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Team BBTO
Martin LeBlanc, National Youth Education Director
Martin is the National Youth Education Director for the Sierra Club and also serves as the Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Children and Nature Network which was founded by Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods. Martin has had a passion for the outdoors since having his own life turned around through an outdoor experience as a teenager. Martin enjoys backpacking and recreating with his dog Mocha.
Before working for the Sierra Club, Martin was an outdoor education advocate for Texas Parks and Wildlife in Austin, Texas and was also an outdoor educator for Youthnet a non-profit in Mount Vernon, Washington in the mid 90's working with at-risk teenagers. Martin has a BA in Political Science from American University in Washington DC and an MA in Environment, Society and Culture from Lancaster University in England. Martin received the 2008 President's Award from the Environmental Education Association of Washington for his leadership in connecting Washington's children with the outdoors. Martin believes "every child in America deserves their own special place in nature.
Alicia A. Washkevich, Operations and Finance Manager - National Youth Programs
Alicia is the Operations and Finance Manager for the Sierra Club's National Youth Programs. She lives for adventure travel (mainly on a shoe string) and feels there is not much that can beat waking up in nature after a long hike to reach your spot.
Alicia was formerly a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, serving as an operations and oceanography officer for nearly 6 years. She recently spent a year working for a business consulting firm focusing on green technology before joining the Sierra Club. Her service and travels have only fueled her fire to help protect our beautiful earth for all future generations to enjoy. Alicia knows children are the leaders of tomorrow, and they need to get outside today! She believes outdoor experiences not only foster great learning and appreciation for the environment, but also lead to increased health and happiness!
Alicia holds a Bachelor's in Science from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD, and a Master's in Science from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA. She has been awarded several medals during her naval service to include 2 Navy Commendation Medals and 1 Naval Achievement Medal.
Bill Vanderberg, Building Bridges to the Outdoors Lead Volunteer Coordinator
Bill is the dean of students at Crenshaw High School in Los Angeles as well as being the faculty advisor to Crenshaw's Eco Club. He has been an active member of the Sierra Club for the past eight years, with a particular interest in finding ways to make both the Club, and environmental issues, more relevant to minority communities. Bill believes this goal can best be achieved by engaging underserved youth in outdoor environmental experiences from which he hopes they gain a sense of ownership and responsibility of their natural environment, along with the many benefits kids get from playing in the dirt.
Juan Martinez, Building Bridges to the Outdoors Volunteer Youth Coordinator
Juan Martinez is a former at-risk youth from Los Angeles who had his life turned around through an outdoor experience when he was 15. After that experience at Teton Science School, Juan became an example of the positive effects an outdoor experience can have on youth. He was a leader on the Outward Bound Adventures Youth Advisory Council and has now made the transition to an on the ground activist working for the grassroots organization ACORN on affordable housing issues in his hometown of LA. Juan has shown excellent leadership in engaging young diverse people on environmental issues. He is now an executive committee member of the Sierra Student Coalition.
Lori Stutz, Youth Grants Coordinator
Lori is the Grants Administrator for Building Bridges to the Outdoors. Her love for the outdoors stems from her backpacking adventures in Southern Utah and cycling in Seattle. She attended the University of Utah where she earned her Bachelor's in Science with a focus on biology and chemistry and an Environmental Law and Regulation Certificate from the University of Washington. Before joining Building Bridges to the Outdoors she taught middle school science.
While teaching she volunteered for the Sierra Club which led to a career transition to the environmental community, first as Program Assistant for the local Chapter followed by a position as Administrative Coordinator for the NW Region. She is delighted to join Building Bridges to the Outdoors where she can combine her love for nature and working with youth.
Jackie Ostfeld, National Youth Representative
Jackie is the National Youth Representative for the Sierra Club's Building Bridges to the Outdoors program. Jackie was formerly an outdoor environmental educator in South Carolina and California, where she spent years leading youth of all ages and backgrounds through educational nature walks and activities. Jackie believes that positive and plentiful outdoor experiences contribute to healthy development and empower youth to take meaningful actions to protect their environments.
She also believes that policy makers and public officials have critical roles to play to ensure kids have opportunities to get outside. Jackie earned her Master's Degree in Global Environmental Policy from American University in Washington, DC, and has spent time assisting government and corporate whistleblowers hold their employers accountable to the public good.
Tiffany Saleh, California Youth Representative
Tiffany represents the youth of California for Building Bridges to the
Outdoors. Raised in the suburbs of San Diego, Tiffany knows first-hand how
difficult it can be to balance the demands of the city with a desire to
connect with nature. To fuel her own love of the outdoors, she studied
Wildlife, Fish and Conservation Biology at UC Davis before working in
wildlife rehabilitation in San Diego, and as an Education Specialist at the
LA Zoo.
She later earned her graduate degree in Environmental Studies at
the University of Montana, and developed a passion for environmental
conflict resolution. Tiffany believes that reconnecting youth with their
natural surroundings will inspire the next generation to a healthier,
happier, greener future.
Kristina Ortez, Associate Regional Representative
Kristina Ortez grew up in the San Joaquin Valley of California. She graduated from Harvard College with a degree in Anthropology, and began her career in New York City working in marketing, as an editor and at a law firm. After living in Indonesia for nearly two years and witnessing the effects of environmental degradation, Kristina came back to the States determined to work on environmental issues that affected her own community.
She has been an organizer and advocate on wilderness and wild scenic rivers in California and DC, a policy analyst on water issues in California, and a board member of organizations to restore and protect the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and the San Joaquin River. She is passionate about water issues, is an avid rafter, and believes that love for the environment starts with that first step on a marked trail.
David Veliz, Conservation Organizer
David was born in Guatemala and was raised in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. He has been an environmental activist in New York City for the past twelve years, working on countless environmental campaigns. The primary focus of his work has been in the areas of environmental education for youth and urban green space and community garden advocacy.
David has worked for several environmental organizations in New York City and is currently working as a conservation organizer for the Building Bridges to the Outdoors program of the Sierra Club. In this position David works to connect youth to the outdoors by empowering local schools and programs in communities around NYC. As an organizer for the Sierra Club, a position he has held since 2005, David also works to build partnerships with diverse communities and organizations and works to further Sierra Club's diversity mission.
Camilla Feibelman, Regional Representative
Camilla grew up in New Mexico and studies environmental biology at Columbus University.
Afterward she spent a year in the Peruvian Amazon on a Fulbright Scholarship where she studying the effects of urbanization on the local fishery. She began at the Sierra Club as a student activist and director of the Sierra Student Coalition. She went on to work in the media department to support communities in their fight for environmental justice and to launch the Club's first national Spanish language column.
In 2005 Camilla moved to Puerto Rico to help establish the Club's first Spanish speaking chapter. Since Camilla's arrival, the chapter has grown to 900 members who have worked together with the Coalition for the Northeast Ecological Corridor to protect a swath of 3,000 acres of coastal habitat as a nature reserve. And it's no wonder - Puerto Rico is known as "the Enchanted Island" and Sierra Club volunteer leaders bring thousands of Puerto Ricans into nature every year, inspiring them to take action on conservation issues, environmental justice, and global warming.
Doug Chien, Conservation Field Representative
Doug is the Conservation Field Representative with the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club in Chicago. His passion is for preserving and restoring native landscapes and for bringing people to nature and nature to the city. Having grown up in small towns where wild nature was close at hand he wants to see all young people to have positive unstructured experiences in the woods. He is landscaping his small city yard to represent the prairie and savanna that is the natural heritage of all residents of northeastern Illinois. He has a Master's Degree focusing on ecology and landscape architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Michael Casaus, New Mexico Regional Director
An avid backpacker, camper, angler and native of Silver City, New Mexico, Michael brings a wealth of experience to the position. He has been a grassroots organizer, community activist and scientific researcher for over a decade. After studying Biology and Anthropology from New Mexico State University, he attended Cornell University, where he is currently completing his PhD in Plant Biology/Ethnobotany. His graduate work in Mexico and Venezuela investigated the current state of traditional botanical and medical knowledge in a globalized world.
Michael has been a strong advocate for economic and environmental justice, in addition to immigrant and workers rights. He is deeply passionate about improving the life opportunities available to communities of color, particularly in his Latino community.