A 22-year resident of Altadena, Michael is an astrophysicist with extensive experience in science and government management. His Ph.D. was conferred by Stanford University in the 1980s. He was a research scientist at Caltech for eleven years over two periods sandwiching his six years as a program scientist at NASA Headquarters in Washington. Michael served 15 years as Science Director at a NASA research center in the heart of Silicon Valley (commuting from Altadena), before retiring from the Senior Executive Service on Leap Day 2020. He has been awarded the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal and the prestigious White House Presidential Rank Award. He is humbled by the incredible talents and passion of Altadena residents he has met in his time as President of AltadenaWILD.

Nena had a varied professional experience in the corporate, academic, and nonprofit sectors.  Born in Spain, her first language was Spanish; her English fluency was acquired by being educated in the U.K. Now semi-retired from her previous role at the AltaMed Institute for Health Equity, Nena was responsible for winning $450 million in grant awards with an average of $45 million in new grant revenues annually. Since the early-2000s, Nena has lived in Altadena with her wife and partner, Dr. Peggy Gallaher, a professor and statistician. With their cat Powder, Peggy and Nena are lifelong conservationists and nature enthusiasts, choosing to live in Altadena for the peace and tranquility and the warm and eclectic community of this very special place.

Camille is the Business Administrator/Human Resources Manager of Outward Bound Adventures (OBA), an environmental, educational youth organization based on the John Muir High School campus.  A resident of Altadena since 1976, she joined OBA in 1995 as a volunteer Program Coordinator/Assistant Director.  Camille was Project Manager for a local non-profit housing developer, managing real estate development projects, City and County construction, development permits process and real estate appraising.  She is one of the founding directors of Altadena Heritage.  Camille served on the Altadena Town Council for ten years and was Chair of the Land Use Committee for four years.  She has extensive experience in effecting community relations via City, County, citizen and government organizations and private enterprise, and is especially skilled in working with people from all demographic groups.  Camille is passionate about preserving the quality of life in Altadena and surrounding communities.

A native Southern Californian, Jordan was a litigator with a private defense firm for nearly 10 years before deciding to pursue a career representing the people of California.  Since 2020, he has served as Senior Counsel for the State of California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), a California Environmental Protection agency.  DTSC’s mission to restore, protect and enhance the environment, public health, and environmental quality, is one that deeply resonates with Jordan.  Since moving to Altadena in 2018, he and his wife Lauren and their two children have enjoyed experiencing all that the diverse and expanding community has to offer.  You can find Jordan and his family (including their two dogs) hiking nearby trails, playing at an Altadena park, or eating out at a local spot.

Crist is an accomplished academic leader with a broad background in environmental engineering, environmental justice, and higher education leadership.  Since 2013, he has been a Professor of Civil Engineering and Construction Management at CSU-Northridge.  He served as Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Dean for six of those years.  Prior to his recruitment by CSUN, he was a Professor of Civil Engineering at Cal State LA for 13 years, including a stint as Director of Research for the College of Engineering.  Crist has driven institutional change initiatives, promoted academic excellence, secured significant federal, state, and foundation grants, and championed diversity and inclusion efforts nationally.  His work includes impactful projects with nonprofits in disadvantaged communities.  The most recent projects focus on reducing barriers to EV car adoption and mitigating climate change effects through native tree planting.

Dating back to his time as an Eagle Scout and continuing in College where his Senior Thesis was title “Whether Natural Objects Have Rights,” Steve has long been passionate about the environment.  He has been an environmental law attorney for almost 40 years.  He was an Assistant Attorney General in the Illinois Attorney General’s Environmental Enforcement division and an environmental attorney with the Federal Aviation Administration.  He served on the Wheaton (Illinois) Environmental Commission, helping the City make environmentally sustainable decisions.  He also participated in the American Bar Association’s Central and East European Law Initiative drafting environmental laws for several former Soviet republics.  Steve is now in private practice.  Outside of work, he is an avid nature and landscape photographer and can frequently be seen walking/running with his dog Kenai on Chaney Trail.

Sarah has a background in marketing and communications at nonprofits, government, and in consulting. She spent more than a decade in Washington DC working for the British and Australian Embassies on higher education policy and marketing education abroad. Since moving to California in 2021 she has been involved with the Altadena Town Council advocating for sustainable transportation and Complete Streets infrastructure improvements. Sarah teaches an after-school environmental science program at Oak Knoll Montessori School and is a member of the US Green Building Council – Los Angeles Green Building Corps. Originally from Toronto, Sarah holds a BA (Hons) from the University of Ottawa, an MA in Communications from University of Westminster (UK), and a Certificate in Sustainable Business Practices from UC-San Diego. An avid hiker, she loves living near the beautiful San Gabriel Mountains with her husband Jason, two young children, and two cats.

Leslie's love of nature extends from growing up near an urban-wildlife interface in Texas, and summers filled with camping, hiking, and backpacking. In Altadena, she gets to access that just outside of her front door, which sometimes includes a hike in the snow!

A management professional in software and space science education at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for 43 years, in retirement she is committed to supporting the community and environment she loves. On behalf of NASA, she ran a competitive grant program for museums, planetariums, libraries, and other informal institutions for 15 years, and managed a design school on robotic space missions for graduate students. Earlier in her career, Leslie travelled and wrote software in support of Arctic and Antarctic atmospheric observation missions, contributing to the knowledge needed to solve polar ozone depletion.