Doug Parker, President & CEO

Doug Parker, President & CEO

B.S., Economics, University of Colorado; M.S., Public and Private Management, Yale School of Management

Doug has worked in land conservation for over 30 years, serving as CEO of two different statewide conservation organizations. He was Executive Director of Audubon Vermont, as well as Vice President of the National Audubon Society. Prior to that, Parker served as Director of External Affairs for the Colorado Conservation Trust and was State Director for The Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island. He was also Director of Marketing with TechnoServe.

 

Theresa Andrews, Administrative Director

Theresa Andrews, Administrative Director

A.S., Management and Marketing, Napa Valley College

Theresa has over 30 years combined experience in both private and non-profit small businesses management.  Her specialties include project management, human resources, and program development as well as process improvement. Theresa is a true Napa native, born and raised in Napa.  She holds an Associate of Science degree from the Napa Valley College, with a concentration in business management and marketing.

 

Joseph ‘JoeJoe’ Clark, Field Technician

Joseph ‘JoeJoe’ Clark, Field Technician

B.A., French Language and Literature with a minor in Biology, Sonoma State University

Joseph ‘JoeJoe’ Clark was born and raised in Vallejo, California and has lived in Calistoga for the last six-plus years. Growing up near the base of the Sulphur Spring Mountains, he found a passion for outdoors as he spent his free time catching crayfish along the Blue Rock Springs Creek and hiking the rugged trails nearby. Now, he leads a life dedicated to the love and protection of native plants and natural landscapes. Prior to joining the Land Trust, JoeJoe worked as a restoration technician for Sonoma Ecology Center and is still involved as a naturalist for Napa County Regional Parks and Open Space District over the last six years. JoeJoe earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Sonoma State University for French Language and Literature with a minor in Biology. He currently spends his free time knitting lace, gardening with native plants and hugging Oak trees.

 

Jennifer Colin, Stewardship Program Assistant

Jennifer Colin, Stewardship Program Assistant

B.A., Geography/Environmental Studies, University of California, Los Angeles

Jennifer grew up in the San Fernando Valley and has always had an interest in and appreciation for the outdoors. She studied geography/environmental studies and conservation biology at UCLA. Before joining the Land Trust, she was a senior crew leader for the California Conservation Corps located in Ukiah, where her project work included fuels reduction projects and salmon habitat restoration within and surrounding the Mendocino area.

 

Tosha Comendant, Senior Stewardship Program Manager

Tosha Comendant, Senior Stewardship Program Manager

PhD, UC Santa Cruz (Ecology and Evolutionary Biology) BA, UC Berkeley (Integrative Biology

Tosha Comendant is a conservation scientist and practitioner with 20 years of experience developing projects, programs, and tools to protect biodiversity and inform land stewardship. Tosha manages stewardship activities associated with preserve planning, restoration, assessments and monitoring, conservation science research, and partnerships. Prior to joining The Land Trust, she worked at The Nature Conservancy, Conservation Biology Institute, and Pepperwood Foundation. Tosha grew up exploring the creeks and woods of St. Helena and Angwin. She serves on the board of the Napa County Watershed Information and Conservation Council.

 

Leah Heil, Land Protection & GIS Associate

Leah Heil, Land Protection & GIS Associate

B.S., Geography, United States Military Academy; M.S., Geography, University of Georgia

Leah assists with many aspects of our Land Programs and manages LTNC’s geospatial information. She has over 15 years of experience in mapping, geospatial analysis, and project management in both the government and private sector. Growing up exploring the woods and lakes of Minnesota, she greatly appreciates the natural beauty of Napa Valley. Leah lives in St. Helena with her husband and two daughters and enjoys swimming, running, and hiking.

 

Kimberly Howard, Development Manager

Kimberly Howard, Development Manager

B.S., Nutritional Science, Georgia State University

Kimberly is a development professional and entrepreneurial leader with over 20 years of experience in fundraising, management, sales and marketing, corporate partnerships, strategic planning and event production. Kimberly is responsible for the oversight, strategic planning and management of the Development team and programs. Prior to joining the Land Trust, she was co-founder and VP Marketing of an environmental consulting business based in CA.

 

Megan Lilla, Stewardship Project Manager

Megan Lilla, Stewardship Project Manager

B.A., Politics, University of California, Santa Cruz

Megan has been leading diverse groups of students and volunteers in community-based ecological restoration projects since 2004, working with non-profit organizations in the SF Bay Area, Southern California, and the Pacific Northwest. She was an Americorps member with EarthCorps in Seattle in 2004, and has since worked with local bay area organizations such as Save the Bay and Merritt College’s Environmental Management and Technology Program.  Prior to joining the Land Trust, she served four years as the Restoration and Nursery Manager for the Friends of Sausal Creek in Oakland.

 

Mike Palladini, Stewardship Director

Mike Palladini, Stewardship Director

B.A., Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara; M.S., Wildlife Biology, Cal Poly Humboldt

Mike oversees LTNC’s preserve stewardship program, including habitat and watershed restoration, biological resources assessment and monitoring, conservation science research, wildfire and climate change resilience, and public access. LTNC’s preserve system spans 23 protected natural areas totaling over 18,000 acres. Mike has extensive experience in both land stewardship and field biology. He spent eight years working on avian research and conservation projects for a number of organizations including the U.C. Santa Barbara Marine Science Institute, Point Blue Conservation Science, U.S. Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station and University of Montana Avian Science Center. Prior to joining the Land Trust, Mike served as Land Steward for a watershed conservation group in northwest Montana’s Swan River Valley where he assisted private landowners with development of conservation plans and implementation of restoration and management projects.

Lena Pollastro, Conservation Director

Lena Pollastro, Conservation Director

B.S., Environmental Sciences, Washington State University; M.S., Natural Resource Sciences, Washington State University

Lena has over 20 years of experience in community-based land conservation, volunteer program management and environmental education through both domestic and abroad programs. She supervises all components of LTNC’s monitoring and enforcement program on easement and preserve properties, while working on new conservation acquisitions. Lena is also the Western representative of Stewardship Directors for the Land Trust Alliance. Previously, she served as the inaugural Stewardship Coordinator at the Inland Northwest Land Trust (WA). She holds an MS in Natural Resource Sciences and a BS in Environmental Sciences from Washington State University.

 

Clarisa Rosas, Monitoring Assistant

Clarisa Rosas, Monitoring Assistant

B.S., Environmental Science Technology and Policy, California State University, Monterey Bay

Clarisa was born and raised in Napa which cultivated her love for the outdoors. She decided to make her passion a career by studying Environmental Science Technology and Policy at California State University Monterey Bay. While in school, Clarisa worked with the Bureau of Land Management at Ford Ord, organizing remote sensing of annual and perennial grasses. Clarisa also worked with a community based organization, Return of the Natives, to help bring people closer to nature through hands-on activities. After finishing her degree, she is pleased to serve the community she was raised in as the monitoring assistant for the Land Trust. When she’s not working she enjoys hiking, camping, painting, and biking.

 

Bruce Ruddick, Finance Manager

Bruce Ruddick, Finance Manager

BBA Accounting, La Trobe University, Mildura, CPA

Bruce grew up on the land in the country town of Robinvale (Victoria) located on the Murray River in Australia. Working in the wine industry as a supply finance accountant brought him to the majestic Napa Valley. He married a local Napkin and is proud to call Napa home. In his spare time, he loves spending time with family, exploring, exercising and playing golf.

 

Randy Skidmore, Conservation Project Manager/Staff Attorney

Randy Skidmore, Conservation Project Manager/Staff Attorney

B.A., English, University of California, Berkeley; J.D., California Western School of Law, San Diego

Randy retired from Coombs and Dunlap, LLP as a partner where he practiced business, real estate and land use law for almost 30 years. He is looking forward to using that background to do something new and different with the Land Trust by helping it procure protected lands. Randy’s relationship with the Land Trust spans decades, starting with his work as an out-of-house attorney for the Land Trust from 1988-1994 and later as a volunteer committee chairperson and member of the Board of Trustees from 2008-2010. Randy’s concern for the environment can be traced back to law school, where he wrote the article Nitrate Pollution and the California Environmental Quality Act: The Appropriate Solution to a Neglected Problem. In his spare time, Randy likes to play tennis, go fly fishing and enjoys creative writing.

 

Jena Thibodaux, Database & Membership Coordinator

Jena Thibodaux, Database & Membership Coordinator

A.S.-T, Communication Studies, Napa Valley College

Jena grew up in Napa and has always been inspired by the natural beauty of our Valley. Her professional background began in the medical and dental industry and after obtaining her degree in Communications, Jena followed her passion for environmental and wildlife preservation, ultimately finding her way to the Land Trust team where she works with the Database and Membership Programs. In her spare time she loves being with family, traveling, attending concerts, A’s baseball games, picnicking, gardening, and cooking delicious plant-based meals.

 

Louise Vicencio, Administrative Assistant

Louise Vicencio, Administrative Assistant

B.S., University of California, Berkeley; M.S., Natural Resource Management, Humboldt State University

Louise worked with the US Fish & Wildlife Service for over 15 years as a Refuge Biologist and six years as the Land Trust Monitoring Coordinator before switching gears and joining the Administrative staff.  She enjoys raising bees and chickens in her spare time.

 

Please email info@napalandtrust.org for more information or call at 707-252-3270.

Bill Nemerever, Chair

In 2012 Bill retired from the investment business where he specialized in foreign fixed income management, most recently as a partner of Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo, a Boston-based institutional investment firm. Bill is a Fellow of the Society of Actuaries and a Chartered Financial Analyst who began his career at John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. in Boston, working as a life insurance actuary, equity research analyst and portfolio manager. Prior to joining Grantham, Mayo, Van Otterloo, Bill worked at several investment firms including Wells Fargo Investment Advisors, State Street Bank and Fidelity Investments. Bill is currently a grape grower and small winery owner in Oakville, splitting the year more or less evenly between Boston and Napa Valley with his wife, Ginger.

Robin Baggett, Vice Chair

Robin oversees the Alpha Omega Collective, the umbrella brand for his Alpha Omega, Tolosa and Perinet wineries. He is the sole Managing Partner of Alpha Omega, a Napa Green-certified winery and vineyard he co-founded on the Rutherford Bench in Napa Valley in 2006, and Tolosa, a winery he co-founded in 1998 and whose entire estate vineyards in San Luis Obispo’s Edna Valley are sustainably farmed and Sustainability in Practice (SIP) Certified.

A graduate of the University of California Hastings College of the Law and Cal Poly, Robin practiced law for 40 years, including serving as general counsel for the Golden State Warriors for eight years. Robin owns and operates cattle ranches in San Luis Obispo County which are protected with Open Space Easements and last year worked with the Land Trust to protect a 4,461-acre ranch in Napa County through a Conservation Easement.

Mike Fisher, Treasurer

Mike is a wine business advisor and founding partner of Global Wine Partners LLC (GWP). GWP is in St. Helena and provides financial consulting, merger and acquisition advisory and valuation services to the wine industry. He began his career with Price Waterhouse in San Francisco and held positions as Partner and CPA with Motto Kryla & Fisher and CFO of Joseph Phelps Vineyards. He has lived in Napa Valley since 1978 moving to his current home on Mt. Veeder in 1984 where he, along with his wife, Wendee Walker tend to Brioso Vineyard. He is a past director of the Napa Valley Grapegrowers and past chair of the St. Helena Chamber of Commerce.

Mike holds a B.A in business from the University of Missouri, Columbia, and a B.S. in fermentation science from University of California, Davis.

Mike became passionate about wine in his mid 20’s and remains so having worked in the wine business for over 40 years. He spends the winter skiing the slopes of the Sierras and other mountains in the western United States and Canada. Other times of the year, golf and fly fishing occupy much of his free time.

Les Hausrath, Secretary

Les recently retired from the practice of law after over 40 years as an attorney. He was a senior partner at Wendel Rosen LLP in Oakland where he specialized ​in real estate (easement, boundary and title disputes), eminent domain and land use law. Les graduated with honors and Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley. He received his law degree from Berkeley Law (formerly Boalt Hall) and started his law career with the legal aid society. Les joined Wendel, Rosen in 1981.

Les’ connection to Napa Valley originated through his wife, Linda Clerici, a Napa native. Frequent visits to Napa led to the purchase of a second home in 1997, and also the family home in downtown Napa where her father was born. In 2010, Les joined the Land Trust Projects Committee and then the Protection Committee and he chairs both committees.

A variety of non-profit activities also keep Les busy. He is President of the Board of the Regional Parks Foundation, the 501c3 arm of the East Bay Regional Park District and was a long-standing Board member of Rebuilding Together Oakland/East Bay. Les also mentors two college students through the Oakland Promise and reviews applications and interviews scholarship applicants for UC Berkeley through the Alumni Association.

Kellie Duckhorn

As the General Manager for Baldacci Family Vineyards since 2015, Kellie works closely with the Baldacci family to ensure outstanding stewardship of their 50+ acres in the Napa Valley.

Kellie grew up around her parents’ Napa Valley winery, Duckhorn Vineyards, working her first harvest when she was 12 years old. She went on to experience the French wine perspective firsthand in Bordeaux before earning a Bachelor of Science degree at UC Berkeley. After studying Agricultural Economics at UC Davis, Kellie joined Duckhorn Vineyards. Afterwards, Kellie was the General Manager at Ehlers Estate and Director of Sales and Marketing for Via Pacifica, an import and distribution company in Shanghai.

Annie Favia-Erickson

Viticulturist and Vintner Annie Favia-Erickson has been an advocate for holistic farming in the Napa Valley since the 1990s. She began Favia Wines in 2001 with her husband and partner Andy Erickson and ERDA TEA in 2018.

Her deep love and reverence for the natural world drives not only her work growing grapes, herbal teas, olives, vegetables, fruit and flowers, but also her passion to help the Land Trust to maintain the natural ecosystems and beauty of the Napa Valley.

Josh Harrington

Josh is the President and CEO of Eldex Corporation, a manufacturer of high precision chemical metering pumps. He also serves as Senior Portfolio Advisor at RBO & Co, an independent investment advisory firm located in St. Helena, CA. His career experience includes equity research at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. in New York, portfolio management at TIAA-CREF in San Francisco, and independent consulting for investment management clients.

Josh holds a B.A. from the University of Missouri, Columbia with a major in Finance and Banking and an M.B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley. Additionally, he is a CFA charterholder and a Certified Estate and Trust Specialist.

Josh was previously a Director and Board Treasurer for Destiny Arts Center, a non-profit based in Oakland, CA with a mission to end isolation, prejudice, and violence in the lives of young people. Josh lives in Napa and enjoys reading, running, hiking, fishing, and yoga.

Jason Johnson

Jason is a tech entrepreneur and Founder & CEO of August Home, a smart home lock system that provides keyless access and digital monitoring for home delivery.

Since 2011, Johnson has been the managing partner of Founders Den, a San Francisco technology incubator that’s been home to startups such as Skipflag, Outbound.io and Kaggle. Johnson is also the founder of the Internet of Things Consortium, a business development association for the Internet of Things ecosystem.

Prior to August Home, Johnson co-founded the mobile security company AirCover as well as the ebook software startup BookShout! and was featured in the Amazon Studios documentary “This is What We Make”.

Kim Johnson

Kim is a San Francisco management consultant-turned-Napa Valley vintner where she co-founded Okapi Wines with her husband Dan Johnson in 2009.

Kim’s background specialized in marketing, strategic communications and employee engagement. She began her career in hospitality sales and marketing, ultimately leading the corporate marcom teams for two hotel companies before transitioning to consulting when she joined KPMG as a marketing director in the tech practice. From there, she held senior consulting roles, helping leaders create change and unlock the human potential inside their organizations.

Kim has served on several boards, most recently for the Museum of the African Diaspora and the Napa Valley Film Festival.

Kathy Tranmer

The Land Trust is in Kathy’s blood – by association. Fifty-one years ago, she married Joel, the son of Harry Tranmer, one of the Land Trust’s founders. Rarely did a family dinner go by without some discussion about Land Trust activities. For fifteen years she and her husband lived in the Tranmer Family home adjacent to the Land Trust’s Foote Preserve.

Kathy graduated from U.C. Santa Barbara and became a teacher. They have two sons and family activities revolved around the outdoors – backpacking, camping, mountain climbing, fishing and skiing.

She has previously served on the Land Trust board and for several years helped create and twice chaired “The Feast of Eden”, a major annual fundraiser. She has been an active Master Gardener for the last twenty years, including two terms as president. She also served on the Opera House board.

Kathy recently became an artist and is inspired by the constantly changing and awe inspiring beauty of the Napa Valley, and she welcomes the chance to be on the Land Trust board to further protect it.

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