AFC Board of Directors
Learn about AFC’s small but mighty staff and its incredible team of board members and advisors who help the mission of preserving land in Los Angeles.
Janice DaVolio's Bio
After attending medical college in Wisconsin, Janice became a dermatology resident at the University of Southern California. Janice established her private practice in Pasadena in 1991 and continues there today. As a member of the Phil Simon Clinic Tanzania Project, Janice raised funds to set up clinics and provide dermatologic care in Massai villages in Tanzania. An avid hiker, Janice is a volunteer with the Glendale Trail Safety Patrol to help maintain the safety of visitors, plants, animals and archeological resources of Glendale’s parks and open spaces. Janice loves the outdoors and believes access to open space is vital to our health and well being.
Cal Hollis's Bio
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.
Katie Poole's bio
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, pre-ceded 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.
Phil Swan's Bio
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's Bio
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 the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy to support local conversation efforts in the Los Angeles metropolis.
David Coher's Bio
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.
Matthew DeVoll's Bio
Matt returns to our board after taking an obligatory year off. He served as Board Chair for 3 of his 6 previous years with us. He is head of the Global Business Partner program for Intapp, a cloud solutions company serving the legal, accounting, consulting, and financial services markets. He is an advisory board member of Arlington Garden and former board member of Pasadena YMCA. He is a UC Santa Barbara and Harvard Business School alum.
James Johnson's Bio
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.
Ethan Lipsig's Bio
Ethan attended Pomona College, Oxford University, and UCLA Law School. A partner for more than 30 years in the Los Angeles office of the international law firm, Paul Hastings LLP, he specialized in compensation and employment matters, representing many of the most prominent companies in the world. He invented or pioneered numerous new concepts, such as the 401(k) plan, nonqualified savings plans for partnerships, and using convertible debentures for equity grants. He also wrote a number of legal treatises, such as the leading treatise on workforce restructuring. Ethan serves or has served on the boards of four other non-profits, most notably, The Huntington Library (where he chaired its Botanical Gardens Committee for six years) and Pasadena Heritage. Ethan and his wife, Joanne, own an off-the-grid cabin near Kearsarge Pass in the Sierras. They are frequent hikers there, in the Alps, and the Canadian Rockies. They live in Pasadena’s lower Arroyo Seco at a house frequented by bobcats.
Dianne Philibosian's Bio
Dr. Dianne Philibosian has been actively involved in community non-profit organizations and governance of public agencies for over 40 years. Professionally, Dr. Philibosian is the former director of the Institute for Community Health and Wellbeing at California State University, Northridge where she was an administrator and faculty member from 1973-2015. In her work both professionally and in the community, she brings an interdisciplinary focus to promoting collaborations among organizations to strengthen individuals and communities through creative partnerships and education in response to regional needs.
“I have been involved in wildlife advocacy and nature preservation through a variety of organizations since my college years, and with the Arroyos & Foothills Conservancy for the past 10 years as a participant in community educational programs and ultimately as a donor and advisor. Conservancy land acquisition has never been more critical. Our sensitive areas are under attack from the federal government, and we need to proceed with all haste to protect critical environments. As a board member, I am honored to promote the AFC’s mission to secure, protect and steward our precious open spaces and nurture the next generation of land stewards.”
Pam Privett's Bio
For nearly 40 years, Pam was a real estate lawyer in private practice, specializing in real commercial property transactions. She spent the last 14 years of her career as a partner at Alston & Bird LLP, an AMLAW 50 international law firm, where she continues to serve as Senior Counsel, Retired. She has represented and/or advised many for-profit boards of directors and served a term on the board of the non-profit Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center. In the course of her career, Pam has handled numerous “brownfield” transactions, conservation easements, and donations of real property to a land conservancy for dedicated open space. Prior to joining the board she spent time volunteering for AFC, and is appreciative of the opportunity to contribute to its growth and success.
Kim Shriner's Bio
Rich Toyon's Bio
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's Bio
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's bio
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.
AFC Advisors
Advisors offer their unique expertise in areas like biology, habitat restoration, map-making, communications, wildlife tracking, and engagement with scouts.
George Abdo's Bio
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's Bio
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/.
Dr. Katie Clark's Bio
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's Bio
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 produce maps communicating study results and guiding land acquisition and field activities.
Thomas Juhasz's Bio
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's Bio
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's Bio
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 coauthored 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's Bio
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's Bio
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 at Rosemont. 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's Bio
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's Bio
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.
Sharon Scull's Bio
Sharon Scull lives near Cottonwood Canyon and offered to help save the canyon starting in 2015. She became a founding member of the Friends of Cottonwood Canyon. As the contact person for Putney Area Neighbors, she kept the neighborhood advised of Cottonwood’s preservation status. In addition, Sharon helps AFC with grant writing.
Sharon has an M.A. in comparative literature and was a professor of English at Glendale Community College. She is a published author. Sharon created and coordinated two innovative model programs for GCC: Interdisciplinary Humanities featured interactive team teaching of critical thinking and writing that stimulated student analysis of connections among often disparate disciplines. The multi-faceted Staff Development program included specialized activities for administrators, faculty, and staff. Sharon wrote several grants to fund these programs.
Nancy Steele's Bio
Nancy L.C. Steele is the Executive Director of Friends of the Verde River, a river conservation organization in Arizona. Nancy founded AFC in 2000 with three other women – Astrid Ellersieck, Dianne Walters, and Lori Paul – and was AFC’s Board President and CEO through 2011. Nancy’s experience includes serving as the Executive Director of the Council for Watershed Health, Executive Director of Infrastructure Funding Alliance, President of Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church of Pasadena, and leadership roles in various other nonprofits and government agencies. Nancy and her husband Bruce have run a beekeeping business, Chaparral Mountain Honey Co., for over 30 years. Nancy took her doctorate at UCLA in Environmental Science & Engineering and earned biology degrees from Arizona State University and Occidental College. She currently lives in Cottonwood, Arizona, but continues to maintain her home in Altadena, CA.
Laura Stotler's Bio
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.
Johanna Turner's Bio
Johanna, wildlife photographer and tracker, has over 10 years of experience tracking and capturing images of wildlife. She studied through the UC Davis Mountain lion study in Anza Borrego State Park and completed several tracking classes. She gives public presentations about mountain lion behavior and coexisting with wild predators. She works closely with the National Parks Service to document mountain lion movement patterns and health in advance of their plans to collar the cats. Johanna shares the trail camera’s view of animals on her Facebook page and Cougarmagic.com and also helps document wildlife on AFC’s website.
Amanda Zellmer's Bio
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.
AFC Staff
John Howell's Bio
In 2020, John celebrated his tenth year as the 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.
Barbara Goto's Bio
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's Bio
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.
Maya Wali Richardson's Bio
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. She joined AFC in 2023 after having worked as an art and freelance photographer. She brings that creativity to her Communications and Development work with AFC to encourage more holistic relationships between the humans and wildlife of urban areas.
Ruby Siehl's Bio
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.
Anna Hernandez-Torres' Bio
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 plans to use this experience to run an efficient organization.