Women Led core Team

Marissa LAmAGNA

Marissa has been an environmental activist, community organizer and most importantly a teacher most of her life. Her passion is to educate and connect people through innovative field trips and virtual experiences to “solutionaries' as a pathway to  empowering them to take action in helping remediate our climate crisis. She has been concerned about food access, waste and justice since living on an organic farm as a young woman and teaching vegetarian cooking as a solution to climate change. She is happiest when dancing, cooking and sitting quietly in nature and is guided by Ahimsa, the yogic principle of not causing harm to other living things. She has completed the StopWaste Environmental Educator Training (SWEET) and Vital Cycles Permaculture certificate and has completed the Kiss The Ground Soil advocacy training. She has served on the board of the Sustainable Business Alliance and currently serves on the board of Slow Money Northern CA.

Svetlana Torgashova

I first joined Bay Area Green Tours in 2010 as an intern for a short-term project.  Then in 2015 I jumped on an opportunity to help out with onboarding international interns at BAGT. In 2017 I transitioned to bookkeeping and helping with pricing the tours as well as providing support with the research. In 2021 I volunteered onboarding interns and volunteers and other HR tasks. I am honored to be a part of this change making organization.  My hope is that we can reach a wider audience and provide more of our educational, mind-shifting, eye opening, and FUN tours online or in-person!

Rachel Fessenden

Rachel Fessenden is a lifelong environmentalist and animal lover. She has been vegan since the age of 18, and enjoys nature walks, cooking, gardening, singing, and digging into life’s exquisite details. She started as a volunteer with BAGT in 2011, and the following year she joined the staff, managing tours. In 2013 she learned on the job to do BAGT’s bookkeeping, and in the ensuing years developed a reputation both as BAGT’s institutional memory and as old “Eagle Eye” - for her editing prowess. She then grew into her current lead role as Operations and Finance guru, but continues to wear many hats, as befits a worker at a small non-profit. She’s currently living it up on the Monterey Peninsula, and loving the challenge of helping BAGT adapt and thrive as well.

Monette ​Zorich

Monette is a dynamic professional dedicated to sustainable solutions and positive change. Whether crafting innovative marketing strategies, managing complex projects, or helping to orchestrate food and farming events, Monette is committed to fostering sustainable regenerative agriculture at every opportunity. She earned her Permaculture Design Certificate at the Regenerative Design Institute, solidifying her commitment to sustainable practices. Passionate about local clean and healthy food access, she frequents organic farms and ranches, embodying her dedication to supporting regenerative agriculture. Monette finds joy in dancing, singing, exploring the natural world, and sharing meals with friends.

Cayce Badiola

My name is Caycelyn Badiola and am a Program Manager at BAGT. I am currently pursuing my M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy with a GIS certificate at Johns Hopkins University and received my B.S. in Environmental Toxicology at the University of California, Davis. I began my journey at BAGT as an intern and have since taken on the role of program manager. My time with BAGT has been fulfilling and am passionate about working with others to create an inclusive and regenerative future. Beyond BAGT, I am a music enthusiast who enjoys traveling, hanging out my cat, and being a home barista!

Via de Jesus

Via is an Administrative Intern and Program Manager at BAGT. They grew up in Quezon City, Philippines and made San José their home in 2023 after completing their M.S. in Environmental Conservation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Their passion lies in environmental education and helping others reconnect to nature and one another. Since Via is a newcomer to the region, every day at work is a chance to explore the rich culture and history of the Bay Area.

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Bagt Lens Video Team

    Maya Curry

I’m an East Bay-based independent film producer and videographer, with a background in journalism, communications, and documentary storytelling. My video work is centered around social and environmental impact and advocacy, documenting and promoting the work of nonprofits, small businesses, and community groups. I care deeply about thriving food systems — from soil and seed, to labor, land relations, communities, and access. I grew up in the SF Bay Area, lived 9 years in the Netherlands and London, and began working with Bay Area Green Tours soon after returning home, helping to establish BAGT Lens half a year into pandemic, reimagining tours through digital visuals. I’m grateful for the beautiful relationships that have blossomed through this work.

Elisabeth Gallego

Hi! I am Eli, I moved from Spain to California 6 years ago. At an early age, I became fascinated by music videos, documentaries, and films. That passion led me to major in Humanities and Filming in Barcelona and I have been working for different organizations and small businesses, filming and editing all sorts of videos always trying new styles and techniques aiming to create transcending projects.

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Advisors

NORi yatsunami Tong

Nori is a business management consultant with a focus on sustainability. Her clients include a range from biotech and fintech startups, to SF Environment and SFUSD. She graduated from Presidio Graduate School's MBA program, where she explored biofuels, economics of organic farming, and local food systems, including projects with Joint BioEnergy Institute, People's Grocery, Organic Vintners and The Food Commons. Prior to falling in love with and moving to the Bay Area, she worked in sales and business development at a fortune 100 tech company in Tokyo. Her passion hasn't changed since she started a Gardening Club while in grade school in the UK, and is working towards being a full-time farmer one day. In her spare time, if she is not in the garden, she can be found seaweed foraging on the Sonoma Coast and Half Moon Bay. Nori can be reached at [email protected]. 

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.

    Susan Silber

Susan has worked as both a community organizer and environmental educator for the past 30 years. She grew up in the suburbs of Los Angeles and Orange County where she had healthy doses of nature through frequent trips all over the United States Susan is proud to have introduced thousands of youth to the joys of nature and coordinating environmental education programs, from serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica to working as a naturalist with various Bay Area outdoor science programs and writing the Berkeley Unified School District’s Sustainability Plan. She was introduced to community resilience after learning about the Transition Movement several years ago. Susan went on to help organize Transition Berkeley, co-produce several Permaculture Convergences and then founded the NorCal Resilience Network in 2015, where she served as director until 2021. She is now a  strategic planning and fundraising consultant with the Planting Seeds Consulting, including supporting fundraising with Bay Area Green Tours and helping to develop the Resilience Hubs Initiative with the City of San Leandro.  She lives in a tight-knit neighborhood in Berkeley with her daughter and husband, and loves to hike with her dog & friends in her spare time.

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Interns

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Participants come away with a new mindset. It’s about changing consciousness, changing society, and building a new network.

Kevin Danaher - Co-Founder of Global Exchange & The Green Festival