Bryan Shiles, Executive Committee Member

Bryan Shiles is a founding partner of WRNS Studio, an architecture firm established in 2005. With
offices in San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu, and New York, WRNS Studio is known for its
commitment to healthy, regenerative, and resilient architecture that sets new industry standards for
environmental sustainability. Bryan’s portfolio includes new campuses for Adobe and Intuit, student
life facilities at Princeton University and Cal Maritime Academy, and various mixed-use life science
developments throughout the Bay Area. Under Bryan’s leadership, WRNS Studio has been
recognized as one of Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies (2020, 2024) and has twice been
named the top architecture firm in the U.S. by Architect magazine. A dedicated educator, Bryan has
taught at The Ohio State Univerity, UC Berkeley, Stanford University, California College of the Arts,
and Northeastern University.

Bryan attended art school at the University of a Georgia and architecture school at the University of
Tennessee and Harvard University. Bryan lives in San Anselmo with his Wife Sarah Willmer and
their son Nick cooks in New York City.

Chance Cutrano, Executive Committee Treasurer 

A Chicago native, Chance studied philosophy and political science at Saint Xavier University where he analyzed wildlife policy in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Chance brings experience in grassroots organizing and energy policy analysis from his time with the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign. Prior to his time at RRI, Chance was researching food, water, and energy management policy in Vietnam, Morocco, and Bolivia. Chance lives in Marin, works on public lands advocacy and agroecology issues, and studies Sustainable Management at Presidio Graduate School.

Holli Thier, Executive Committee Member

Pamela Ruby Meigs, Executive Committee Member

A Registered Nurse with a Master's in Community Health, Pamelas’ caregiving includes our fragile Earth, which has been deep in her veins since childhood. She believes strongly that all living beings need now more than ever to be protected and cared for.  Her energy,  knowledge, and teaching are committed to healing and promoting a better world.  She is a Berkeley native, a long-term Fairfax resident, and a Sierra Club member since 2000. She has traveled abroad on many remote outdoor adventures' including places of disadvantaged communities and World Heritage sites. Pamelas' present and past activities are: Ross Valley Sanitary District, North Bay Watershed Association, Fairfax Corona Virus Task Force, Cascade Canyon Fairfax Firewise, former Chair -Fairfax Planning Commissioner, founder of the Fairfax Open Space Committee, former Fairfax General Plan Committee, past Fairfax Tree Ordinance Committee, and supported Measure D. She believes the Sierra Club is a strong organization to repair, care, and amend the ongoing damage of our fragile Earth.  She is concerned about losing open space, wildfire, climate change, excessive use of plastics, endangered species, pesticides, and sea-level rise.” Her vision includes more SC volunteers, expanding SC education programs, and protect as well as acquire more open space.  It is vital that Marin County keep our beautiful green vast hills, with many acres of open space,  to share this beauty with others in perpetuity. From her years of activism, Pamela feels honored to continue to care and focus her experience, knowledge, and leadership for the Marin Chapter of the Sierra Club on the Executive Committee. 

Jennifer Silva, Executive Committee Member

Jennifer is a retired entrepreneur and Ecommerce CEO. She ran Sheet Music Plus, a sheet music ecommerce site, for 10 years. She now spends her energy advocating for sustainability, transit, affordable housing and funding for education. She is the Board Chair for the Marin Environmental Housing Collaborative, a non-profit that advocates for affordable, enviornmentally sustainable housing in Marin. She serves on the Sausalito Pedestrian and Bike Committee. She is also the Board Chair for Kids Cooking for Life and is on the board of Teaching Lab. She enjoys hiking, biking, and skiing, and serves as an Outings Leader for the Sierra Club. 

Nate McKitterick, Executive Committee Member 

Nate McKitterick has lived in the Bay Area for over 35 years, after graduating from UW-Madison (the mountains were calling).  He has served his communities as a Planning Commissioner for 12 years, church Elder, youth cycling coach, and pro bono attorney for working-class homeowners threatened with loss of their homes.  He is a hiker, cyclist, canyoneer, and rock climber, with occasional backpacking, packrafting, skiing,and mountaineering when time permits.  Nate is also a member of the Access Fund and the Marin Conservation League.  He lives in San Anselmo with his Vermonter wife (who taught him the wonders of the sheer vertical wilderness); they have a son in college and a daughter at Archie Williams.  Nate tries to inspire others to explore, enjoy, and protect our natural environment, and has actively advocated for public policies consistent with that mission.

Shea Putnam, Executive Committee Chair

Sam Penrose, Executive Committee Member

Sam moved to the Bay Area at age 13 as an experienced backpacker and canoe-camper. He will never forget his first night in the Sierra Nevada, gazing up at the Milky Way. These days he hikes in the Marin headlands every week. Fauna he's photographed include white tailed kites, bobcats, a tarantula hawk wasp, and rubber boas (who knew?). Sam has identified as an environmentalist since before he could vote and as a climate hawk since 2009. His local civic volunteering has included serving on school committees and canvassing for bonds to expand parks. He's on his third clean energy job. His team's first project is managing power for electric school buses across the Bay in Richmond in partnership with the California Energy Commission. He regularly speaks to college classes and career changers about finding impactful work abating climate change.

Sam Ruben, Executive Committee PolCom Representative

Originally from Ann Arbor, MI, but having been in the Bay Area almost 2 decades (including almost 10 years in Marin County), Sam Ruben is multi-time startup founder who brings a deep passion for sustainability (i.e. resilience & regeneration) and an innovation focus to everything he does. This passion is paired with a deep understanding of the public, civil society, and private sectors honed through professional experience and his learning as a graduate of the Presidio Graduate School with a Dual MBA/MPA in Sustainable Management to complement his BA in Political Science/Economics from Vassar College. Along with being a leader in the ClimateTech space as a Co-Founder of Mighty Buildings, HyWatts, and BuildTech.VC Sam is also a leader in development of Embodied Carbon Policy. This includes AB 2446 & AB 43 here in California (which passed in 2022 & 2023 respectively), as well as ongoing work with the World Economic Forum to develop model embodied carbon policies for cities around the globe. Other roles that he holds are as Board Chair of MarinCAN, a member of Build It Green's Housing System Innovators Network Steering Committee & Innovation Fund Selection Committee, and a former member of the Sausalito Sustainability Commission.

Thomas Tunny, Executive Committee Member

As a land use attorney, Tom has devoted his professional career to urban planning, with the belief that well-planned communities are the key to our planet’s long-term global and local health.  One of the foundations of the Sierra Club’s mission is “[t]o educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.”  Tom’s other community involvement and work includes being a member and past Chair of the San Anselmo Planning Commission; Board Member, San Rafael Canal Alliance; member, Urban Land Institute; member San Francisco Planning and Urban Research; former aide to U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo for environmental issues; and former canvasser and political organizer, California League of Conservation Voters.  Tom loves spending time outdoors in the mountains, at the sea, and everywhere in between.