Greg Takehara (He/Him)  
CEO  
Tourism Cares  

There are many faces of Tourism Cares and as CEO, I am fortunate to be one. I have strived to be a poster child for the organization since its very beginning. The inaugural Ellis Island event in 2003 sparked an interest to give back to our travel and tourism industry. I volunteered throughout the years, became a team leader, then a board member and from there, was honored to become its Chairman and subsequently, its CEO. I believe that progression wasn’t a coincidence. We have a lot of work to do, creating and inspiring positive social and environmental impact, to ensure an enduring sustainable future, so we need your help and support. Please reach out to me at any time.

Andy Chapman
President & CEO
Lake Tahoe Incline Village Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau  

Andy Chapman is the President & CEO of the Lake Tahoe Incline Village Crystal Bay Visitors Bureau and has worked in the Lake Tahoe tourism industry for more than 30 years. Andy currently sits on the Tahoe Transportation District Board of Directors, the Reno Sparks Convention and Visitors Authority Board of Directors and the Destinations Management Association West Board of Directors. Andy is the past chair of the Regional Air Service Corporation and Visit California’s Rural Tourism Advocacy Council. When not at his desk or serving on boards, Andy can be found on the trails, slopes and waters around the Lake Tahoe region enjoying whatever the day throws his way.

Marlena Freitas
Director of Sales
Palisades Tahoe 

Marlena Freitas, Director of Sales for Palisades Tahoe, has been a travel industry professional for over 25 years. She spent many years working in group sales in the San Francisco Bay area. In 2011, she moved to South Lake Tahoe and spend 9 years promoting the destination as VP of Sales and Marketing at the Ridge Resorts. She has served on the Board of Directors for the South Lake Tahoe Lodging Association. She is an avid skier and has one of the biggest hearts for Lake Tahoe. She moved to Palisades in 2020 and was on the committee involved with the name change.

Aleah Bradshaw (She/They)
Youth Speaks

Aleah Bradshaw, known performatively as Nyfe, is a 26-year-old performing artist, writer, and educator. They have a passion for poetry and hip hop but are endlessly curious about all tools of liberation and creative expression. They were born and raised in Aurora, Colorado by two Trinidadian American immigrant parents, their older brother, and a community who both inspired and supported their creativity. They now live in California, where they work as an artist and educator while managing their own small business and collective.

Rhiana Jones
Environmental Director
Washoe Tribe Environmental Protection Department

Rhiana Jones is of Wášiw and Akimel O’odham descent and grew up in the Hung-a-lel-ti community in Woodfords, California. Rhiana holds a Master of Science degree in Plant and Environmental Science with a minor in Applied Statistics, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Botany. She has worked on projects relating to invasive species encroachment in Costa Rica, climate change effects on flowering times and bumblebee emergence, and most recently, preservation of Indigenous Knowledge Systems of native bees in Bolivia. Rhiana has been with the Washoe Environmental Protection Department for just over 2 years and enjoys working with the community to preserve and protect Washoe homelands. Rhiana is passionate about ethnobotany, conservation, and sustainability. In her free time, she enjoys scientific illustration, hiking, and swimming in Lake Tahoe.

Herman Filmore
Culture/Language Resources Director
Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California

Herman is currently the Culture/Language Resources Director for the Washoe Tribe. As an elementary student Herman attended Wášiw Wagayay Máŋal (the house where Washoe is spoken), a language immersion school where the focus was on the revitalization of Wášiw Language and Culture. In 2012 he graduated from the University of New Mexico where he majored in Native American Studies and minored in the field of Linguistics. Herman’s passion since an early age has been the revitalization of Wášiw Language and Culture and the protection of Waší∙šiw ɁítdeɁ (the homelands of the Washoe people).

Amy Berry
CEO
The Tahoe Fund

As CEO of the Tahoe Fund, Amy is responsible for working with the Tahoe Fund’s board of directors to operate the organization and raise private and public funds for environmental improvement projects that will restore and enhance the Lake Tahoe region. In her role, she has raised more than $10M from private funders and developed a portfolio of more than 50 environmental improvement projects.

Spencer Cox (He/Him)  
Communications & Corporate Relations Manager
SOS Outreach 

Spencer Cox is the Communications and Corporate Relations Manager for SOS Outreach. With a background in both nonprofit work and the outdoor industry, Spencer is committed to creating a more equitable and inclusive outdoors. In his free time, you can find Spencer running, biking, skiing, or climbing depending on the season!

Marina Gardiner
Guest Services Director
Achieve Tahoe

Marina started with Achieve Tahoe as a participant and learned how to monoski in 2000, and joined as a staff member in 2011. She has a Bachelor’s degree in Art History from the University of California, Berkeley and dual Master’s degree in Art History, Theory and Criticism and Art Administration and Policy from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. Marina leads our team of friendly reservationists, coordinates group scheduling, outreach, and communications. She is a Tahoe native and enjoys assisting our participants in experiencing the freedom and joy of outdoor recreation in Tahoe. 

Leslie Hsu Oh
Leslie’s Website

Leslie Hsu Oh was born in North Carolina to parents of Chinese descent and adopted by Tlingit (Łingit) of the Raven moiety, Copper River Clan, House of the Owl and Navajo of the Red Running into Water People Clan. According to the Editor-in-Chief of Alpinist Magazine, "Leslie is one of the most innovative outdoor writers today. Her prose style has a combination of spare lyricism, perfect rhythm and sensory power that seems almost like magic, bringing her readers fully into the worlds she re-creates.” She is a 7-time gold medalist and 5-time silver medalist in four consecutive NATJA awards. Her writing and photography have also won awards like the Lowell Thomas. In addition to being named White House Champions of Change for AAPI Art and Storytelling and founding the longest-running Schweitzer Fellowship project, she has explored nearly all the national parks in the United States and Canada. Leslie has a degree in biology, ethnobotany, MFA in creative nonfiction and public health from Harvard.

Giovanni Douresseau
Philanthropist & Chief Intrepreneurial Officer
Symbiotics U

Pablo Päster (He/Him)
Practice Lead - Digital Climate Solutions  
South Pole

Pablo is a Practice Lead within the Digital Climate Solutions group of South Pole, a climate consultancy and carbon offset project developer with 900 climate professionals around the world and is making "Climate Action for All" a reality through innovative digital solutions. Pablo has worked on tackling climate change for 20 years as a consultant, author of the Ask Pablo column on Treehugger.com, and with several enterprise GHG management software companies. When not trying to save the world, Pablo can be found skiing, mountain biking, and backpacking with his kids around beautiful North Lake Tahoe.

Jeremy Sampson 
Chief Executive Officer
Travel Foundation 

Jeremy is a globally recognized leader, facilitator, speaker, and advocate working at the crossroads of tourism, community engagement, and conservation. During his career he has supported businesses and destinations all around the world to improve their understanding and management of the impacts of tourism, accelerate their response to the climate crisis, develop and promote more inclusive visitor economies, and integrate sustainability across the value chain.  
Jeremy was instrumental in setting up the Future of Tourism Coalition in 2020, and currently serves as the Chair of this global movement representing 6 NGOs and 700 signatories. He also serves on the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s Destination Stewardship Working Group and was a Co-Author of the Glasgow Declaration on Climate Action and Tourism, launched at COP26 in Scotland. 
In his current role as CEO of nonprofit The Travel Foundation, Jeremy leads a global team focused on transforming the international travel and tourism sector to become more equitable and climate-positive for communities and the environment.

Heather Segale (She/Her)
Education and Outreach Director
UC Davis

Heather Segale is responsible for providing intellectual and administrative leadership in the education and outreach component of the mission for TERC. Segale manages the Tahoe Science Center (Incline Village) and Eriksson Education Center (Tahoe City), develops, and maintains exhibits, coordinates education programming, pursues funding opportunities, and manages grants for education exhibits and programs. She also coordinates TERC's participation in regional outreach and oversees the marketing plans for TERC's two science education centers.

Gen Lawrence (She/Her)  
Director of Sustainability
MaCher

Genevieve Lawrence is the Sustainability and Impact Director at MaCher, a firm using data and academic research to design and manufacture sustainable products which drive human behavior and get brands noticed. 
Genevieve provides leadership for MaCher’s global initiatives, centered around decarbonization, waste reduction and uplifting underrepresented voices, as well consulting for other businesses in the travel, retail, and beauty sectors. Her expertise covers impact measurement, sustainability strategy for supply chains, stakeholder engagement, greenhouse gas reduction and implementing circularity principles. Her work is driven by the belief that we are better together; every individual has the power to create a positive change and influence systems change to create a more equitable world.  

Paula Vlamings  
Chief Impact Officer 
Tourism Cares  

Tourism Cares works to create a positive impact through tourism so my role as the Chief Impact Officer is to help identify, leverage, and activate our members’ ability to do just that. My decade in politics prior to Tourism Cares incorporated diplomacy, community engagement and multi-sector collaborations into my work, which I believe are crucial to lasting change. By connecting social enterprises, community-based tourism, and sustainability leaders to the wider industry, we can make travel a force for good.

Colin West
Founder & Executive Director 
Clean Up The Lake

Colin West has 10 years of experience as a SCUBA diver and is a certified PADI Divemaster. With a decade of experience as the Owner, Director, and Executive Producer (EP) of a film & television production company, he has managed overseas operations, including project logistics, documentation, & personnel from 5 to 30 people on set at a time. His content has aired on networks such as Amazon Prime, ABC International, HULU, Virgin Media, In Flight Entertainment programs & more. Colin’s expertise in multi-faceted project management, campaign development & SCUBA help to guide our organization to success.

Alexis Ollar, MS & GISP 
Executive Director
Mountain Area Preservation 

Alexis has lived and worked in the Tahoe area since 2005. She has served as the Executive Director for Mountain Area Preservation (MAP) for more than a decade and loves the Tahoe community and environment! Alexis completed her Masters of Science from Humboldt State University, focusing on Geospatial Science and the Environment & Community program. Her passion for conservation and environmental stewardship began in Hawaii, where she finished her bachelor's in Environmental Science from Hawaii Pacific University. In her professional career, she has helped further watershed restoration, environmental education, trail restoration and development, geospatial analysis, land use planning and policy, grant writing, and open space fundraising. Alexis currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Martis Fund and is a founding Board Member for the Tahoe Food Hub. Before serving as the Executive Director for MAP, she was employed by Hawaii State Parks, the Tahoe Rim Trail Association, Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, and the California Center for Rural Policy.

Marilee Movius 
Community Engagement Manager
Keep Tahoe Blue 

Marilee oversees the League’s volunteer program, cultivates local partnerships, designs educational materials, and organizes the League’s community events, including its cleanup efforts that have removed thousands of pounds of trash from Tahoe’s beaches and neighborhoods. She also coordinates much needed environmental restoration events to strengthen Tahoe’s resilience to climate change and empower residents and visitors to raise awareness and take direct action to Keep Tahoe Blue.

Heather Segale (She/Her)
Education and Outreach Director
UC Davis

Heather Segale is responsible for providing intellectual and administrative leadership in the education and outreach component of the mission for TERC. Segale manages the Tahoe Science Center (Incline Village) and Eriksson Education Center (Tahoe City), develops, and maintains exhibits, coordinates education programming, pursues funding opportunities, and manages grants for education exhibits and programs. She also coordinates TERC's participation in regional outreach and oversees the marketing plans for TERC's two science education centers.

Patti Taggart
Treasurer 
Slow Food Lake Tahoe

Patti moved from Chicago to California in the early 80s. She is a life-long gardener, learning her love of the earth from her mother, who was a founding member of the Illinois Garden Club. She is especially interested in promoting healthy eating habits among low-income groups in order to affect social determinants of health. Social determinants of health are resources that enhance quality of life that can have a significant influence on population health outcomes. Examples of these resources include safe and affordable housing, access to education, public safety, availability of healthy foods, local emergency/health services, and environments free of life-threatening toxins. In 2018, Patti became a full-time resident of Truckee. She began volunteering in the garden in 2019 and felt an immediate kinship with the mission of Slow Food Lake Tahoe. Patti is the mom of two children and has three amazing grandkids. In addition to gardening, Patti is an avid skier and ski instructor for persons with disabilities.

Sherry McConkey
Founder & Director
The Shane McConkey Foundation and Eco Challenge

Sherry McConkey was raised in South Africa and left in 1988 to travel the world, eventually stumbling on Lake Tahoe, which she has called home for the past 30 years.  After her husband, legendary skier Shane McConkey died in 2009, Sherry founded the Shane McConkey Foundation (SMF) to continue his legacy. Over the past 12 years, SMF has donated over $700,000 to causes both Shane and Sherry care about, including, animal welfare, scholarships for first-generation college-bound students, random acts of kindness (RAD), and the environment. In 2016 Sherry expanded the Shane McConkey Foundation to include the Shane McConkey Eco-Challenge, a competition for students nationwide to learn about and implement environmental change.  Since its inception, 2500 students nationwide have participated - with winning teams earning up to $22,000 for their schools. 

Sherry is inspired by living in this wonderful community of amazing athletes, families, and forward-thinking people.  She loves seeing positive growth and is dedicated to continuing to contribute toward sustainable and beneficial life practices through her work, play, and passions.  Sherry lives in Olympic Valley with her daughter Ayla.