani Kleinhaus- At Large Member

Shani Kleinhaus is a passionate ecologist with a strong record of achieving  significant impact in planning and advocacy in corporate, academic, and not-for profit settings. Deep expertise in developing sustainable solutions that regenerate  ecological health in urban and natural settings. Skilled at negotiations and  collaborations and capable of succeeding in fast-changing and complex situations.  With focus on conservation and on the integration of nature into people’s  aspirations for growth, able to create positive, inspiring and innovative  environments. Shani has previously served on ExCom and the Chapter welcomes  her knowledge of species protection.

Karen Maki - At Large Member

I have enjoyed working with other Sierra Club volunteers to protect the environment since 2001. My activism combines project and meeting management skills I learned working at Intel with facilitation and listening skills I learned acquiring a masters in counseling. As a Sierra Club activist, I have experience as: Chapter Conservation Committee chair, Executive Committee chair, Fundraising Committee chair, and Forest Protection Committee chair. Sierra Club California Conservation Committee Chair, and currently chair two statewide forest committees and am secretary of the Sierra Club California Executive Committee. Probably my most exciting Sierra Club experience was initiating and running the Beat Bush Campaign in 2004. The Sierra Club was launching campaigns in battleground states. Why not Loma Prieta? Many chapter members were eager to do something. So I did. We hosted house parties and chapter events that engaged 250 volunteers and produced more than 30,000 phone calls and 8,000 postcards.

Gary Baily - Guadalupe Regional Group Rep

As a long time Sierra Club member, I served on the Loma Prieta Chapter Executive Committee for 6 years in the past. I co-founded the chapter's Forest Protection Committee and I started the chapter's climate action campaign. I have led hikes and fund raising trips for the chapter. In addition, I have been involved in the chapter's political endorsement process, participating in and sometimes leading endorsement interviews. I look forward to continuing to help protect the earth and all its inhabitants from the many challenges, including climate change.

Bruce Rienzo - Treasurer (non-voting)

Bruce worked for Olivetti, the Italian computer and typewriter company, for 12 years in New York City, eventually relocating to Cupertino, where he was Senior Manager of the firmware and base software department at their personal computer R&D center.  Bruce joined the Sierra Club in 2002 looking to attend local hikes and make friends, starting a very gradual move into retirement.

After becoming a hike leader and section chair, he began a 10-year stint as Chapter Outing Chair and was elected to the Chapter Executive Committee, wanting to represent the outings community at the Chapter level.  There, he was appointed as Chapter Treasurer and more recently as treasurer of Sierra Club California, both roles that he continues to hold.  He serves as a liaison between the national Finance Department and other Chapter Treasurers in Northern and Central California.  This is his fourth year as Chair of the Loma Prieta Chapter.  

Bruce has an M.A. in Mathematics from the Univ. of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and a B.A. from Rutgers University.