Advisory Council
Luis Alvarez
Tom Archibald
Jack Caouette
Bill Doolittle
Steve Dorrance
Rosalind Fisher
Alan Lacy
Bill & Jeanne Landreth
Michael E. Marcus
Jane McCoy
Julie Packard
Judith Sulsona
Rick Werner
Phil Wilhelm
Marsha McMahan Zelus
Science & Land Management Advisory Council
Tim Best
Billy Freeman
Christopher Hauser
Bridget Hoover
John Hunt
Will Spangler
Fred Watson, PhD
Rich Weber
Suzanne Worcester
George Somero, PhD – Chair
Dan Lee – Board Trustee
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Krista Hanni, Ph.D., Chair
Krista Hanni is the Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Manager of Monterey County Health Department. She has led this unit's work to facilitate the department's work in health equity since the unit's inception in 2012. The department's work in health equity around Health in All Policies and community engagement led to it being selected for the Arnold X. Perkins Award for Outstanding Health Equity Practice in 2017.
Krista has a Master's in Zoology from the University of Western Ontario and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Epidemiology from the University of California at Davis. She worked in wildlife biology on various projects including disease ecology of sea otters and evolutionary ecology of raccoons and red squirrels, before transitioning to public health. She has worked in a variety of public health areas from communicable through chronic disease with a particular focus in recent years on the social determinants of health.
Krista is the past Board President for the Bicycle and Equestrian Trail Association (supporting joint use of public lands), the California Conference for Local Health Data Managers (supporting county data use policies), and has been a National Public Health Leadership fellow. She is the Board President for the YWCA Monterey County and a member of the Community Foundation Monterey County Women's Fund Advisory Team and the California Chronic Disease Leadership Team.
James Andrasick, Trustee
Jim has a love of the land, nurtured by living and working in some of the most beautiful places on earth: Hawaii, San Francisco, Lake Tahoe, the Monterey Peninsula. He is currently chairman of Simpson Manufacturing (NYSE:SSD), an international provider of engineered construction products. Jim is the retired chairman, president & CEO of Matson Navigation, a transportation company serving the Pacific Rim, and the past president of C. Brewer & Co. Ltd., a Hawaii-based agribusiness with substantial landholdings, both domestic and international. In the course of his business career, he has been at the interface of competing interests for the farming, conservation and commercial development of real estate. This experience has reinforced his belief that open spaces can and need to be both protected and accessible for public use, with education as a priority. Jim was drawn to BSLT as a result, and became a Board Trustee and treasurer in 2017.
Jim's non-profit experience has been community based for the past thirty years. He has been the past chairman of the University of Hawaii Foundation, the American Red Cross-Hawaii State Chapter, the Hawaii Employer's Council and the Hawaii Agricultural Research Corporation. He served as a trustee of Mills College and the SF National Maritime Park Association, two organizations dedicated to education. He is presently a trustee of the Coast Guard Foundation, a position held since 1996.
Jim holds a BS degree, with honors, from the US Coast Guard Academy, where he was captain of the basketball team his senior year. He earned an MS degree from MIT in 1971. He is a Vietnam veteran, happily married with four natural children and two foster children from Asia. Jim and wife Ginger are avid hikers, gardeners and world travelers and make their home in the Santa Lucia Mountains.
Pinney Allen, Trustee
Pinney began a professional life in Atlanta in 1979 as a leader in law, a passionate member of the education and philanthropic communities and a wife and mother. Arriving at the 80-lawyer firm of Alston, Miller & Gaines (later Alston & Bird, LLP) as its eighth female attorney, Pinney participated in and helped lead its growth to an international law firm of over 800 professionals. Pinney was a member of, and chaired, the firm’s executive committee, served on the firm’s 15-member operations council, managed the firm’s tax services area, and led major client relationships and marketing initiatives.
Drawn by her commitment to the community, Pinney resigned her law partnership to accept the position of Head of School at Atlanta Girls’ School, one of the most racially, culturally and socio-economically diverse independent schools in the country. Pinney began that new career in July 2008 and left four years later with a long string of “firsts” and “bests” around creative programs for use of technology in the classroom, strategic uses of online classwork, and a fully integrated 7-year leadership and service curriculum.
Pinney has been and remains active in the community, focusing on equity, opportunity, and education. In addition to service on the board of the Big Sur Land Trust, she serves on the boards of the Breakthrough Collaborative, a national organization supporting programs to place under-resourced youth on a path to college, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Monterey County, the Carmel Public Library Foundation, and the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library Foundation. In addition, Pinney serves on the Dean’s advisory board at the Trulaske College of Business (University of Missouri).
Pinney grew up in Marshalltown, Iowa and Columbia, Missouri and developed her passion for the land as she explored her grandparents’ farms and the pastureland outside her home. She went on to receive her J.D. degree in 1979 and her A.B. degree in 1976 from Harvard University. After graduate school, she moved to Atlanta where she lived for over forty years, much of that time enjoying not only her law practice and raising her two girls, but also the 70-acre farm where she took regular trail rides and loved taking care of her horses, llamas, goats, pigs, chickens and one donkey. She recently moved from Atlanta to Pebble Beach, California with her Harvard classmate and 40-year husband, Charles (Buddy) Miller. You can see her many days walking from Bird Rock to Asilomar Beach.
Yuri C. Anderson, Trustee
Yuri’s family has lived in Monterey County for nearly 60 years. Yuri graduated from North Monterey County High School before earning a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Southern California and a Master of Arts in Educational Administration from New York University.
Yuri’s career has included programmatic and organizational leadership roles in human service organizations in Monterey County, New York City, and San Francisco. She currently serves as Chief of Staff to Monterey County Fourth District Supervisor Wendy Root Askew; where she focuses on issues related to Land Use, Water, and Regional Transportation & Traffic. Before joining the Fourth District Supervisor’s office, Yuri served as Chief of Staff to Fifth District Supervisor Mary Adams, where she primarily worked on health and human service and criminal justice issues. She developed strategic planning, program development, fundraising, and community engagement expertise during her tenure as Vice President, Community Investments for United Way Monterey County.
Yuri enjoys being of service in her community through a variety of volunteer roles. She currently serves a Chair of the publicly elected Monterey Peninsula Community College District Board of Trustees; Vice President of the Democratic Women of Monterey County; and as an at-large member of the Child Abuse Prevention Council Board of Directors. Yuri is also a founding member of the Bright Futures for Monterey County Educational Partnership.
Yuri is a wife and mother of two school-aged young children.
Mark Boitano, Treasurer
Mark is a native Californian growing up in Santa Clara. In 1971 he received a BSCE from Santa Clara University, and in 1977 an MBA from California State University, Fresno. After a 32 year career at Granite Construction Inc., one of the nation’s largest heavy civil construction companies, Mark retired in 2009 as its Chief Operating Officer. He resides in the Carmel Valley.
Mark, his wife, Patti, and two sons moved to the Carmel area in 1988. Mark served for six years as the President of Carmel Youth Baseball. He is currently Chairman of the Board for the Santa Lucia Community Services District. He spent eight years on the Board of the Hospice Giving Foundation acting in various roles as Treasurer, Grants Committee Chair, Vice Chair and a member of the Executive Committee.
A lifelong hiker, Mark, along with his sons, trekked to Everest Base Camp. He has hiked in a number of the western National Parks, summited Mt Whitney, Mt Shasta, Europe’s Mont Blanc and hiked to volcanoes of the Kamchatka Peninsula. He has skied in Antarctica and in Norway’s Lyngen Alps, located north of the Arctic Circle. These adventures have helped define his appreciation for the preservation of open space that allows for public access. As a youth he spent many a winter and summer exploring the Sierra Nevada and Coast ranges. In 1971 he became a professional ski instructor, a certification he has since maintained. Mark and his family have a home in Lake Tahoe where he hopes to impart his love of the mountains to his four grandchildren.
Hans Buder, Trustee
Hans Buder is the founder of the Moving to Opportunity Fund, a social impact-focused real estate investment firm with a double bottom line mission: to put low-income kids born into concentrated poverty on the path to college by providing their families with access to affordable housing in communities with high performing public schools, while delivering market rate returns for investors.
Prior to dedicating himself to the Moving to Opportunity Fund full time, Hans was a project manager in the San Francisco office of McCormack Baron Salazar, a social impact real estate development firm that specializes in mixed income housing and the revitalization of distressed urban neighborhoods. Previously, Hans served as Associate Director of Acquisitions at Long Wharf Capital, a Boston-based real estate private equity firm (and the former private real estate arm of Fidelity Investments), where he closed on real estate acquisitions with a total capitalization in excess of $350 million. Prior to joining Long Wharf, Hans taught middle school science in an inner-city public school in post-Katrina New Orleans as a member of Teach for America, where he developed a passion for providing underprivileged students with exposure to the beauty of the natural world.
Hans holds an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business (where he graduated in the top 5% of his class as an Arjay Miller Scholar), a Masters in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and a Bachelor of Arts from Duke University (where he graduated summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa).
Hans currently serves as a Commissioner of the Housing Authority of the County of Monterey, and as Director and Vice Chair of the housing authority’s nonprofit development arm, HDC.
Hans and his wife Meghan live in Carmel with their twin girls.
John Gamble, Trustee
John Gamble grew up in Southern California, headed north for his undergraduate studies at Stanford University. He graduated from Loyola University School of Law in Los Angeles where he was a member of the law review. He was a founding partner of his law firm, Allen, Matkins, Leck, Gamble, Mallory, and Natsis, which today has over 220 attorneys with five offices throughout California. John practiced real estate law for over 40 years managing the firm's offices in Orange County and San Francisco prior to his retirement in June of 2012. He has been involved in numerous non-profit entity activities throughout his career, and since he has retired. John was a three-term Trustee of Big Sur Land Trust and is rejoined the Board in 2023. John and his wife Laura relocated to the Monterey Peninsula in 2006. They have five adult children and eight grandchildren to enjoy.
Carmen Gil, MPA, Trustee
Carmen Gil grew up in Monterey County and has always found her grounding place to be outdoors in the middle of nature. That is why she is excited to join the Big Sur Land Trust as a Trustee. She currently works as the City of Gonzales’ Community Engagement and Strategic Partnerships Director and has a long trajectory of working with community and organizations in various capacities and has a keen ability to develop relationships that go beyond transactional to transformational. Before going to the City of Gonzales, she served as the Health in All Policies Manager for the County Health Department where she raised over $3.5 million for programs that advanced equity and supported resident leadership and capacity building.
She holds a BA in Social Work from San Jose State University and a Masters in Public Administration/Health Services Administration from the University of San Francisco. In 2014, she was elected to join the Board of Directors for Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital, which she served for four years. She lives in Gonzales with her husband and three daughters and currently serves on the Board of Alliance on Aging.
Joel Hernandez Laguna, Trustee
A longtime advocate for underserved populations on the Central Coast of California, Joel Hernandez Laguna has served as Community Impact Officer for the Community Foundation for Monterey County since 2021. In that role, he supports the management of a diverse set of portfolios with a grant-making total of more than $2.5 million.
Prior to that Joel spent a decade at the Center for Community Advocacy (CCA) where he organized, trained, and led community-based groups to advocate for better health and housing conditions in Pajaro and the Salinas Valley. In 2016, Joel became CCA’s lead organizer, managing daily operations aligned with the organization’s grants and contracts.
Joel serves on the Board of Directors of Salinas Valley Health, since 2020. In 2018, he was appointed to the Salinas Planning Commission where he served for nearly two years. In 2010, he was instrumental in helping design an early framework of the East Salinas Building Healthy Communities Initiative sponsored by The California Endowment. He began his volunteer efforts with the national radio network, Radio Bilingue 90.9 FM in Salinas.
Joel was born in Michoacán, Mexico and migrated to the United States in the 1990s. He holds two Associate of Science degrees Business Administration and Economics from Hartnell Community College and is currently pursuing an bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University. Joel and his wife Bibiana are proud parents of two wonderful daughters. He enjoys hiking, reading, and traveling with his family.
Adrienne Laurent, Trustee
Adrienne Laurent is Chief Strategic Communications Officer at Salinas Valley Health, leading teams responsible for all internal and external communication initiatives, including marketing, media relations and employee communications, as well as community outreach teams in Volunteer Services, Health Promotion, Blue Zones Project, and the Salinas Valley Health Mobile Clinic. As part of her responsibility for the development and implementation of strategic communications, Adrienne is responsible for government relations for Salinas Valley Health and she serves as executive liaison to the Board of Directors.
Prior to joining the organization in 2002, Adrienne spent 22 years in the journalism field as a television news anchor, reporter, and news director. She served on the faculty of the University of Missouri School of Journalism teaching writing and on-air skills.
Volunteer history includes the national advisory board for Associated Press Broadcast; the board of directors for the YMCA of the Central Coast; Hartnell College Foundation; and the Salinas Valley Chamber of Commerce. Adrienne graduated with a degree in Speech Communication from Humboldt State University, which she chose based solely on its proximity to old growth redwood forests. It was there she met her husband of 43 years. They have three grown sons.
Dan Lee, Trustee
Dan began his service with BSLT in 2018. Dan is a winegrower and owner of Morgan Winery and a part owner of Hog Island Oyster.
Dan grew up in the small farming community of Turlock, California and attended UC Davis, initially in medical studies. After taking a course in winemaking, he realized that this was the path that excited him because it was a blend of agriculture, science, and art. He received his BS in Microbiology and continued his masters work in the Food Science program specializing in viticulture and enology. Dan’s first job at Jekel Vineyards in the Salinas Valley brought him to the Monterey area. Later, moving to Durney Vineyard in Carmel Valley, Dan aspired to craft wine his own label, using his middle name, Morgan, as the brand name. It was at a meeting of the Monterey County Vintners and Growers that he shared his vision with a banker, Donna George, of American Farm Credit. In addition to becoming his business partner, that banker would also become Dan’s wife.
In 1982, Dan and Donna Lee opened the doors of Morgan Winery. Winning numerous awards at wine competitions put the label on the map quickly. Morgan has become one the Central Coast’s most recognized labels, earning “Winery of the Year” from Wine and Spirits Magazine, and “Winemaker of the Year” from the San Francisco Chronicle in 2003. With the formation of the Santa Lucia Highlands appellation in 1991, Dan became the first president of the group, Wine Artisans of the Santa Lucia Highlands, to promote the new area.
Dan and Donna invested in their belief in the SLH with the purchase of 65 acres that was destined to become the Double L Vineyard. Naming it after their twin daughters, the “Double Luck” twins, it has become one of best-known vineyards in the Santa Lucia Highlands. In order to honor and cherish it, Dan farms it organically, making it the only organic vineyard in the SLH. One of the “Double Luck” twins has returned to work alongside her parents and the Morgan team.
Dan’s non-profit work has been various and includes board positions with The United Way, Wine Institute of California, SLH Wine Artisans, and The Sports Car Association of Monterey County.
Dan and Donna live in the Corral de Tierra area with their dog, cat, and five chickens. Besides family and work, Dan enjoys everything food and wine, his garage with loud music/cars/motorcycles, hiking, skiing, kayaking, paddle boarding, landscaping, stock investing, their mountain cabin, and cruising Lake Tahoe in his Chris-Craft.
Will Lewallen, Ph.D., Vice-Chair
Dr. Willard (Will) Lewallen is a native Californian and a product of the California public education system where he graduated from Garey High School in Pomona. He completed a B.S. degree with honors at California State Polytechnic University at Pomona. He was a member of the 1976 national championship baseball team that was inducted into the Cal Poly Pomona Athletics Hall of Fame and he was also honored as a Cal Poly Pomona Distinguished Alumnus. Dr. Lewallen completed two master’s degrees at Purdue University and a Ph.D. at UCLA.
Dr. Lewallen served as the president/superintendent for the Hartnell Community College District for eight years before his retirement in 2019. He served as a professional in higher education for 40 years that included five years at a four-year institution (Purdue University) and 35 years in the California Community College system. Dr. Lewallen is currently a Commissioner for the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges. He served as president of the Association of California Community College Administrators, a professional organization representing over 1,100 administrators. He served five terms as Chair of the Board of Directors for the Community College Facility Coalition. He serves locally on the Board of Directors for the United Way of Monterey County and he is a member of the Salinas Rotary Club. He currently works as a search consultant for Community College Search Services assisting colleges in hiring CEOs. His record of leadership, scholarship, achievement, accomplishment, community involvement, and service is documented in his curriculum vitae which can be accessed at LinkedIn through this link (under the Featured section).
Dr. Lewallen’s hobbies and interests include guitar, fitness, fishing, and backpacking. His wife of 39 years, Michele, is a retired community college coach and health and physical education professor. She is also a certified yoga instructor. They are the proud parents of Jennifer, Kasey, and Parker, and the proud grandparents of Mina. He and Michele lead physically active lifestyles that include a commitment to physical fitness and health. They have both completed the Los Angeles Marathon twice and Michele has completed several other marathons and triathlons. They reside in Prunedale.
Andrea Manzo, Secretary
Andrea Manzo is the Executive Director for Action Council of Monterey County, Inc. and Building Healthy Communities Monterey County. Formerly Ms. Manzo served as the Regional Equity Director for Building Healthy Communities (BHC), a program of Action Council. In her former role and in her current capacity as executive director she supports Toward a Racially Equitable Monterey County, an ecosystem approach that centers resident voice and power while building capacity across multiple sectors to understand and advance racial equity through an inside-outside strategy. This is currently being done through the COLIBRI (Collaboratively, Organizing Liberation, Inclusion and Breaking Racial Inequities) Racial Equity Cohort. This cohort supports the forging of relationships between community and government to have shared learning around racial inequities to co-develop sustainable long-term solutions.
Ms. Manzo also convenes residents and community organizations via the Community Alliance for Racial Equity which focuses on implementing racial equity policies and practices within local government to increase the level of resident voice and power in decision-making processes. She is an advocate for authentic community engagement and is passionate about supporting youth to be agents of change in their community to reframe the narrative of young people.
As the daughter of immigrant parents, she is deeply rooted in her culture and loves dancing Mexican traditional dances, folklorico. Ms. Manzo is a graduate of Everett Alvarez High School and received her undergraduate degree in Chicano/a Studies and French Studies at UC Santa Barbara.
In 2015, she was honored as one of the Women of the Year by the Monterey County Commission on the Status of Women commending her work with youth on the only nationally youth-led open streets event, Ciclovía Salinas. She also currently serves as the Secretary for the Big Sur Land Trust Board and is on the City of Salinas’ Planning Commission.
Alfred Muñoz, Trustee
Alfred Muñoz was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. In 1971, Al was drafted into the military and was stationed at Fort Ord, California. The beauty of the Monterey Peninsula captivated Al's interest in making the Monterey Peninsula his home.
He recently retired from his position as Vice President of Administrative Services at Hartnell Community College and continues to support Hartnell College by serving as a board member of the Hartnell Community College Foundation. He is currently the secretary of the foundation, member of the finance committee, and arts council of the foundation. Al is chair of the Bond Oversight Council for Hartnell as well as a member of the North Monterey County Hartnell Facility Planning Committee.
Al received a Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Sonoma State University and a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from Golden Gate University. While employed by a local CPA firm, he received his CPA license. He then moved on to work in the healthcare industry as a Corporate Finance Officer. After several years in this position, Al left the healthcare industry to complete his professional career at Hartnell College.
Al and his wife Jackie are proud parents of two adult children and two grandchildren. Jackie retired from her position as Superintendent of the Aromas-San Juan Bautista Unified School District. Al and Jackie are committed to education, in all forms, for our youth and adults in Monterey and San Benito counties.
Having the good fortune to live on the Central Coast, Al and Jackie have enjoyed walks on the local beaches, hiking Fremont Peak, and kayaking in Elkhorn Slough.
Larry Oda, Trustee
Larry Oda has been a Trustee since 2017 and serves as co-chair of the Committee On Trustees and is a member of the Internal Operations and Audit Committees. He believes that the beauty that surrounds us must be preserved and shared with future generations; Big Sur Land Trust promises to do that.
Larry's family came to the Monterey Peninsula early in the 1900s to work in the fishing industry. His grandfather was the owner of the Seapride Canning Company on Monterey's Cannery Row and his father was the general manager of the Abalone Processing Co Op on Monterey's Fisherman's Wharf prior to World War II. Because of the removal of the Japanese population from the West coast, Larry was born in a Justice Department Internment Camp in Crystal City, Texas during World War II, and returned to live in Monterey, California since 1946. Larry was educated in Monterey city schools and received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from California State University, Fresno.
Larry retired as the Maintenance Superintendent of the City of Salinas, California overseeing the maintenance and repair of city infrastructure; streets, sewers, buildings, parks, and equipment and served as an Administrative Hearing Officer.
Larry is a member of the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) and as a past national president, continues to serve as an ex officio member of the organization's National Board. He has also served as Vice President for General Operations, Secretary Treasurer, and Chairman of the US/Japan Education, and Financial Oversight Committees. Larry served as a member of the National Japanese American Memorial Foundation Board of Directors and served as its chairperson. In recognition of his exemplary service, he was given the honorary title of Chairman Emeritus.
Although much of his family's history revolves around the ocean, since Larry suffers seasickness, his interests have focused on more land-based and aesthetic activities such as park and landscape design and maintenance, as well as a preservation of the history of Japanese and other ethnic groups in the Monterey region.
Monica Tovar, Trustee
As Director of Sales for Stephens Media Group (KWAV, 101.7 The Beach, The Hippo, KPIG and 95.5 BOB), Monica creates and oversees marketing strategies for local and regional businesses. Her professional background consists of 22 years of experience in multiple media groups, including Entravision Communications and iHeart Media.
Her passion for community engagement has led her to become involved in a range of charitable activities, including Board of Governors of Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital Foundation, Board Member for the United Way of Monterey County, mentoring at Hartnell College’s Women’s Educational Leadership Institute and serving as a board member and Past President for the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center. In 2016, Monica started #100MilesofCourage to raise awareness for sexual assault and child abuse. Her efforts led her to be the recipient of the 2016 Monterey County Rape Crisis Center Philanthropy Award.
Aside from her professional and philanthropic endeavors, Monica is committed to maintaining a healthy quality of life. Monica took on the sport of running to help her address health concerns and stay physically active. Running not only allowed her to participate in several local races but to realize the incredible benefit of outdoor activities. She now views outdoor activities essential to maintaining good physical and mental health. Monica can often be found hiking local trails and soaking in the beauty and inspiration our local lands have to offer. She is dedicated to advocating for community accessibility, promoting community wellness, and continuing to value our local natural resources.
Monica resides in Salinas, happily married to her husband William with three amazing children.