Environmental Leadership Chronicles

Building Relationships to Make A Difference ft. Shona Ganguly, The Nature Conservancy

Welcome to the Environmental Leadership Chronicles, a podcast brought to you by the California Association of Environmental Professionals. In this episode, we speak with Shona Ganguly, External Affairs Advisor at The Nature Conservancy in California. Shona maneuvers through the terrain of environmental policy in southern California - managing relationships with local, state, and federal legislators, officials, partner organizations, and supporting conservation programs in southern California. Shona is a graduate of University of California, Berkeley (BA in Development Studies and South Asian Studies), Claremont Graduate University (MA in Cultural Studies), and the Peter Drucker and Masatoshi Ito School of Management (MBA). She lives in Los Angeles with her son, husband, and two Husky-Malamute-Shepherds. In her spare time, she supports her family’s Indian apparel boutique, Pia Ka Ghar and serves as the President of the Los Angeles League of Conservation Voters. We hope you enjoy this episode!

Using a Private Sector Approach to Public Sector Leadership, ft. Adam Rush, City of Banning

In this episode, we speak with Adam Rush, Community Development Director, for the City of Banning. In his role, Adam’s mission is to provide effective and efficient municipal services with a friendly and business-forward attitude. Adam’s approach to treating government services like one would treat customers in the private sector is critical to ensure a city succeeds in growing new and vibrant communities. He spent ten years with County of Riverside Planning Department where he developed a strong background in Community Planning and Environmental Compliance and gained experience in transportation and planning activities as well as long-range strategic plans. We hope you enjoy hearing from Adam and his approach to leadership.

Leadership in the Public Sector ft. Mindy Fogg, County of Ventura

In this episode, we speak with Mindy Fogg, the Executive Vice President for AEP. She has over 20 years professional experience as a Land Use/Environmental Planner and CEQA Practitioner in both the private and public sectors. She is currently serving as a Planning Manager for the County of Ventura where she leads the Commercial and Industrial Permitting Section. She has managed numerous public and private projects, such as General Plan Amendments, Specific Plans, Subdivisions, Habitat Conservation Plans, Ordinance Amendments, Cannabis Permits, Mining Projects, Oil and Gas Projects, and Renewable Energy Permits. Mindy has been actively involved with AEP since 2008.

Building Community Through Planning ft. Meredith Reynolds, City of Long Beach

In this episode, we feature Meredith Reynolds, the Special Deputy City Manager for Recovery for the City of Long Beach. Meredith has worked on critical efforts in community services, parks and open space, sustainability, and innovation in Long Beach and in Irvine. She has served as the Long Beach Park Planning and Partnerships Manager and Park Development Officer – where she created a strong focus on equitable and inclusive community engagement and partnerships, and developed park and open space projects. During the pandemic, Meredith was reassigned to the Long Beach Health Department and was responsible for setting up COVID-19 testing sites across the City of Long Beach. Meredith also oversees the Long Beach Management Assistant Program – a local government management fellowship program – currently accepting applications through January 17, 2022 at www.longbeach.gov. We hope you enjoy hearing from Meredith!

Leading through Law, Business and Policy ft. Amy Steinfeld, Brownstein

In this episode, we feature Amy Steinfeld, Santa Barbara Office Managing Partner with Brownstein. Amy is a land use and water lawyer with a broad understanding of environmental issues and a passion for the cannabis industry. Operating in one of the most heavily regulated industries and states, her passion and genuine concern for her clients is critical to her success.
Amy is co-founder and co-chair of the California H2O Women Conference, which provides an opportunity to collaborate, educate and support women leaders in the water industry – check out their upcoming conference January 2022 at www.californiah2owomenconference.com. We hope you enjoy hearing from Amy!

Uncovering a Career in Cultural Resources ft. Annemarie Cox, PanGIS, Inc.

The Environmental Leadership Chronicles podcast is brought to you by the California Association of Environmental Professionals. In this episode, we feature Annemarie Cox - Marketing Manager and Cultural Resource Specialist with PanGIS, Inc. She provides geodatabase development for cultural and historical resources, data analysis and report writing, environmental compliance services, artifact curation, marketing, public outreach and advocacy. She has served as California Archaeology Month coordinator for the Society for California Archaeology and is a California Project Archaeology Facilitator and California Site Steward for CASSP. Annemarie has close to 30 years of experience in the cultural resource management field including conducting archaeological field surveys, archaeological site recording, testing, construction monitoring; and laboratory work, including prehistoric and historic artifact identification, cataloging, and analysis. We hope you enjoy hearing from Annemarie.

Becoming an Expert Environmental Planner ft. Terry Rivasplata, ICF

The Environmental Leadership Chronicles podcast is brought to you by the California Association of Environmental Professionals. In this episode, we feature Terry Rivasplata, an expert consultant with ICF. Terry has 40 years of experience in land use planning and CEQA analysis. At ICF, a full service CEQA and NEPA consulting firm, Terry has prepared NEPA and CEQA documents for projects ranging in size and complexity from school expansions to California’s high speed rail project. He currently provides strategic advice to project staff and clients on NEPA and CEQA compliance. Terry is a popular instructor for the U.C. Davis Continuing and Professional Education program teaching several courses on NEPA and CEQA. He writes the AEP “Environmental Assessor” that summarizes current CEQA case law. He is a co-author of the CEQA tutorial Practical CEQA. We hope you enjoy hearing from Terry!

Finding your Purpose ft. Brian Mooney, RICK Engineering Company

In this episode, we feature Brian Mooney. Brian serves as the managing principal of the Community Planning and Sustainable Development Division at RICK Engineering Company. He has more than 40 years’ experience in planning, public outreach, environmental analysis, research and development of public policy.  He is highly respected in public and private planning arenas and is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Certified Planners. He is also chairman of the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI) San Diego-Tijuana District Council - which promotes responsible land use and sustainable communities in the Cali Baja mega-region.
Brian has a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from San Diego State University and a master’s degree in urban history from the University of San Diego.  He serves as an adjunct professor in city planning at the New School of Architecture and Design.

Environmental Planning for Environmental Justice ft. Claudia Garcia, ICF

Claudia serves on the State Executive Board for the California Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP), and is an environmental planner with ICF. Her career path was challenging as an immigrant and the first person in her family to receive both an undergraduate and a graduate degree. She has worked on projects that include environmental justice, community outreach, and environmental analyses and CEQA documents. She shares how CEQA's existing framework can be used to address environmental justice concerns.

The Importance of Mentorship ft. Marie Campbell, Sapphos Environmental

Marie Campbell is an elected, at-large board member for the California Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP). She has also served as former president of National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP), and is the sole-owner and President of Sapphos Environmental - an environmental consulting business. Marie discusses the importance of making Investments to achieve long-term goals by choosing to make investments that benefit the greatest number of people. Marie has a breadth of knowledge and experience to share, we hope you enjoy this episode.

Networking into Environmental Leadership ft. Katie Laybourn, Harris & Associates

Katie Laybourn is the President of the San Diego Chapter of the Association of Environmental Professionals (AEP). She is a biologist, aquatic resources specialist, and drone pilot at Harris & Associates. Katie shares her journey to becoming an environmental professional, including her educational path, career path, getting involved with AEP as a university student, internships and how her involvement with AEP led to her first professional environmental job.