Sarah Diefendorf is Executive Director of the Environmental Finance Center for Region IX (California, Arizona, Nevada and Hawaii), which works closely with USEPA to promote cleaner business. Some of her efforts in this position include coordinating county and state Green Business Programs throughout the region, preparing a Clean Air Investment Fund pilot program for the US/Mexico border and developing a series of conferences and roundtables on the use of toxic flame retardants in the electronics anniture industries. She is also working with the State of Arizona to reduce hazardous air emissions in the Phoenix area, and the State of Hawaii to help hotels reduce their use of toxic chemicals.
Prior to this position, Ms Diefendorf was a senior associate for the Alameda Center for Environmental Technologies, where she helped establish an environmental business incubator, and she has worked in the environmental field for over 17 years.
In 2000, she founded the Women's Environmental Network, which now claims almost 1000 members in the Bay Area. Ms Diefendorf is also an Expert Witness for the USEPA National Environmental Finance Advisory Board, and she is a project reviewer for USEPA's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program. In addition, she is a member of the steering committee for the Western Regional Pollution Prevention Network, former President of the San Francisco League of Women Voters and is currently on the national board of the League of Women Voters US. Ms. Diefendorf is also an international Voter Services and Grassroots Democracy Trainer for the National League of Women Voters and works with organizations in Ethiopia and Zimbabwe.
Sarah received her Master's degree in Environmental Geography and is currently writing the final chapters of her Ph.D., which focuses on the environmental industry in California, both through Cambridge University, England.
Susan Blachman - Associate Director, EFC9
Susan Blachman has over 30 years experience working in the environmental field. At EFC9 she has overseen projects associated with environmentally sustainable economic development, pollution prevention and resource conservation in a variety of industries. Her EFC9 project work has included supporting the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative's efforts to improve health and safety of owners, workers and clients in the nail salon sector, helping Tribes throughout Region IX identify green revenue enhancing and job creation opportunities, encouraging the television industry to act environmentally and incorporate environmental messages in television shows, developing and expanding green business recognition programs in California, promoting wetcleaning, an environmentally beneficial alternative to dry cleaning, establishing the nation’s first vocational wetcleaning program in a state prison, and organizing Environmental Business Opportunities Conferences throughout US EPA Region IX as well as charrettes, conferences and sessions on environmental and economic development themes.
Ms. Blachman has a master's in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz. During her graduate studies she was selected to participate in the first year of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis of Austria’s Young Scientists Summer Program and after receiving her Master’s in Public Policy was awarded a grant to spend one year with the U.C. Berkeley Professionals in India Program.
Ms. Blachman served on the Berkeley Zero Waste Commission, the Womens’ Environmental Network's steering committee, the Western Sustainability and Pollution Prevention Network's steering committee and co-chaired the Golden Gate Pollution Prevention Committee. She is currently EFC9's representative to the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, the Northern California Recycling Association, the California Resource Recovery Association and the California Product Stewardship Council. She is fluent in Spanish.
Victoria Vasquez - Senior Project Coordinator
Ms. Vasquez is EFC9's Senior Program Coordinator responsible for financial management and reporting; her responsibilities include grant management and coordination, fiscal reconciliation, internal auditing and accounting. In addition she provides administrative support to EFC9 charrettes and training programs.
Before joining EFC9 Ms. Vasquez served as a senior merchandiser for Kraft Foodservice and Pillsbury Corporation and was instrumental in negotiating and developing vendor contracts and relationships. Ms Vasquez was a partner in a small export company in Southeast Asia, residing in Thailand, and South Korea. For three years, Ms. Vasquez served her country as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps.
Ms. Vasquez attended University of California, Santa Barbara majoring in business administration.
She sits on the Board of Directors of the Women's Environmental Network (WEN).
Jim Nicholas - Director, Technology and Arts
Jim Nicholas attended San Francisco State's, Internet Design and Technology. Mr. Nicholas was also a graduate of Bay Area Video Coalition's MediaLink Program.
Besides creating and maintaining EFC9's web site, Mr. Nicholas recently created and built the GreenScene web site, which is a project of EFC9. Other recent projects include redesigning a web site for a small non-profit, Wellnetwork.org.
Prior to this position, Mr. Nicholas was an Environmental Planner at Environmental Science Associates, Inc. Mr. Nicholas was responsible for reviewing, writing, editing and production of environmental impact reports (EIRs). Mr. Nicholas also worked as an activist in a number of community based organizations including Administrator for Isla Vista Parks Department, Executive Administrator for the Isla Vista Community Council and Municipal Advisory Council. Mr. Nicholas was also President of the Isla Vista Community Federal Credit Union for two years and was part of the organizing committee that created the Isla Vista Fud Coop.
Mr. Nicholas is a graduate of the Univerisity of California, Santa Barabara, with a BA in Sociology. Mr. Nicholas completed an Environmental Planning Certificate in 1987 and a Multimedia Certficate in 2000. Both Certificates were completed at San Francisco State University.
Lauralee Barabaria - Senior Advisor
Lauralee is the Director of the GreenMBA program at Dominican University and a Senior Advisor for EFC9. Ms. Barbaria has broad industry experience gathered from 25 years in the financial, hi-tech and health care industries. She has worked on projects in Eastern and Western Europe and North America, where she was responsible for financial modeling and coordination of solutions for profitable outsource proposal responses. Her past efforts included negotiations with work councils and unions in France, and England on contract terms and conditions for operations and financial implications of job function changes. Her work for the EFC includes a financial analysis of alternative environmental technologies to promote jobs and development for the Torres Martinez Indian Tribe, and she is the co-author of A California Green Plan: Making the Case for Business. Lauralee has an MBA in Sustainable Enterprise from Dominican University California.
Karri Winn - Project Manager
With 19 years of combined experience in academia, business, social profits organizations and working overseas on issues related to sustainability and improving the health of human commities and the living planet, Kari has achieved a high level of expertise in the
sustainability field. Since 2002 she has served as the Program
Director for the Green Festival, the largest public sustainability
event in the US drawing upwards of 40,000 attendees in a weekend and
featuring 400 green businesses and 125 speakers. Karri works as a
freelance consultant with various clients on social purpose business
initiatives. She spec ializes in systems thinking, holistic decision
making strategies and evolutionary leadership. Karri has an MSci in
Community Development from UC Davis and an MBA in Sustainability
Management from Bainbridge Graduate Institute.
Nancy Roberts – Project Manager
Nancy Roberts has 20 years of experience in marketing and public relations, communications and project management for non-profit organizations. She is a partner in Green Your Management, an educational consultancy, for which most recently she served as client liaison and coordinator of a series of multi-stakeholder summits focused on bringing integrated green planning to California. Nancy is a partner and co-founder of The Idea Hive, a group of current and graduate Green MBA students offering research, consulting and facilitation services that combine Green MBA values with cutting edge thinking tools. She is co-author, of A California Green Plan: Making the Case for Business, commissioned by The Fred Gellert Family Foundation. A freelance writer and researcher, Nancy publishes regular blog posts focusing on global warming, pollution and progressive causes for Care2.com, the largest online community for healthy and green living, human rights and animal welfare. Nancy has an M.B.A. in Sustainable Enterprise (Green MBA), from Dominican University of California, an M.A. in French Literature from George Washington University and a B.A. in History from George Washington University.