Community Environmental Council Welcomes New Staff and Board Members, Elects New Slate of Board Officers
CEC Hits the Ground Running on Climate Action in 2023 With New Staff & Board Leadership
Individual photos for this release can be found here.
FEBRUARY 9, 2023 (SANTA BARBARA, CALIF) – The Community Environmental Council (CEC) continues to expand upon its mission to tackle pressing climate impacts across California’s Central Coast region, and recently welcomed five new staff members and one new board member to its growing roster. In addition, the Board elected a new slate of Officers.
New to the Board this year is Christopher Knowlton, former staff writer and London Bureau Chief for Fortune Magazine and the retired president of Knowlton Brothers Inc. See bio below. CEC’s Board of Directors is composed of 16 community leaders with a diverse breadth of experience in business management, non-profit governance and financial oversight, providing strong direction and leadership to help CEC fulfill its mission.
In addition, the Board elected the following slate of Officers at its January meeting: President — Barbara Lindemann; 1st Vice President — Charles Newman; 2nd Vice President — Nadra Ehrman; Secretary — Christine DeVries; and Treasurer — Chris Knowlton.
“We are doubling down on our commitment to solve climate change and have more than doubled the size of our team over the last two years thanks to the community’s investment,” said Community Environmental Council CEO & Executive Director, Sigrid Wright. “This year we are focusing on adding expertise in financial and project management, organizational development, and bringing on staff members with bilingual skills and deep roots in the Central Coast communities we serve.”
The Community Environmental Council also welcomed four new staff members in recent months. These individuals bring a wealth of knowledge and local experience, building CEC’s capacity to go all-in together on halting the climate crisis — rapidly and equitably. New staff include:
Emily Kopp, Development Assistant
Juan Lares, Energy & Transportation Associate
Sean McArthur, Energy & Transportation Associate (starts 2/13/23)
Rosheil Ramirez, Climate Education & Leadership Program Associate
Michael Sarrassat, Energy & Transportation Projects Manager
About New Board Member Christopher Knowlton
Knowlton is a former staff writer and London Bureau Chief for Fortune Magazine and the retired president of Knowlton Brothers Inc., a money management firm that invested in emerging technology and medical companies. Chris has served on the board of directors of the Foundation for Child Development, a New York non-profit devoted to the reform of public-school education in the U.S., on the Council of Fellows of the Morgan Library & Museum, and on the board of trustees of the Teton Raptor Center in Wilson, Wyoming. More recently, he spent six years as a trustee of the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History and Sea Center, where he chaired the board. Chris has a Bachelor of Arts from Harvard University. He is the author of two business and environmental histories: Cattle Kingdom (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017), about the connection between the open range cattle era and the conservation movement; and Bubble in the Sun (Simon & Schuster, 2020),about the impact of the Florida land boom on the Florida Everglades.
Visit www.cecsb.org to see full membership lists and bios for Board of Directors, Partnership Council, President’s Council, and CEC staff.
About the Community Environmental Council (CEC)
Recognized as a 2020 California Nonprofit of the Year and 2020 City of Santa Barbara Climate Hero, CEC has worked since 1970 to incubate and innovate real life environmental solutions that directly affect the California Central Coast. Our current work advances rapid and equitable solutions to the climate crisis – including ambitious zero carbon goals, drawdown of excess carbon, and protection against the impacts of climate change. Our programs lead to clean vehicles, solar energy, resilient food systems and reduction of single-use plastic. Learn more about why CEC is one of only five nonprofits in Santa Barbara County to have the highest possible ratings on Charity Navigator and Guidestar at CECSB.org/impact. Find CEC on the web at CECSB.org and on Facebook.com/CECSB, Instagram.com/CEC_SB, Twitter.com/CECSB, and LinkedIn.com/CECSB.