Community Book Review – Submitted by Julie R. Finding the Mother Tree by S. Simard is about the personal journey of a UBC scientist, Simard, from her roots raised in a logging family to a renowned tree activist saving the mother trees in ancient forests in British Columbia. I am inspired by her non profit…
Read More about Finding the Mother TreeDuane is the Energy Code and Energy Conservation Advisor for Seattle’s Department of Construction and Inspections. Prior to taking his position at the City of Seattle, Duane was a principal at NBBJ, with 30 years’ experience working on complex projects as a technical architect. Duane is a member of several national code committees, and the Energy Code Technical Advisory Group to the Washington State Building Code Council.
Breck is a retired public health physician and Air Force Flight Surgeon, prior researcher and faculty member at the University of Utah, medical author and educator, and current Co-Chair of Climate and Health Task Force, WA Physicians for Social Responsibility. He is an active member of WA Sierra Club Transport and Land Use Committee, local and national rail and climate organizations.
Jasmine is an attorney and is the newly elected president of the Port of Olympia Commission.She also has experience in state-level economic development and infrastructure.
Phyllis is a retired teacher and climate activist with Sierra Club, the League of Women Voters, TCAT and 350.
Jack is a licensed mechanical engineer and a certified energy manager. He recently retired from his position at Tacoma Power as an Energy Efficiency Engineer, working with commercial and industrial customers, helping them save energy. Locally he has been very active in the Climate Change community and was a co-founder and leader of Olympia Climate Action from 2007 to 2013. He is a TCAT board member.
Leslie is Manager of Business Energy Management at Puget Sound Energy. Business Energy Management engages with commercial and industrial customers on the design and implementation of energy efficiency programs to help to meet their energy efficiency goals. Leslie has been in the energy efficiency space since 2022, but prior to that, with operations at PSE for twenty-two years.
Gordon is a retired physician. He is the chair of the Olympia Physicians for Social Responsibility Climate Task Force and the vice-chair of the Phagebiotics Research Foundation. Gordon is passionate about the public health and medical consequences of climate change and is leading the development of Thurston County’s Heat Response Plan to reduce morbidity and mortality from extreme heat events. He is a TCAT board member.
William is the CEO of the Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council. He was previously PacMtn’s Senior Associate Director of Business Engagement and Community Affairs. His career has included corporate, education and non-profit experience and seventeen years of involvement in workforce development.
Robin is a member of the Lacey City Council. She represents Lacey on the Intercity Transit Authority, Olympic Region Clean Air Agency (ORCAA) and Thurston Regional Planning Council. She is Director of Human Resources for Pierce County.
Robert is an Olympia City Council Member. Some of his policy fociare on housing, transportation, and the built environment. He currently serves on the following relative council committees: Land Use and Environment Committee (City of Olympia), Intercity Transit Authority Board, Regional Housing Council (alt), Regional Transportation Policy Board, Thurston Climate Mitigation Collaborative, and Thurston Regional Planning Council (ITA Representative).
Julian has a wealth of industry leadership experience, spanning over twenty years. He is currently serving as the Customer Experience Manager and a Board Member at the ZEV Zero Emission Car Sharing Co-operative, which provides a variety of shared electric vehicles to communities in Western Washington.
Paula serves as Conservation Northwest’s Policy Director, representing them on wildlife and wildlands policy issues at the state capitol and beyond, including wolf conservation, forest policy, and more. Paula has worked on habitat conservation issues around the Pacific Northwest for twenty-four years.
Talauna is a veteran organizer in the South Sound who is passionate and committed to advocating for racial justice, social justice, police accountability, and housing justice. She is a core organizer for Olympia Showing Up for Racial Justice, Founder of the Joy and Justice Book and Gift Giveaway, and D.R.E.A.M. Olympia (Dismantling Racism, through Education, Advocacy and Mentorship).
McKenna is a clinical psychologist by training and a researcher. Her research explores the intersections between climate change and mental health, with a focus on prevention, and intervention strategies to support community well-being and resilience.
Janet joined TCAT as the Executive Director in June 2024. She has over twenty years of experience leading nonprofit organizations, has an extensive fundraising background, and taught elementary school for five years. She has been active in the environmental movement for over forty years.
Matthew is the founder and co-executive director of Coltura, which works to accelerate America's transition from gasoline to electric vehicles through data and analysis, storytelling, policy, and partnerships. He writes about legal, political, business and cultural strategies to transition off gasoline; before starting Coltura in 2014, he was a trial lawyer and non-profit leader.
Karen has been involved in active transportation advocacy and government for forty years. She has thirty years of experience administering and implementing energy efficiency programs. Karen has served on the Olympia Planning Commission, Olympia City Council, and Intercity Transit Authority. She is currently a member of the Cooper Jones Active Transportation Safety Council.
The common thread throughout Rachelle’s career is a core value of collectivism.She actively works towards building our community and larger bioregion into being a better place for all. In her current roles as the president of the Thurston Lewis Mason Central Labor Council (TLMCLC) as well as CascadiaNow! Rachelle works to support groups and individuals in system building and mutual aid.
Meg is the Director of Integrative Services for Interfaith Works in Olympia, a certified peer counselor, and a licensed independent clinical social worker. She has seventeen years of experience working with people experiencing homelessness and living with severe persistent chronic and mental health challenges. For the past twelve years she has led Interfaith Works through significant growth - today IW is home to an Interfaith Membership of 30+ diverse spiritual and faith communities, a 58-bed shelter at Unity Commons, and a newly-opened 26 units of permanent supportive housing at Sandy’s Flats, a converted hotel.
Coming from a professional background in agriculture, Gates is now focused on biogeochemical dynamics in natural systems. Her research has focused on waste valorization, soil microbial ecology, water use and factors controlling carbon efflux from soils. Gates is strongly oriented toward science communication and public understanding of scientific aims and is working toward a world where we recognize our role as part of nature, not separate from it.
Jim is retired from a long career in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and utility regulation. He has worked in forty-three states and seventeen countries, and is the author of several books on energy policy and regulation.
Mack serves as the Program Director at the Deschutes Estuary Restoration Team (DERT), where she works to empower the community with knowledge and tools for participating in a community-managed Deschutes Watershed. Mack is also a current Master of Environmental Studies student at The Evergreen State College, completing thesis work on urban river restoration decision-making processes. Over the last five years, she has focused on environmental health and water quality issues through grassroots efforts and tribal partnerships.
Kirk leads Transportation Choices Coalition, Washington State's non-profit advocate for fast, frequent, and reliable transit. Prior to that, Kirk served as Executive Director of Commute Seattle, the non-profit that makes walking, biking, and transit the first choice for everyone in the Emerald City, and as Executive Director of Move Redmond.
Stew served for eleven years as a Climate Fellow in the office of Washington Governor Jay Inslee. Prior to that, Stew was an Assistant Director of the Department of Labor and Industries. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College and the City University of Seattle.
Denny is the Lieutenant Governor of the State of Washington. He was previously a member of Congress from the 10th Congressional District, the founding Director of TV Washington, Chief Clerk of the Washington House of Representatives, and a member of the state House of Representatives. Denny is a graduate of The Evergreen State College.
Chris currently works in active transportation planning for Washington State Department of Transportation. He previously managed environmental and public health prevention programs in local government, and has worked in the business and non-profit sectors, including local transportation programs of Climate Solutions and youth leadership development with local schools. Committed to working toward a society that respects our planet's living systems, Chris has worked on climate change response and emission reduction efforts in the Olympia area since the 1990s.
Molly is the Senior Climate Justice Program Manager at Earth Advantage, where she oversees two, multi-million dollar programs to install efficient heating/cooling equipment in vulnerable communities across Oregon.
Tristan is an Associate Director of Codes & Policy at the New Buildings Institute. He works with model code organizations and jurisdictions to advance baseline and advanced codes, develop climate focused policy solutions, and to advance decarbonization, resilience, health, and equity in the built environment. Tristan has previously worked in the renewable energy industry and high-performance building design and construction space.
Geoff owns Octet Works, providing healthcare sustainability consultation. He is the former Facilities Director for Providence St. Peter Hospital in Olympia. Geoff served on the TCAT Board for many years, including time as Chairman and as Treasurer and he chooses to live a car-free lifestyle.
Clark was appointed by the City Council in January 2016. Prior to his appointment he served on the Olympia Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. He was re-elected in 2017 and 2021. Gilman has worked as an organizer, editor, researcher, carpenter, soda jerk, and shipping clerk. He is a union and community organizer; a musician; a board member of The Bridge Music Project; an active member of First Christian Church.
Daimon is the founder of Doyle Construction, one of the premier residential builders in Thurston County. He is also a member, and past Chairman, of the Washington State Building Code Council.
Derek is a Thurston County Community Planning Manager. A born and raised Washingtonian with over fifteen years of experience in natural resource management, stormwater, and land use policy, Derek has worked for treaty tribes, the state and most recently Thurston County to protect the resources that make our region special.
Thad taught at The Evergreen State College for thirty-five years. Since his retirement, he’s volunteered in various ways for Carbon Washington and TCAT, maintained a website at www.climatetoolbox.info about resources for implementing our climate action plan, and driven two EVs - first a plug-in hybrid, and now an all-electric one.
Tom is a founding member of TCAT. He works closely with TCAT staff on developing and carrying out TCAT programs. Tom has lived and worked in Thurston County for over thirty years and has more than forty years of experience working with community development, education, health, environmental, and transportation organizations.
Al is a building official for the City of Tumwater. He previously assisted the Quinault Tribal Government in implementing an affordable housing program.
Brian is the Fleet Sales Manager at Mullinax Ford, in Olympia. He has been in auto sales for over twenty years and has been with the same brand (Ford) almost the whole time. His experience working in many other fields helps him understand the wide range of customer uses for trucks or equipment in commercial applications.
Emily started her over twenty-year career at Intercity Transit in 2004 as Vanpool Coordinator, moved to Youth Education Specialist in 2007, progressed to Dial-A-Lift Manager in 2008, promoted to Operations Director in 2018, and was selected General Manager in 2023.
Gene has been working on economic development at the Thurston Economic Development Council since 2016, specializing in actionable analysis and research services. As the Director of Research for the EDC, Gene acts as a trusted advisor for public and private sector decision-makers on issues related to the local economy. An expert data storyteller, he brings clarity to the often muddy and complex picture of economic systems and distills them into actionable insights.
Tye is a County Commissioner, representing the 3rd District of West Olympia and Tumwater. He is a member of the Washington State Building Code Council, representing Counties. Previously, Tye was a criminal defense attorney.
Lisa is a state representative from the 22nd Legislative District, which includes central Thurston County. Prior to that, Lisa served on the Olympia City Council for two terms. She is a veterinarian by profession.
Mike is the Washington co-coordinator for the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, a national organization advocating a carbon fee-and-dividend approach to carbon regulation. In his professional life, Mike is a software developer.
Alyssa (she/her) works as the City of Tumwater's Sustainability Manager. She has a B.A. in Environmental Studies and an M.S. in Human-Environment Sustainability. She has worked in local government (South Florida and Washington State) for the past seven years, with previous experience in the non-profit sector.
Paris joined TCAT in October 2024. He spent five years as Executive Director of the Puget Sound Estuarium, an environmental education center and aquarium in Olympia, WA. Paris runs TCAT’s Amplifying Community Voices program.
Stefan is an Emergency Medicine faculty at the University of Washington, and directs climate medical education for the UW School of Medicine. He founded ClimateRx to facilitate education of healthcare providers and patients about the new field of climate medicine.
Pamela is the Director of Climate Programs for the City of Olympia, where she leads citywide efforts to integrate climate action across all levels of planning, policy, and operations. With more than ten years of experience in climate science and policy, Pamela focuses on advancing collaborative solutions that drive transformative change for more resilient and vibrant communities.
Chris has served in prior roles as Executive Director at Puget Soundkeeper and Senior Global Advocacy Manager for Waterkeeper Alliance, where he co-managed campaigns that helped to block fossil fuel infrastructure, strengthen water quality standards, and helped establish lasting waterway protections around the world and here in Washington State. His latest project is launching a new non-profit organization: Climate Water Action, dedicated to protecting waterways and climate of the Salish Sea and Cascadia.
Paul is a Senior Planner with Thurston Regional Planning Council, where he has led community resiliency efforts for over twenty-five years. His work includes coordinating multi-jurisdictional hazard mitigation plans, contributing to regional climate adaptation and mitigation strategies, and advancing transportation infrastructure through his management of federal transportation grant programs and current projects like the Stormwater Road Retrofit Study and Countywide Bicycle Connectivity Strategy
Rebecca is the Climate Mitigation Senior Program Manager for Thurston County. She previously held multiple roles at the City of Boynton Beach Official, including Sustainability and Resilience Administrator and Sustainability Coordinator.
KC is a Washington member of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. Previously he served as Executive Director of the NW Energy Coalition, as a board member of 350.org, the US Climate Action Network, and on the policy staff of Climate Solutions. KC was one of Seattle Magazine's "Power 25" most influential people, and its #1 "Eco-Hero." In 2012, he received the Heinz Award for Public Policy for his lifetime achievement as a climate advocate and policy architect.
