Meet Our Team
Board of Directors
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Marissa LaMagna, Founder & Board Presidenthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/marissalamagna/
Known by some as the “Queen of Green,'' Marissa is an environmental activist and a passionate educator. Because of her love for the environment, Marissa started Bay Area Green Tours in 2008 to showcase local green changemakers in green businesses and initiatives including agriculture, food, water, green building, alternative transportation, renewable energy, and zero waste. She has led participants on experiential tours and events focused on sustainability, and environmental justice and responsibility ever since. She has served on the Sustainable Business Alliance board and The Berkeley Food Policy Council. She helped launch The Berkeley Climate Action Coalition, The California Food Policy Council, and Slow Money Northern California where she now serves on the Board of Directors. She has also worked as an auditor for the Alameda Green Business Program. She has spoken at UC Davis’ agritourism conferences, The Heirloom Festival, The Sustainable Enterprise Conference, and the Green Festival. She is also a Sonoma County Tourism Ambassador. |
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Robert Girling, Interim Board Treasurerhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-girling-4292a0/
Robert Girling is Professor Emeritus in the School of Business and Economics at Sonoma State University. Dr. Girling received his Ph. D. from Stanford University and has taught and consulted in 20 countries. His previous professional experience includes Director of Regional Development for the Government of Jamaica and teaching at the Federal University of Bahia, Brazil, the University of the West Indies, and American University in Washington D.C. Dr. Girling has consulted with the World Bank, the United Nations, the Pan American Health Organization, and the International Center for Research on Women. He serves on the boards of several non-profits including Youth Impact Hub and Bay Area Green Tours. A Fulbright Senior Scholar (2016-2021), he is the author of The Good Company (2012) as well as many articles and monographs. His most recent book The Good Company: Sustainability in Tourism, Wine and Hospitality was published by the Business Expert Press in 2016. |
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Lindsey Frischer, Board Secretaryhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/lindseyfrischer/
Lindsey (she/her) has built a career as an advocate and development strategist. She was an attorney in New York before moving to Oakland, where she supported early stage development of social enterprise and community organizations focused on sustainability, access to justice, and diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace. She is currently practicing as a personal development coach, offering her clients guidance through life transitions on their journeys of self-discovery. She enjoys staying active with yoga, soccer, and running, as well as adventuring into nature as often as possible. |
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Claudia Brenner, Board MemberFounder – Atomic Strategic Design
Claudia Brenner's work experience combines life sciences, business, technology, and design. She has an MBA in Marketing and International Business, as well as an undergraduate degree in Life Sciences and International Studies. Claudia enjoys creating or improving businesses by leveraging technology, providing easy to use information systems (software, portals, applications and websites), and the necessary infrastructure to successfully run and scale a business. She has worked with start-up, medium-sized, and Fortune 500 businesses, including IBM, Oracle, and Kaiser Permanente. She is currently working on a Global Land Regeneration project with a focus on designing and visualizing [eco]systems to help solve complex global challenges. Claudia started and maintains the Food Adventurers Meet-Up, with a growing membership of over 3,200 folks. You can often spot her at local farmers markets, including CUESA's (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) market at San Francisco’s Ferry Building, where she has been a customer for over 15 years. Claudia is also a gourmet cook and healthy food advocate. |
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Shima Motoyama, Board Memberhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/shimamotoyama/
Shima discovered Bay Area Green Tours (BAGT) in 2018 while re-evaluating her career. She fell in love with BAGT’s mission and Marissa’s passion for the causes and joined the team. Since then, Shima has worn many hats: volunteer management, partnership development, tour planning, marketing, Salesforce training, and recently became an Advisory Board Member. Shima has a Masters’ degree in Computer Information Systems from Eastern Michigan University. She has helped mission-driven, Bay Area organizations achieve their goals with technologies for over a decade. Shima also has an Interior Architecture certification from UC Berkeley Extension with an emphasis on sustainable design. She has helped design beautiful and sustainable hotels and restaurants in the United States and Japan. Shima currently works at Kaiser Permanente as a Sr. Consultant, helping the organization make the right decisions with big data. She also participates in Kaiser-sponsored community support programs including the fight against childhood hunger and raising awareness about how mental health will affect you. On a nice day, you will find Shima running around Lake Merritt, cross-country skiing in Tahoe with her husband and dog, Bella, or bartending at one of the BAGT fundraising events. |
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Tamara L. Diamond, LEED GA, Board Memberhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/tamara-diamond-leed-green-associate-bab485/
Tamara’s passion for environmental sustainability and wellness compelled her to study Environmental Design (BS at SDSU), Environmental Health, Recycling and Waste Management (Certification from UCLA program), well ahead of the current wave. Her work has included Acterra’s (PCCF) Business Environmental Awards Program, Regional Director for San Francisco Green Festival, and Associate Producer for San Francisco Sustainable Fashion Week International. She has also assisted with Bay Area Green Tours strategy. She is a strategic thinker, connector and bridge-builder, who enjoys meeting people across multiple industries, while growing the green (and socially responsible) economy by educating people about how their purchasing decisions can affect one’s personal health, the planet, and all of its inhabitants. She is currently based in Greater Palm Springs in Southern California as Principal of Green Diamond Consulting, though stays connected with her Bay Area network. |
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Sari Hale-Alper, Board Memberhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/sarihalealper/
Sari hails from South Jersey (the beautiful part of the Garden State) but loves living in her adopted home of California. In her former life, she was an anthropology professor in Arizona, teaching at community colleges and Arizona State University. She was previously the Program Manager at Bay Area Green Tours. She’s also worked in external affairs at several nonprofits, including a conservancy group (South Yuba River Citizens League) and an edtech organization, DonorsChoose. An alumna of Wellesley College, she has also studied at the Jewish Theological Seminary in NY, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Arizona State University, and the Universidad de Cordoba in Spain. Her sustainability passion is permaculture, and her long term plan is to move to the Sierra Nevada foothills and live in an intentional farming community. Her hobbies are learning languages (Spanish, French, Hebrew), writing fiction, and exploring the outdoors. |
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Jane Felice, Director Of Program Development & Marketinghttps://www.linkedin.com/in/janefelice/
Jane has been managing Bay Area Green Tours’ programs and communications since 2019. With a background in marketing and business development for food and agriculture startups like Ugly Juice and Granular, and for enterprises like Microsoft and Reuters, Jane has combined her experience and knowledge in farming, food, media, and software to empower organizations to differentiate themselves, drive efficiencies, and make an impact. She freelances with Bombilla, a social impact agency, and has volunteered with nonprofits such as CUESA, Start Small Think Big, and the Oakland Food Policy on event management, business strategy, and urban farm mapping in Oakland. Jane is passionate about helping organizations and businesses succeed by connecting them to donors, customers, and partners, inspiring them to act and advocate. She loves long hikes and little dogs and enjoys yoga, cooking, and gardening. |
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Kath Delaney, Board Memberhttp://www.maderagroup.net/team
Kath Delaney founded Madera Group, a San Francisco Bay Area social impact consulting agency in 2004, to advance the causes she feels are critical to social and political change. In her career, she has managed nonprofit organizations, designed and executed mass scale social impact campaigns, raised millions of dollars for progressive organizations and political candidates and has promoted thought leaders and policy initiatives to global audiences. Ms. Delaney has a national reputation as an organizer and leader in progressive social movements and political campaigns. Prior to launching Madera Group, Kath was the Managing Director of the Global Security Institute where the mission was to promote security through the elimination of nuclear weapons. Kath brings to Madera Group an extensive network of mission-minded professional consultants, philanthropists, and a wide range of media relationships. In forming Madera Group, she enlisted best-in-class professionals in organizational development, fundraising, Internet strategy, public relations, social media, web-based programming, video production, and related fields to form the agency’s client service teams. |
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Anne Freiwald, Board MemberFounder - https://www.rehydratetheearth.com/vital-cycles
Anne has a passion for work that brings individuals and communities together to creatively address issues of social justice, personal and community health, and regenerative life practices. She has 30 years combined experience in the non-profit realm working as a program manager, researcher, and educator creating experiential learning opportunities and programs for youth and adults across disciplines from all aspects of personal health, to permaculture and food justice. She is the co-founder and facilitator for Vital Cycles: Creating Personal and Planetary Resilience, which offers a year-long dual certificate in Permaculture Design and Personal Ecology and permaculture design consulting. She holds a Master of Public Health as well as certifications in Permaculture Design, Mental Health First Aid, Diversity and Inclusivity, and Digital Education. These days she is most likely spotted in her garden where she grows an abundance of fruits, vegetables, herbs, and flowers. She is thrilled to be part of the Bay Area Green Tours team! |
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Patricia Hunting, Project Manager, Virtual Tour and Solutionaires Speakhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/patricia-hunting/
A Bay Area resident for 25 years, the “green current” swept Patricia in. Working as a local guide in San Francisco and as an international tour director for Tauck World Discovery since 1997, she was fortunate to hear Marissa La Magna speak at an event. Since that day in 2015, Patricia started assisting BAGT with tours for high school students and special events. After a move to Madrid, Spain in 2018 and then COVID forced her to pause, Patricia has been able to reconnect, virtually, with BAGT. She is a Project Manager for Virtual Tour Development, Solutionaries Speak, as well as a writer and editor. Additionally she is part of the core management team. |
Volunteers & Interns
Leadership Team
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Julie Gengo
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Fundraising Team
SHIVANNI MAHARAJROLE: FUNDRAISING & DEVELOPMENT VOLUNTEER
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MITCHELL ZIMMERMANROLE: FUNDRAISING & DEVELOPMENT INTERN
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Marketing Team
SARAH ELLWOODROLE: ANALYTICS & STRATEGY
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JANE FELICE ROLE: DIRECTOR OF PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT & MARKETING
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LAUREN HENDERSON ROLE: BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & TEAM BUILDING INTERN
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MIKE CAINROLE: STRATEGY & ANALYSIS
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ASHITA BHATTROLE: SEM MANAGER
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NATALIA GUEVARAROLE: DIGITAL MARKETING & EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT
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NICKY KIRKROLE: SOCIAL MEDIA
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Virtual Tours Video Team
ANJILI MAHARAJROLE: VIDEO PRODUCER & TOUR ASSISTANT
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MAYA CURRYROLE: VIDEOGRAPHER & VIDEO PRODUCTION LEAD
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SAM BENNETTROLE: VIDEOGRAPHER
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ELISABETH GALLEGOROLE: VIDEO PRODUCER & EDITOR
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DENNIS CHANGROLE: VIDEO EDITOR
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VOLUNTEER OR INTERN WITH US!
Be a part of our amazing team! Apply here!
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"The tours are lively, upbeat, spirited, information-rich, and inspiring. In a relatively brief period, you get to visit some of the cutting edge sustainability enterprises in the country, and meet and talk with their operators."
- Mark McLeod
Executive Director, Sustainable Business Alliance |