Who We Are
Learn about AFC’s small but mighty staff and incredible team of board members and advisors who help the mission of preserving land in Los Angeles. In addition to the people listed on this page, we have a community of hundreds of volunteers who are all critical to our success.
In 2025, John celebrated his fifteenth year as Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy’s first Executive Director. “My dad brought me up backpacking. My passion has always been the environment. You can’t do much better than protecting remarkable natural areas forever, so I couldn’t be happier than to have the privilege of helping where I grew up.” As a real estate attorney, John represented The Nature Conservancy in acquiring 14 open-space properties and the Trust for Public Land in acquiring three. John is a lifelong Pasadena resident.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Barbara grew up hiking and skiing in the local mountains and the Sierra Nevadas. An avid volunteer, Barbara joined forces with AFC when she discovered them acquiring the Rosemont Preserve, adjacent to her home. Barbara uses her background in journalism and law to promote awareness of the need to conserve urban natural open space. She launched AFC’s remote wildlife camera program and works tirelessly to ensure AFC is a leader in the conservation community at both the regional and state level.
Tim Martinez graduated from Cal State University, Northridge with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Urban Studies and Planning, with an emphasis on environmental planning and sustainability. He served on the Board of Directors of the Arroyo Seco Foundation, and is a founding member of Pasadena Eco Advocates. Tim works to help AFC more actively engage and connect its protected lands and conservation efforts with the communities we serve. A lifelong Pasadena resident, Tim is passionate about preserving native habitat and creating a world free of plastic pollution.
Kyle Cavazos graduated from The University of Texas at Austin, where he earned degrees in Journalism and Film. He first worked with AFC through his “Healing with Nature” sessions, where he led mindfulness practices at the Rosemont Preserve to deepen people’s connection with nature. As Program Director, Kyle is passionate about creating nurturing spaces and opportunities that empower individuals to discover their true paths. He is deeply committed to expanding his knowledge of ecology and exploring the best ways to care for the land.
Maya Wali Richardson
Communications & Development Coordinator
she/her
Maya graduated from NYU’s Gallatin School of Individual Study with a personalized major entitled “The Politics and Ethics of Documentary Photography.” She is of mixed Indian and white descent and grew up both in rural and urban environments with a deep love for animals. She joined AFC in 2023 after working as an art and freelance photographer. She brings that creativity to her Communications and Development work to educate the public about urban conservation and to encourage more holistic relationships between the humans and wildlife of urban areas.
Ruby graduated from Occidental College with a degree in Biology and a concentration in Environmental Science, where her research focused on tropical insects and their partnerships with microbes. She joined AFC in 2024 as the Urban Wildlife Team Leader. Growing up in Seattle, she spent time in both urban natural spaces and in Washington’s national parks, where she learned about the importance of protecting and respecting wildlife and nature. She is passionate about urban ecology, making biological knowledge accessible and exciting to others, and spending time outdoors with family and friends.
Natasha has four years of experience as a biologist specializing in habitat restoration, biological monitoring, and statistical and spatial analysis, plus five years in environmental policy advocacy and community engagement. A lifelong Angelino, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in Asian and Asian American Studies from Cal State LA, and a Master of Science in Environmental Science with an emphasis in Conservation Biology from the same institution. Her master’s thesis examined bird foraging behavior and the ecological significance of California walnut woodlands to avifauna in Southern California.
Anna is a native of Southern California and one of the original “valley girls” from Panorama City (San Fernando Valley). An avid hiker, Anna hiked the many trails of Griffith Park with the Sierra Club, spent a sleepless night freezing in a sleeping bag at the top of Mt. Baldy and, recently, conquered the Inca trail in Machu Picchu, Peru. Anna has over 20 years experience in executive and legal administration in the private and public sectors. She uses this experience to run an efficient organization.
AFC Board of Directors
Katie Poole, Board Chair
Katie Poole returned for a new term after her previous tenure as AFC board chair. Katie’s favorite aspect of working with AFC is encouraging donors and volunteers to learn about each AFC property. Katie is a devoted member of a hiking group, the “Coffee Hikers,” and wants to work to protect open space along the foothills of the Crescenta and San Gabriel Valleys. Katie joined the AFC Board and Descanso Gardens Guild Board after 15 years at Walt Disney Imagineering’s Research and Development, where she directed software prototyping teams, preceded by 10 years in technology companies. After years in planning and tech, Katie immersed herself into creating and applying Descanso’s long term plan over 9 years, and now contributes her professional planning background and UCLA MBA to the conservancy effort. When not hiking, Katie chairs the Board of the Pasadena Literary Alliance.
David Coher, Vice Board Chair
David has a passion for enjoying and appreciating our community’s natural environments. David shares his passion with young people in our community as the 19th Scoutmaster of Troop 5 of the Rose Bowl District of the Scouts of America. Professionally, he serves as a mediator and arbitrator with Coher ADR, the American Arbitration Association, and the U.S. District Court, Central District of California, and serves as a Judge pro tem for the Superior Courts of the Counties of Los Angeles and Orange. His prior volunteer service has included as Chair of a State Bar of California Committee on Insurance Programs, and in Pasadena as Chair of the Planning Commission, Chair of the Board of Zoning Appeals, and the Pasadena City Council’s Redistricting Task Force. He lives in Pasadena with his wife, two active teenage children, and two more active German Shepherds.
Cal Hollis, Board Treasurer
Cal’s impressive career includes Vice President and Los Angeles office Managing Principal of Keyser Marston Associates, Inc., a prominent real estate advisory firm, Chief Operating Officer of the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles and Manager Executive Officer of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority ( L.A. Metro).
Now Cal provides strategic real estate consulting to public and private clients. He is a member of Lambda Alpha, former member of The Urban Land Institute and Vice Chair of its Public/Private Development Council (Blue Flight), a former member of the Pasadena Educational Foundation, and prior chair and Board Member of Pasadena Heritage. He has been a frequent lecturer at USC and UCLA graduate programs in real estate, planning and public policy. His real estate expertise helps guide AFC in its strategic land acquisitions program.
Pam Privett, Board Secretary
Philip A. Swan has worked for 39 years in the investment management business and currently serves as Director of Business Development for Terra Alpha Investments. This global public equity manager believes investors can achieve long-term financial returns while helping build a sustainable future for all. The bulk of his career before joining Terra Alpha was spent in various sales, marketing, and client service positions at The Capital Group. He is the Board Chair of the Los Angeles Master Chorale, a board member of The Music Center and Music Center Foundation, a director of the National Audubon Society, and a director of the Della Martin Foundation, the Ann Peppers Foundation, and the Cygnet Foundation (the Swan family foundation, whose focus is on supporting conservation efforts in Southern California). Additionally, he serves on the Board of Governors of The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens. He formerly served as a trustee of Colorado College, where he received a B.A. cum laude in History. Phil is a lifelong South Pasadena, San Marino, and Pasadena resident. He and his wife, Kristan, share five children.
Marcella Ayala
Marcella brings two decades of experience in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction industry, having worked on financial analyses of redevelopment projects out of college, engaged in redevelopment negotiations while at the Los Angeles Mayor’s Office, and most recently involved in construction sales.
Marcella earned an MBA from Cornell University with a focus in Brand Management and graduated cum laude from San Diego State University with a BA in International Business. An avid outdoor adventurer, Marcella summited Mt. Kilimanjaro (19,430 feet) in 2015, trekked the Chilean Patagonia’s Torres del Paine O Circuit in 2016, and trekked the 112-mile alpine Tour du Mont Blanc loop in 2017.
Enchanted by the Andes Mountain range, Marcella has continued to explore the Patagonian region in recent years where she was further captivated by the conservation work and history of Doug Tompkins, founder of North Face, in Patagonia. Inspired by Doug and Kris Tompkins, Marcella joined the Board of Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy to support local conservation efforts in the Los Angeles metropolis.
Laurie Barlow
Ms. Barlow is an architect, planner, designer and information technology strategist. She likes to travel to interesting places, and advocate sustainable existence. She served as American Institute of Architects Pasadena & Foothill President and was on the Board of North East Trees. She led international efforts in architectural standards to be climate friendly ‘Regenerative Design’. She graduated from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with an MS in Arch., and was the first woman to graduate from the Masters program.
Laura Fleming
Laura Fleming works as the Environmental Sustainability Manager at Polytechnic School and is a member of the City of Pasadena’s Environmental Advisory Commission. Laura is an environmental activist, informing her community about climate and other environmental issues. Her work at Polytechnic School centers on climate action, helping to reduce the facilities’ carbon footprint and engaging students in that work so they can develop skills to lead change, from advocating for clean energy projects to rewilding campus spaces to provide habitat for local wildlife. Laura has helped bring a generation of Polytechnic students on AFC field trips to learn about AFC’s land stewardship and nature-based solutions for water conservation. Recently Laura toured AFC board members Ethan Lipsig and Cal Hollis through the Polytechnic campus to see the Hügelkultur project to retain water on campus.
James Johnson
James has been inspired and amazed by the beauty of Los Angeles since he was a little boy. He also was very curious about how political decisions get made that impact us all. In that quest, he’s participated for more than 40 years in the Civic life of Los Angeles. James has served as the Political Director of the California League of Conservation Voters, and Chief Political Coordinator of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 721, Los Angeles County’s Largest Union. He currently serves on the staff of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tony Thurmond. He resides at the top of Mt. Washington, where he walks with his dog, Buddy.
Auxenia Privett-Mendoza
Ms. Privett-Mendoza looks to contribute to conservation efforts that inform action, impact communities, and activate change. As a Smith College graduate passionate about the environment, ecology, and the performing arts, she completed a double major in biology and dance in her undergraduate studies. As Program Director with Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy, she supported urban conservation efforts in Los Angeles expanding the reach and influence of AFC. She is currently working as a research assistant. She began graduate school in fall 2024 to pursue a doctoral degree in ecology at UCLA.
Kim Shriner
A native of Pasadena, Dr. Shriner attended John Muir High School, Occidental College and Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. She is an infectious disease specialist at Huntington Hospital and is the Founder and Director of the Phil Simon Clinic Tanzania Project. She has received numerous humanitarian and medical awards.
Kim is an Advocate of One Health and the idea that the environment and animal health affects human health. She believes we are all interconnected and is a lover of all animals; she has 2 dogs and a myriad of cats! Kim is the Medical Director of Infectious Diseases and Prevention at Huntington Hospital and the Director of Huntington’s Long COVID Recovery Clinic.
Laura Solomon
Previous board AFC Board member, welcomed back for another term, Ms. Solomon served as the President of Pasadena Audubon, and has served multiple terms as a member of the City of Pasadena’s Environmental Advisory Commission. The founder of WordWise Consultancy, she taught rhetoric and composition at CSULA for more than two decades. Professional educator and freelance editor.
Nancy L.C. Steele
Ms. Steele is returning to the Board of AFC after a long hiatus. In 2000, she founded AFC with three other women and was AFC’s Board President and CEO through 2011. Her experience includes serving as the Executive Director of Friends of the Verde River, Council for Watershed Health, and Infrastructure Funding Alliance; as President of Northern Arizona Audubon Society (current) and Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church of Pasadena (past), and in leadership roles in various other nonprofits and government agencies. Ms. Steele and her husband Bruce have run a beekeeping business, Chaparral Mountain Honey Co., for over 40 years. She took her doctorate at UCLA in Environmental Science & Engineering and earned biology degrees from Arizona State University and Occidental College.
Rich Toyon
A 14th generation Native Californian and La Crescenta native, Rich Toyon is a cinematic production designer by profession, conservationist by heart. He is active in Boy Scouts, local politics, and in representing the Tongva Nation for various environmental and public issues. He serves on the board of directors for the Haramokngna American Indian Cultural Center. Rich has been the guiding hand for many boy scout eagle projects on AFC properties. He is the president of V.O.I.C.E., Volunteers Organized In Conserving the Environment, and current member of the Friends of the Rosemont Preserve.
Mitch Tsai
Mitch Tsai is an attorney specializing in public-interest environmental and land use litigation. He currently also serves as an elected member of the Central Committee for the Los Angeles County Democratic Party. Prior to practicing law, he worked as a policy advocate and researcher on international peacekeeping, environmental justice, pollution control, and climate change issues. In his free time, Mr. Tsai enjoys running, hiking, bicycling, and ice hockey.
Tim Wendler
Tim has a passion for creating and maintaining wildlife corridors to preserve a vibrant environment in which we live and breathe. He is the former chair of AFC and seeks to actively engage community members in our mission. He has served as Chair of the Pasadena Planning Commission, the Hahamongna Watershed Park Advisory Committee, and the Pasadena Recreation and Parks Commission. He is currently an Advisory Committee member for the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. Tim is a professional civil/environmental engineer, and has 30 years of experience cleaning contaminated properties. He lives in Pasadena with Joanne, his wife of 25 years.
Joel Wilson
Born and raised in Pasadena, Mr. Wilson’s first wilderness adventure, a rafting trip down the Colorado at age 9, kindled his lifelong love for nature. Backpacking trips in the High Sierra as a young man remain some of his favorite memories. After attending university in Illinois, he relocated to the Bay Area, where he earned a doctorate in American History. He pursued a career in criminal law in Los Angeles and became a Deputy District Attorney in 2008 and is currently assigned to the Public Integrity Division. Mr. Wilson and his wife, Elena, live in
Glendale with their three children.
AFC Advisors
Advisors offer their unique expertise in areas like biology, habitat restoration, map-making, communications, wildlife tracking, and engagement with scouts.
George Abdo, Fundraising
George retired in 2011 as Vice President for Advancement for the Huntington Library, Art Collections and Botanical Gardens, upon completion of a campaign that raised $244 million. In his 9 years the Advancement office raised over $500 million. He previously served 24 years in the senior administration at USC, focusing on fundraising. Earlier in his career he organized what is now known as the Southern California Grantmakers, and also worked on the staff of the Norton Simon Foundation.
Holding a Ph.D. in religion and social ethics, he is a scholar in the field of philanthropy, with particular expertise about the responsibilities of nonprofit trustees. He is also a Presbyterian minister. A 35-year resident of Pasadena, George grew up roaming the wilds of the Hollywood Hills, summering in the San Bernardino Mountains, and skiing and backpacking in the High Sierra. In retirement George enjoys advising nonprofits on organizational strategy, board development and fundraising.
Denis Callet, Wildlife Tracking & Photography
Denis Callet, wildlife tracker and photographer, has over 10 years of experience photographing images of animals in the wild. He utilizes custom made equipment to provide the lighting needed to capture detailed images. He helps AFC gather data and provides beautiful images of animals on AFC properties. Check out his photo gallery at: http://www.deniscallet.com/.
Katie Clark, Communications & Development
A successful former academic and Oxford-trained historian, Dr Clark left higher education in 2011 to become an entrepreneur. Her firm, The Applied Humanities, provides full-service creative marketing and strategic communications to nonprofits and mission-driven organizations. Her emphasis is on equity and sustainability has also led her to elected public office as a Trustee of the Altadena Library District in 2018, and she is also engaged in a number of public and civic service efforts both locally and internationally.
Mark Duttweiler, Mapping & GIS
Trained as a mechanical engineer (PhD, Caltech) Mark has developed an eclectic mix of skills in scientific research and analysis, machining and fabrication, information technologies, intellectual property management, business development, and graphic design. Mark advises AFC on the collection and structured storage of field data, performs spatial analyses of the data, and produces maps communicating study results and guiding land acquisition and field activities.
Thomas Juhasz, Endangered Species
Thomas is currently an aquatic veterinarian who previously worked as an endangered species biologist in the western US, the Pacific, and Caribbean. Now residing permanently in Europe, Thomas devotes his time to the development of sustainable, welfare-based aquaculture species such as sea cucumbers and wrasses as well as working on the preservation of endangered freshwater biodiversity in the Indian Ocean. Thomas strongly advocates for the preservation and promotion of pollinator corridors that would help preserve rapidly declining species such as the western monarch butterfly and the long-tongued bat. Furthermore, he promotes the preservation and reintroduction of the bigcone spruce to lower canyons in the region as well as finding locations for restoring self-sustaining populations of Nevin’s barberry and slender-horned spineflower. Another long term goal Thomas advocates for is the restoration of native fish and amphibians species such as the arroyo toad, arroyo chub, and unarmored threespine stickleback to the local waterways; this requires habitat and groundwater restoration as well as the elimination of invasive species.
Roger Klemm, Restoration
Roger Klemm is a software engineer at the Jet propulsion Laboratory, and has been involved with various community groups promoting conservation and environmentally sensible landscaping for over 20 years. He has renovated community and school gardens, planted trees in local parks, and is introducing native plants on the campus where he works (“guerrilla gardening”). He is involved with the eradication of invasive exotic plants in the Angeles National Forest and at the Rosemont Preserve, and is spearheading the renovation of a community entrance garden at Sunland Boulevard and the 210 freeway in Sunland. Roger has a wealth of real-life knowledge of native plants, both where and how they grow in the wild, and how they can grace our cultivated landscapes.
Mike Lawler, Local History
Mike Lawler is a life-long resident of the Crescenta Valley. Along with his wife Pam, he has been involved in the Historical Society of the Crescenta Valley for nearly 20 years, serving as founder, president and tour/program coordinator. He’s authored and co-authored 10 books on local history, and has written a weekly history column in the local paper for over a decade. Intimately knowledgeable about the San Gabriel and Verdugo Mountains and the valleys between, Mike is the go-to authority for human and natural history in those areas. Because he is so networked in the communities from Big Tujunga to the Arroyo Seco, if he can’t answer a question, he knows who to ask or where to find the answer. His particular fascination is with areas that have been shaped by the hand of man, and then reclaimed by nature.
Mickey Long, Field Biology
Mickey retired in 2011 from his position as natural areas administrator for the Los Angeles County Department of Parks and Recreation, having spent 39 years working in the county’s Natural Areas Division. As administrator, Mickey operated the Eaton Canyon Nature Center in Altadena, along with 18 other natural areas. He has taught college environmental biology and human ecology courses, and currently teaches bird identification, botany and ecology classes for the county’s nature centers. Mickey is currently on the Conservation & Rare Plant Committees for the San Gabriel Mountains Chapter of the California Native Plant Society, as well as a past president of the Pasadena Audubon Society. He advises AFC in habitat evaluation and restoration and assists with public education.
Barbara Nielsen, Girl Scouts
Barb grew up hiking in local woods and nature preserves near Chicago. She is a CPA, MBT with a boutique tax practice, she volunteers for Girl Scouts, and is a member of the Friends of Rosemont Preserve. After hearing about the fund raising needed to buy the Rosemont Preserve, she and her husband helped their daughter and her nature club friends raise money for AFC at their elementary school. Barb helped start the student education program at Rosemont and she enjoys teaching elementary school students about native plants, trees and more.t. Her Girl Scout Troop was the first to earn a GS award at Rosemont. The Troop’s Bronze project is a docent guide of native plants and trees with original photos and research including Latin and Tongva names with key assistance from Rich Toyon. She helps Girl Scout Gold and Silver candidates with projects for AFC.
Jim Osterling, Land Acquisition
Jim oversaw our financials as Treasurer and provided land acquisition advice based on his years of experience in real estate during his 6 year tenure on AFC’s Board of Directors. His guidance was critical to AFC’s success in defining the Hahamongna ~ Tujunga Wildlife Corridor and the purchase of our first 2 parcels in Cottonwood Canyon. Jim recently termed out, graciously offering to continue advising our land acquisition program and we happily accepted!
E.J. Remson, Land Acquisition
E. J. Remson, Senior Program Manager for The Nature Conservancy in California, supervises both the Santa Clara River Project and has worked on other projects in Southern California. He joined The Nature Conservancy in 2000 as director of the Santa Clara River & Coast Project after working in the fields of urban planning and commercial real estate development for 24 years. Mr. Remson’s planning career spanned 12 years, much of it as planning administrator for the City of Pasadena. He began his career in commercial real estate development, working on retail, industrial, office, and hotel projects throughout southern California. His interest in the preservation of natural lands led him to specialize in planning for growing communities without contributing to urban sprawl. With The Nature Conservancy he has acquired nearly 50,000 acres valued at over $100M and works with local government agencies to protect wildlife linkages, promote green infrastructure and implementation of the California Groundwater Sustainability Act. He has a bachelor’s degree in urban planning from California State Polytechnic University, and a master’s degree in real estate development from the University of Southern California. He holds a California Broker’s License and has served on the boards of nonprofit organizations.
Laura Stotler, Urban Planning
Laura Stotler, AICP actively served the community as a professional urban planner for over 30 years until her retirement as Principal Planner for the City of Glendale in 2019. Laura’s planning career included working with the City of Santa Clarita in environmental planning, General Plan and Specific Plan policy development, annexations, subdivisions, transit and grant-writing. With the City of Glendale Laura was primary staff to the Glendale Planning Commission and supervised subdivisions and advance planning, including General Plan policy implementation and drafting of subdivision and zoning ordinances to implement state planning and housing laws.
Through her career as a planner, Laura developed a deep interest in balancing protection of environmental resources with reasonable land use to create a sustainable future for our children. Laura was responsible for identifying tax-defaulted properties for open space protection, writing the 75-page denial for the 500-unit Oakmont V project and review of ridgeline and blueline stream permits in Glendale. In Santa Clarita she worked with developer Newhall Land, biologists and the Army Corps to permit the use of soil cement with native plantings, rather than concrete channeling, for bank protection on Santa Clara River and San Francisquito Creek.
Laura is a member of the Association of Certified Planners, California Planning Association and American Planning Association. She has a B.A. in Political Science and Master of Public Administration from Cal State University, Northridge.
Amanda Zellmer, Biology-Modeling
Amanda Zellmer is an Assistant Professor at Occidental College studying spatial computation ecology with an emphasis on applications for conservation biology. Her research utilizes species distribution modeling and landscape analyses to investigate how species populations shift in response to environmental change, including global climate change and habitat fragmentation. She is especially interested in how organisms utilize and move through urban environments and is particularly fond of amphibians, such as the slender salamanders of California.