Board Of Directors

Marie Andel

Chair

Marie Andel

Chair

Marie’s love of the outdoors began early when her teacher parents would take the whole family camping for the summer. She is retired from a long career in the insurance business with a focus on all things related to people, culture and communications. A longtime champion of diversity and inclusion, Marie is delighted to bring her business experience and community leadership to Sonoma Land Trust. Marie feels fortunate to call Sonoma home and, as a board member, to help develop long-term land protection strategies to preserve the astounding beauty of Sonoma County for future generations.

Allison Sanford

Immediate Past Chair

Allison Sanford

Immediate Past Chair

Allison is a graduate of Whittier College, where she majored in communications and performing arts. After a career in marketing, she served as staff director for county supervisor Tim Smith until her retirement in 2009. Soon after, Allison joined the Sonoma Land Trust board and served as board chair from 2018 to 2021. She has also been a board member of Tomorrow’s Leaders Today, which focuses on youth development issues. Allison resides in Santa Rosa, where she raised her children, and where she now nourishes her garden and grandchildren. She is married to Santa Rosa attorney Pat Emery.

Tim Portwood

Vice Chair

Tim Portwood

Vice Chair

Tim is Of Counsel with Marts & Lundy, an international fundraising consultancy. He joined the firm in 2008 following a long career in development at Stanford University, where he directed two major campaigns and later served as vice president for development at Stanford Hospital. His clients have included top universities and leading environmental, scientific and cultural organizations. Previously, Tim practiced law in San Francisco for eight years. He earned an AB degree from Stanford and a JD from Duke. Tim and his partner, Jim Lauber, live in Monte Rio and enjoy the diverse natural wonders of Sonoma County.

Scott Hafner

Vice Chair

Scott Hafner

Vice Chair

Scott has roots in Sonoma County that go back 50 years to when his family purchased an old prune and pear orchard in Alexander Valley, east of Healdsburg. The family enterprise is now a 100-acre vineyard and a small winery, where he oversees marketing and finance. Summers in the Sierras as a boy gave Scott a deep appreciation for the natural beauty of California. He supports SLT as a board member and longtime donor, following in his mother’s footsteps, who served as a board member for 10 years. Scott and his spouse, Bill Glenn, live in rural Santa Rosa.

Judy Scotchmoor

Secretary

Judy Scotchmoor

Secretary

Judy is retired from a long career in science education, first as a classroom teacher and then as assistant director of the University of California Museum of Paleontology. She received several national awards for her efforts to increase public understanding of how science works and its importance in our world. A Sonoma resident for more than 30 years, Judy became a founding member of Impact100 Sonoma and served on its board for five years as communications chair. In 2016, she joined the Sonoma Land Trust board. In her spare time, she enjoys hiking, kayaking and scruffling cats.

Gregory Appling

Board Member

Gregory Appling

Board Member

Gregory currently serves as board clerk for the Gravenstein Unified School District, where he has focused his energy and efforts on helping provide the best education possible for all students in the district. Gregory received his B.S. in Marine and Environmental Science from Hampton University and worked in the environmental sciences until 2007 when he transitioned to residential construction. He currently resides in Sebastopol with his family.

Jennifer Bice

Board Member

Jennifer Bice

Board Member

Jennifer Bice is the founder of Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery in Sebastopol. The Creamery makes award-winning cheese, yogurt and kefir. Bice was inducted into the American Cheese Society Academy of Cheese in 2011 as one of the eight pioneers of artisan goat cheese in the United States. Bice recently sold Redwood Hill Farm & Creamery to Emmi, a Swiss-based dairy and cheese company. She has been involved with Sonoma Land Trust for more than two decades as a supporter and business partner.

Simon Blattner

Board Member

Simon Blattner

Board Member

For his entire life, Simon has been a supporter of land conservation and Sonoma Land Trust is a perfect place for him to make open space and conservation become reality. For over 35 years, Simon was President and CEO of Rittenhouse Paper Company and, later, he became a handmade paper maker and book arts printer. In his partial retirement, he maintains a small real estate and real estate development practice. Along with the Land Trust, Simon continues his volunteer work with La Luz, Sonoma Valley Hospital and the Sonoma Valley Museum.

Robert Brent

Board Member

Robert Brent

Board Member

Robert is an entrepreneur. He joined the Sonoma Land Trust board in 1992 and served as interim executive director of the organization in 2002 and 2003. Robert founded or served on the boards of Lasercraft, Dri-Water, Inc., Virtual Warehouse, Calliope Designs, T& Design, and he is also a former president of the Harmony United School District Board of Trustees. Robert is the inventor of the Brent potter’s wheel and a longtime board member of the Sebastopol Center for the Arts. He lives in Sebastopol with his wife, Paula.

Dianne Brinson

Board Member

Dianne Brinson

Board Member

Dianne is a graduate of Duke University and Yale Law School. During her career, she served as an attorney, law professor, author and publisher. Originally from Mississippi, Dianne has Southern roots; however, once her husband, Mark Brinson, introduced her to California, and Sonoma County in particular, she was sold. Moving from the San Francisco Peninsula, Dianne and Mark made their permanent move to Sonoma County in 2020. Diane joined the Sonoma Land Trust board in 2021. She has also served on the board of the Intellectual Property Section of the California Bar and the Friends of the Portola Valley Library.

Clay Clement

Board Member

Clay Clement

Board Member

Clay is a business trial lawyer and mediator. His practice is largely devoted to real estate litigation, including land use, property tax and eminent domain. He has practiced in Sonoma County since 1972. A graduate of the University of the Pacific and Boalt Hall School of Law at UC Berkeley, Clay has been a board member of the Santa Rosa Youth Soccer League, the Sonoma County Family YMCA and the Redwood Empire Blood Bank, in addition to Sonoma Land Trust. He lives in Santa Rosa.

Duncan Higgons

Board Member

Duncan Higgons

Board Member

After a successful full-time career in biotechnology developing new therapies for patients, Duncan moved to Sonoma in 2015. He spends his time on his three passions: mentoring start-up biotechnology companies, charitable work — specifically land preservation and conservation — and lifelong learning, travel and outdoor activities. Participation on the board of the Sonoma Land Trust allows him to combine his charitable work with his love of nature. He is an avid hiker and outdoorsman.

Steven Hightower

Board Member

Steven Hightower

Board Member

Steven first experienced Sonoma on a wine exploration trip from SoCal in the early ’60s — the “on the land“ part was sleeping in a cow pasture as the group had no funds for hotels. Hightower is retired from a career as an entrepreneur and small business partner in the real estate technology arena. He is an interested and very amateur botanist, being a UCE Master Gardener emeritus, and a former docent, board member and board president of the Sonoma Botanical Garden in Glen Ellen. With his wife Troy and three rescue cats, he lives on the flanks of Sonoma Mountain, overlooking the Mayacamas, where the Land Trust has done so much important land conservation work. Hiking Sonoma parks and biking the Valley keep him connected with the land.

Quincey Tompkins Imhoff

Board Member

Quincey Tompkins Imhoff

Board Member

Quincey is a longtime conservationist and community activist, both here in Sonoma County and internationally. She is the VP and former executive director of the Foundation for Deep Ecology, whose mission is to support and advocate on behalf of wild nature. The Foundation was founded by her late father, Doug Tompkins (North Face, Esprit, Patagonia Preserve in Chile) and her mother Susie Tompkins Buell (Esprit, philanthropist). Quincey serves on the Land Trust’s North County Advisory Council and spearheaded the community effort to stop logging at Felta Creek. She and her husband, Dan Imhoff, live in Healdsburg and raised two children. Quincey is a photographer and project manager for a wide variety of projects focusing on education, community and the environment. She has a BA from the University of California, Berkeley.

Philip Jensen

Board Member

Philip Jensen

Board Member

Philip J. Jensen has been a partner with Paul Capital since 2001 and brings over 35 years of experience as a senior financial executive and certified public accountant. Previous positions held include Chief Financial Officer of the California Division of Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Hospitals, Chief Financial Officer of McKesson Corporation’s drug distribution business, and partner with Deloitte. Jensen holds a B.S. in business administration from San Francisco State University and is a California Certified Public Accountant (inactive). Jensen currently resides in the city of Sonoma.

Nancy Otto

Board Member

Nancy Otto

Board Member

Nancy Otto, senior consultant with Klein and Roth Consulting, brings to the board over 25 years of experience with nonprofit organizations. Prior experience includes over 10 years with the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California, the National Immigration Forum, and Interim Associate Director and Development Director for several nonprofits. Today, she works exclusively with nonprofit organizations, such as the California State Parks Foundation and the Land Trust Alliance. She resides in Sereno Del Mar north of Bodega Bay. When she’s not dedicating herself to nonprofit work, she’s an artist working with blown glass.

Ellie Rilla

Board Member

Ellie Rilla

Board Member

Ellie has always loved working outdoors, where she combined working with young adults with her career training in environmental restoration. With degrees in biology and an MPA, a project working with ranchers on the Sonoma Coast led to her longtime position with the University of California in Marin and Sonoma Counties. She worked closely with producers to grow local agriculture through diversification strategies: agritourism, value-added marketing, organic conversion and conservation easements. The author of practical books on agritourism and the artisan cheese business, Ellie and her husband, Patrick, maintain a small farm in the coastal hills west of Sebastopol.

Wendy Smit

Board Member

Wendy Smit

Board Member

Wendy’s interest in wild lands began early while camping and hiking with her family. She earned a BA in economics at Stanford University, and then worked as a commodity trader and in mortgage finance. She and her husband, Steve, moved to the Alexander Valley 25 years ago where he works in the wine business and they raised two children. An active member of the local chapter of the California Native Plant Society, Wendy loves to hike and garden. Preserving the agricultural and wild lands of our county are top priorities for her.

Michael Valdovinos

Board Member

Michael Valdovinos

Board Member

Michael is a board-certified clinical psychologist, trained organizational psychologist and avid outdoorsperson who understands the intersection between nature, the needs of the Latinx community and the opportunity for deeper community engagement. Born and raised in Sonoma County along the Russian River, Michael graduated from UC Davis and The School of Professional Psychology. He also served in the U.S. Air Force as an executive officer and operational psychologist, retiring as a major. Currently a student at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, Michael works at Facebook as the Safety Policy Manager, Health and Well-Being. He and his wife, Alison, live in Sebastopol where they are raising two young daughters and attending to an organic apple orchard.

Peter Van Alyea

Board Member

Peter Van Alyea

Board Member

Peter is the founder and owner of Redwood Oil Company, a Sonoma-based oil distributorship that owns and operates 22 convenience stores in communities from Sonoma County to the Oregon border. He also is a grape grower in Dry Creek Valley. Peter holds a BA in economics from Colby College and an MBA from the University of Chicago Business School. He has served as a volunteer on nonprofit boards as well as trade associations, most recently as president of the Winegrowers of Dry Creek Valley. Peter is very interested in helping to preserve the natural beauty of Sonoma County.

Lewis Warren

Board Member

Lewis Warren

Board Member

Lewis Warren is a shareholder of the law firm Abbey, Weitzenberg, Warren & Emery. Warren brings with him more than three decades of experience practicing law. His experience encompasses all facets of civil litigation, including jury and court trials, binding arbitrations, appellate work, and a wide range of law and motion practice. He is past president of the Sonoma County Bar Association, of which he served on the executive committee from 2007 to 2011.