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Who We Are

Steering Committee:

Aaron Lehmer, Network Development Director | E-mail
Aaron co-founded Bay Localize and now develops our Local Resilience Network, publishes Bay Localize News, and helps coordinate our outreach, communications, and fundraising efforts. He also serves on the Oakland Climate Action Coalition Steering Committee, the Oakland Food Policy Council, and Earth Island Institute's Program Committee. Aaron holds an M.A. in Globalization and the Environment from Humboldt State University and a triple B.A. in Anthropology, Philosophy, and Environmental Studies from Iowa State University. He also worked for the Ella Baker Center's Green-Collar Jobs Campaign, Circle of Life, Earth Island Institute, Grassroots Globalization Network, ReThink Paper, and with the Student Environmental Action Coalition. His commentaries have been featured on AlterNet and NPR, in the Earth Island Journal, Sacramento News & Review, Permaculture Activist, Energy Bulletin, and the S.F. Bay Guardian. Aaron lives in Oakland and is an avid gardener, hiker, singer, and amateur astronomer.
Dave Room, Clean Energy Director | E-mail
Dave Room co-founded Bay Localize, a public benefit organization that inspires and supports Bay Area residents in building resilient communities, and coordinates the Local Clean Energy Alliance. He was instrumental in the start up phase of Post Carbon Institute, playing a key role in donor cultivation, the End of Suburbia screening campaign, and engagement with local groups. He was also a frequent interviewer on Global Public Media. Dave's most important identifier is Melia's Papa. On stage, Melia's Papa uses storytelling and solo performance theater (The Monkey Trap) to awaken and activate mainstream audiences, people of color, and youth. Dave is leading efforts to use new media and social media for social change and political advocacy. Dave coined the term "Energy Preparedness" and was on the Oil Independent Oakland by 2020 task force. He has B.S in Electrical Engineering with a Power Systems focus and a M.S. in Engineering-Economic Systems from Stanford University. Follow Dave on Twitter.
Kirsten Schwind, Program Director | E-mail
Kirsten brings over eleven years of organizing, research, and program development in the fields of social justice, global trade, food policy, labor organizing, clean energy, and local resources. Her writings on localization have been widely reprinted in several languages, and she enjoys speaking with groups of all sizes. She co-authored the report Tapping the Potential of Urban Rooftops, which won an award from the American Planning Association's California Chapter. Kirsten holds a B.A. in Economics and Public Policy from Swarthmore College and an M.S. in Natural Resources Management from the University of Michigan. At Bay Localize she focuses on program and organizational development. She has worked with a number of Bay Area nonprofits including as Program Director at Food First, and recently served on the City of Berkeley's Energy Commission. Kirsten lived for several years in Latin America and is fluent in Spanish.
Linda Currie, Organizer | E-mail
Linda led Bay Localize's Green Faith in Action project, outreaching to faith-based communities to help congregants make their homes more energy efficienct. She has been coaching groups of people around the East Bay to lower their carbon footprints through a program called "The Low Carbon Diet." She has worked with the Berkeley Public Schools, City of Berkeley, the YMCA, Berkeley's Energy Commission, First Presbyterian Church, the Ecology Center and the City of Albany. She also serves as a board member for Green Sangha, a chapter-based nonprofit dedicated to inspiring awakened action on various environmental fronts. Linda lives in Berkeley with her family and can be found biking around town, hanging clothes on the line, muttering to squirrels and occasionally painting.
Nile Malloy, Organizer | E-mail
Nile is a movement builder and organizer committed to social, economic, and ecological justice. He is currently Program Director for Communities for a Better Environment. He recently served as the Freedom from Oil campaigner at Rainforest Action Network. Outside of campaigning against big corporations on environmental standards, criteria and policy, he is deeply invested in local solution-based projects in the Midwest and in the Bay Area to revitalize urban centers. He also has wide-ranging background as a teacher and has taught at the New College of California in the Activism and Social Change Program. He holds a B.A. in Urban Anthropology and African American Studies from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in Cultural Anthropology and Social Transformation with a focus on local and global environmental justice projects. An aspiring writer and poet, Nile resides in Oakland.
Rosa Esperanza González, Popular Theater Artist | E-mail
Rosa is a popular educator, writer, and visual and performing artist. As coordinator of popular education for the Partnership for Immigrant Leadership and Action (PILA), she helps link political education and community organizing. She designs curricula and facilitates theater-based workshops and townhall meetings for critical community dialog. Rosa is also a member of headRush, a psycho-political performance and popular education crew dedicated to inspiring working class communities through a blend of spoken word and teatro-style political satire. In 2002, she wrote and directed her first play, "My Camino Real," produced by Los Del Pueblos Actors' Lab. She writes to evoke spirit, inspire young people, and honor her ancestors. Rosa has a Masters in Latin American Studies from Stanford University and a Masters in Teaching from the Arts in Education program at the University of San Francisco.

Interns and Fellows:

Brenna Young, Local Clean Energy Intern | E-mail
Brenna assists with organizing, outreach, research, and policy for the Local Clean Energy Alliance. She is fascinated by the influential, yet conflicting roles of state policy decisions in shaping the energy sector. Brenna recently graduated from Chico State in international relations and is now pursuing advocacy in environmental sustainability and contemporary global issues. She has recently worked with the local government of Chico to assist in research and public awareness of the benefits of an updated energy conservation ordinance. Brenna believes that improved education and public awareness of the benefits of environmental sustainability and social equity will strengthen communities from within to promote self-sufficiency and preserve our world for future generations. She is inspired by her favorite quote from Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni: "The greatness of society is secured by unleashing the greatness of its people."
Leah Fessenden, Green Your Hood Program Fellow | E-mail
Leah coordinates volunteer work days with Bay Localize's affiliated garden and community projects, assists with green roof policy development, and equips local enthusiasts with tools and resources to get started on their own projects. As a student in Environmental Management at Merritt College, she is well-versed in green building, and has gained a great deal of hands on experience with living roof systems, particularly through a greenhouse project at the department's headquarters, the Self-Reliant House. Leah lives in Oakland and is an avid fan of quality afternoon coffee.
Mareesa Allyse Valentine, Media and Communications Intern | E-mail
Mareesa helps Bay Localize get the word out about our efforts through social media, online event calendars and blogs, as well as through traditional media. She is a recent graduate of Hampton University with a B.A. in Public Relations and a minor in English Arts. Mareesa is working to become the next Social Media Mogul. As founder of "Reesa Speaks," she publishes articles on today's fashion, entertainment, hair care, and global issues. She believes in finding different media outlets to promote and voice active projects and organizations in the community. Mareesa currently lives in Castro Valley, where she is pursuing her career as a multimedia journalist while doing freelance writing for The Examiner.
Sarah Isbitz, Bay Area 2020 Networking Intern | E-mail
Sarah helps build out our Local Resilience Network, while leveraging the power of our growing movement to promote strong regional climate action. She recently relocated from the East Coast where she previously worked in New York City as a buyer for a major retail outlet. Sarah holds a bachelor's degree from Georgetown University in American Studies. She transitioned to the Bay Area this summer to study sustainable city planning at UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design. She is pursuing career opportunities in sustainability planning and climate change mitigation. She believes that taking serious steps towards saving the environment encompasses not only the practice of designing our cities with sustainable practices in mind, but also getting businesses, community groups, and residents involved at the local level. Sarah enjoys photography, running, skiing and traveling anywhere she gets the opportunity to go. She currently lives in Berkeley.
Sasha Goodall, Bay Area 2020 Organizing Intern | E-mail
Sasha helps organize Community Resilience workshops and assists with research and development for Bay Localize's next edition of the Community Resilience Toolkit. As a graduating senior at San Francisco State University, Sasha will soon complete a degree in Environmental Studies with a concentration in Environmental Sustainability and Social Justice. She is passionate about equality and the right to life for all living things and believes that changes in policy are necessary to combat the environmental impacts of modern society. To this end, Sasha aspires for a career in public service, empowering people that are institutionally oppressed and protecting non-human beings from harm.

Board of Advisors:

Allyse Heartwell, Local Food Systems Advisor
Allyse holds a B.A. in International Relations from Brown University, where her studies focused on international environmental issues. She currently works as Coordinator of the Buy Fresh, Buy Local program at the Community Alliance with Family Farmers. She worked on media and community outreach for Bay Localize and served on the Steering Committee for over two years. A relatively recent Bay Area transplant, she now focuses her interest in sustainability on the local level and is involved in many activities relating to peak oil, urban agriculture, and localization. She lives in San Francisco, where she gardens, volunteers for Alemany Farm, and walks a lot.
Ingrid Severson, Rooftop Resource Systems Advisor
Ingrid is the former organizer and project leader of Bay Localize's Rooftop Resources Project and served on the Steering Committee for three years. She gained experience in the environmental field through undergraduate studies at San Francisco State and New College of California. She pursued a hands-on approach to Deep Ecology with extensive travels and environmental programs in Latin America. Ingrid is a certified Permaculture Designer and is competent in Spanish. She has worked with Sonoma County Conservation Action, the Sierra Club Bay Chapter, and independently in various video productions promoting environmental awareness. She has also held a professional therapeutic massage practice for eight years. Ingrid lives in Oakland and enjoys exploring the natural treasures within the Bay Area.
Katherine "Kat" Steele
Kat is a permaculture activist, designer, educator, and founder of the Urban Permaculture Guild in Oakland. She facilitates workshops on natural building and permaculture as well as publicly speaks about eco-social design, city repair, and the power of placemaking. Trained in Ecovillage Design with the Findhorn Foundation of Scotland, Natural Building with Kleiwerks International, and Permaculture Design with the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, she also holds an MA in Creative Arts from San Francisco State University. She presently serves on the board of another Bay Area nonprofit organization devoted to peace, justice, and sustainablity, the NorCal Chapter of Architects, Designers, Planners for Social Responsibility (ADPSR) in Berkeley. She recently became one of a 1,000 Climate Project trainees, empowered to present a version of Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth slide presentation. Kat lives in Oakland and is devoted to localization, believing it to be a key strategy towards sustainability and thriveability.
Kevin Bayuk
Kevin started as an artist and filmmaker, explored an eight year meander as a technology entrepreneur (in an attempt to fund films) and has now graduated into a life as an activated advocate for ecotopian living. Currently he leverages his skills and relationships to develop organizations and projects that regenerate healthy ecosystems and socially just environments. In addition to advising Bay Localize, he serves on the Board of Directors for the Urban Alliance for Sustainability and Daily Acts. Kevin also facilitates permaculture trainings and shares his skills in organic gardening and composting in playshops and community workshops.
Dan Antonioli
Dan is a green construction specialist with over twenty years of experience in general construction and ten years in ecological design, alternative construction, and green building. He has a background in green building, natural building, permaculture, and ecovillage design and development. He's a licensed general contractor, a registered green builder with Build It Green, and has memberships with the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), the American Solar Energy Association, the Northern California Solar Energy Association, and the Eastern Oregon Renewable Energy Association. He's currently creating an inner city ecovillage in Oakland and a five parcel intentional community in Laytonville, California.

Consultative Advisors:
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