Pradeep Chilka

I recently became a Sierra Club member because I felt that this was a group that had a rich and deep history of environmental activism and aligned most closely with my passion for fighting climate change.

My interest, and subsequent passion, for climate change activism and sustainability started a few years back when I was consumed with reducing my own personal carbon footprint because I naively assumed that this was the answer to avert the climate change catastrophe that I could sense on the horizon, as long as everyone else did the same.  Later on, I quickly realized how complicated and interconnected this problem was and how critical it was to address the underlying systemic changes needed and why it was critical to be part of a network of like-minded people for effecting any meaningful change. So, I started with first educating myself by reading books, watching TED talks, and finally completing Al Gore's Climate Reality Leadership training bootcamp.

I am an Electrical Engineer and Computer Scientist by profession and have had a career of over 40+ years in Technology and wore many hats from being a software engineer to senior management positions overseeing the delivery of large IT services programs and more recently have been working on proposal development of large federal enterprise projects. I am hoping that I can leverage my analytical, organizational, communication and writing skills into effective climate action and change.

I would be honored to, and look forward to, serving on the Sierra Club GFG Executive Committee given the opportunity.

Judy Gayer

I have been a Sierra Club member for many years. I have served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Great Falls group since 2020. From 2020-2023, I also served as the Great Falls group’s representative on the Executive Committee of the Virginia Chapter.  Since then, I have served as an At-Large Member of the Chapter ExCom. I am currently also serving as the Chair of the Chapter ExCom. Before assuming the role of Chapter Chair, I served as the Chapter’s Legal Chair, Conservation Chair, and Vice Chair.

 I retired from my profession as a lawyer in 2020.  I have strong legal and organizational skills, which I have put to use on the Chapter ExCom, as well as on the Boards of several other nonprofits, most recently the English Empowerment Center (formerly the Northern Virginia Literacy Council).  I also work part time as a crisis hotline counselor for EveryMind, a mental health nonprofit in Montgomery County, Maryland.  In my personal life, I'm married and a mom to three adult children and a greyhound.

 It would be both my pleasure and my honor to continue to serve on the Great Falls group’s Ex Com. 

Natalie Pien

Natalie Pien is a climate activist who studied Environmental Science at the University of Virginia. After working in the environmental field for almost a decade, Natalie transitioned to public education where she was a middle school science teacher and Ecology Club sponsor until 2017.
While Natalie is a member of the Boards of Directors for the Piedmont Environmental Council as well as the Chesapeake Climate Action Network for which she is the Treasurer and sits on the Food and Water Watch Advisory Council, she approaches activism through the eyes of a grandmother. Natalie's grandchildren, your grandchildren, and all life on Earth deserve a livable planet on which to thrive, not struggle to survive. 
 

Natalie is an active member of Bill McKibben's Third Act of senior citizen activists, with membership to Third Act Virginia and Third Act DMV.  With the Third Act, Natalie demonstrated at banks in NoVA and NYC that fund fossil fuel projects.  She is a member of the leadership committees for the Climate Reality Project, NoVA Chapter and for Earth Rise Indivisible.  Natalie received the 2023 Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, Individual Sustainability Champion award.
Formerly, Natalie was a representative to the Virginia Green New Deal, a Virginia representative to the MWCOG Air and Climate Public Advisory Committee, the SC GFG Conservation co-chair, 350 Loudoun President, Loudoun Climate Project Inaugural President, and was an XR Virginia Red Rebel present at events at the Supreme Court, Congress, and in Richmond, VA
 

 Douglas Stewart
My interest in serving on the Great Falls Group executive committee stems from my confidence in the power of well-organized people to get meaningful things done in their communities, and the joy I get from working with people to effect positive community change.

My main environmental interest is in transportation and sustainable land use. I have been a volunteer with organizations working on transportation alternatives for more than 30 years, starting in Boston, then in Atlanta, and for the past 18 years in northern Virginia. My animating passion has been to create communities where everyone can walk, bike, or use a wheelchair or other assistive device to get to where they need or want to go.

I began volunteering with the Sierra Club soon after moving to Fairfax in 2004, as an advocate for transit and active transportation projects and mixed-use, walkable development proposals. I served on the Great Falls Group Executive Committee from 2005 to 2009. From 2014 to 2016, I served as Transportation Chair for the Virginia Sierra Club chapter, and from 2018 to 2022 I was chapter Transportation Co-Chair with Karen Campblin. In 2023 I resumed service on the Executive Committee of the Great Falls Group, where I focused on efforts to expand sustainable, healthy transportation options such as walking, bicycling and transit. 

I would like to continue to serve on the Great Falls Group Executive Committee in order to engage more people and build new partnerships for sustainable practices in Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William. I plan to focus on promoting transportation alternatives, and encouraging more efficient and sustainable growth and development with a diverse range of housing options.