Board & Staff

2023 Board of Directors

President Jessica Jane Robinson and Board Members Devin Jackson
and Freddy Coronado Barraza at the
CAW Birthday Party, August, 2022

Jessica Robinson, President, Social Media Chair and Zero Waste Schools
David Krueger, Vice President and Finance Committee Chair
David Hott, Treasurer and RU Program Committee
Alina Bekkerman, Secretary and Membership Engagement and Activities
Julia Au, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Co-Chair
Susan Blachman, Zero Food Waste Forum Co-Chair
Freddy Coronado, RU Program Committee and Zero Waste Youth
Tim Dewey-Mattia, Membership Engagement and Activities (MEAC) Co-Chair
Devin Jackson, Zero Waste Schools Chair 
Bailey Hall, Zero Waste Advocacy Committee Co-Chair
Randy Russell, New Board Member

Staff
Portia Sinnott, Executive Director – since 2022, and Newsletter Editor – since 2011
Juliana Gerber, Financial Coordinator – since 2021 and Administrative Coordinator – 2016-2021
Chris Sparnicht, IT Consultant – since 2016
Bonnie Betts, Social Media, Marketing & Newsletter Associate – since 2020
Board Bios                     Staff Bios

Jessica Robinson, M.A.S.C., Climate Leader, Resilience Birthright (term ends 12/2024)

Jessica Jane Robinson has a BA degree in Performing Arts and Social Justice, minor in dance from the University of San Francisco. Jessica participated as Miss Alameda for the 2010 and 2011 Miss California USA pageant; with the platform of reducing landfill and greenhouse gas emissions and promoting clean technology and energy. As Miss Alameda, Jessica has sought to encourage behavior changes among the public by promoting Alameda’s recycling and composting program in local schools and businesses. She is one of the founders of the MASC program (Miss Alameda Says Compost), recruiting restaurants in Alameda to recycle and compost. She has helped the City of Alameda reach 75% diversion goal in 2012, by the success of her programs and outreach. Currently, she is developing a transmedia project called “Resilience: Birthright,” with the goal to inspire cultural and social change with the help of entertainment and multi-media.

David Krueger, Solid Waste Programs Division Manager, City of Sunnyvale (term ends 12/2023)
David Krueger manages the Sunnyvale Materials Recovery and Transfer (SMaRT) Station and the collection franchise agreement. Until January 1, 2021 he administered all aspects of the City of San Ramon’s recycling programs.  He has over 26 years of professional experience in the recycling industry, and has worked for the City of San Jose, Waste Management’s Davis St. Transfer Station, and as a consultant with R.W. Beck and Associates and HF&H.  He has served on the Alameda County Source Reduction and Recycling Board and the California Resource Recovery Association’s Board of Directors.  Mr. Krueger’s areas of expertise include construction/demolition debris recycling, Materials Recovery Facility operations, and organics composting. He joined the NCRA Board in May 2015 and served as president for 4.5 years starting in 2018.

David Hott, Director of Operations, Loaves & Fishes Family Kitchen (term ends 12/2024)

With an educational background in Collaborative Health and Human Services from the University of California Monterey Bay, David brings extensive work experience in food recovery and corporate leadership. David serves as the Director of Operations at Loaves and Fishes in Silicon Valley, the home of the A La Carte Program. He holds a Board Position on the Northern California Recycling Association (NCRA) and is certified as a Practitioner in Zero Waste Principles and Practices from SWANA. A San Francisco Bay area native, David spends his free time as a wilderness guide in the backcountry of Yosemite.

Alina Bekkerman, Zero Waste Specialist, (term ends 12/2024)
Alina began shifting her career focus from marketing data towards sustainability and Zero Waste in 2014 while traveling in Ecuador. Connecting with the local community abroad, she collaborated on a recycling education initiative called Proyecto Puerto López Limpio, engaging the youth and municipality in a 3-week long project and Earth Day fair.  As a Zero Waste Specialist

Tim Dewey-Mattia, Recycling & Public Education Manager, Napa Recycling & Waste ServicesTim_website photo_b&w (term ends 12/2023)
Tim Dewey-Mattia is the Recycling & Public Education Manager for Napa Recycling & Waste Services. Napa Recycling operates Napa’s Recycling & Composting Facility, and is the local franchise hauler for the City of Napa and southern Napa County. Tim got his start in Zero Waste over 25 years ago –  first with the Middlebury College recycling program and then for several non-profit recycling organizations in San Francisco. He has been at Napa Recycling for 16+ years and works on all aspects of program development, implementation, compliance and outreach…plus he’s talked about chickens, earthquakes and fires at Recycling Update.

Susan Blachman, Consultant, Blachman Consulting (term ends 12/2023)
Ms. Blachman is a consultant in environmental sustainability, economic development, equity and social justice with over 30 years experience. A passionate zero food waste advocate, Blachman is doing her best to get organics out of landfill; she regularly incorporates leftovers into her family’s meals, enjoys the challenge of shopping her fridge before heading out to the market and is chairing NCRA’s Zero Food Waste Committee. Ms. Blachman served as Associate Director for the Environmental Finance Center, Region IX at Dominican University of California for many years. She holds a Master of Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley and a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Julia Au, Sr. Outreach, Education and Compliance Manager, RethinkWaste (term ends 12/2024)
Julia has worked on environmental policy, outreach and education for over a decade while at RethinkWaste, San Mateo County, California Product Stewardship Council, SF Department of the Environment, and Californians Against Waste. She has been involved in a variety of programs and initiatives, from household hazardous waste outreach and policy to bag ban and safe medicine disposal ordinances and recycling and composting campaigns. Julia is passionate about motivating positive environmental behavior change and boosting awareness throughout the community via research, creative outreach, and sound policy. Julia holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Policy Analysis and Planning with a Water Quality emphasis from the University of California, Davis.

Freddy Coronado, Residential Zero Waste Specialist, San Francisco Department of the Environment  and Advisor to Zero Waste Youth USA (term ends 12/2023)
Freddy Coronado is a proud member of the San Francisco Bay Area Latinx, Zero Waste and queer communities. He works for the San Francisco Department of the Environment as the Residential Zero Waste Specialist where he implements San Francisco’s Zero Waste policies and programs across the residential sector.  His seven plus year Zero Waste experience includes working with multifamily buildings, property managers, large refuse generators, event producers, and affordable housing properties. In the past he has worked on projects with Cascadia Consulting, Envirolutions, Recology and Gigantic Idea Studio. Freddy recently assisted the City of Sausalito with the implementation of its Single-Use Plastics Ban Ordinance.  Since 2014, Freddy has been an active member of Zero Waste Youth USA, where he is now an advisor to the youth-led organization.

Bailey Hall, Zero Waste Coordinator, City of Sunnyvale (term ends 12/2023)
Bailey Hall is an Environmental Programs Specialist/Zero Waste Coordinator in the Environmental Services Department for the City of Sunnyvale. She represents the Solid Waste and Recycling Division as their outreach and communications lead, and engages the Sunnyvale community through public speaking, social media, events, and Youtube videos. She loves debunking recycling myths and teaching others about Zero Waste living, and discusses both in a regular column called “Talkin’ Trash” in the city-wide newsletter. Prior to this role, Bailey was Program Director for Climate Corps AmeriCorps, a fellowship program that helps young professionals kickstart their career in the environmental field. Over the course of three years, she mentored 84 Fellows. Bailey also has past experience leading outdoor science field trips, educating community members on energy efficiency, and environmental communication in a corporate setting. She graduated from UC Santa Cruz and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environmental Studies with a Politics minor. Bailey looks forward to a long career ahead in the waste-reduction and recycling realm.

Devin Joseph Guilford Jackson, (term ends 12/2023) Middle school STEM/STEAM – Earth, Life & Physical Science/Engineering – teacher, Environmental Sustainability Coordinator, 2021 CCC Leadership in Sustainability Award Winner, Recycle SMART “green” educator, 2018 “Bronze” CA Green Ribbon School Award Winner, certified Climate Change educator with National Geographic Explorers, NASA GLOBE Educator, NOAA Ocean Guardian educator & Education Consultant of a K-8 environmental education non-profit called Outside the Box 925. Being “green” and a certified naturalist “environmental steward/citizen scientist” are fundamental aspects of my personality, actions, and daily life. I have a strong connection, passion, and bond with nature, the environment, environmental sustainability, eco-literacy, water, energy, resource conservation, recycling, composting, and other waste/landfill diversion practices, which are linked to the UN Climate Principles. I have been a member of NCRA for one year. NCRA has played an integral role in my pathway as an environmental sustainability coordinator to guide and support future Zero Waste schools and districts. I am currently the sole teacher on the NCRA committee for CA Zero Waste Schools. I am looking forward to contributing to and supporting NCRA and the school committee in new ways as my career expands with new opportunities unfolding

Randy Russell, Zero Waste Planner at WSP USA, (term ends 12/2024)

Recent Former Board Members can be found here.


Staff

Portia M. Sinnott, Executive Director, Former President and long-term Board member. Portia is a Zero Waste advocate consultant that co-leads teams working with the USEPA, UN-Habitat and a variety of jurisdictions and businesses. Favorite projects include the EPA Zero Waste Community Assessment Framework. She serves as Development Director for Zero Waste USA, and Co-Founder and Executive Director of LITE Initiatives – the sustainable practices group that operates Zero Waste Action – Sonoma County and Community Bikes – now 20+ years old.

Juliana Gerber, NCRA’s Administrative Coordinator from 2015 – 2021, has kindly agreed to continue as our Financial Coordinator. In 2021, she was promoted to Associate Director of Envirolutions Consulting, LLC, having serving as Project Lead since its inception in 2015.

Chris Sparnicht, Web Maestro, Laughter On Water
Chris Sparnicht provides program management, technical and website support to environmental and citizen-science nonprofits throughout the US and Canada. A certified Zero Waste Associate, he is NCRA’s IT consultant and a valued member of NCRA’s webinar and conference production team. Chris has degrees in biology, horticulture and landscape architecture, and is interested in music and video production. He has been involved with the Bear Hollow Zoo in Athens, Georgia for six years and on the board for three.

Bonnie Betts, Environmental Content Creator, Mission Driven Marketing & Social Media Consultant. Bonnie is thrilled to be the Social Media Coordinator for the Northern California Recycling Association since 2020. As a project manager, Zero Waste Advocate, and environmental content creator, Bonnie enjoys the opportunity to create and lead projects within the resource recovery and Zero Waste space. In 2019 Bonnie joined Zero Waste Youth USA to lead community engagement and content development for their annual youth convergence. For the past 3 years, Bonnie’s focus has been to support programs that build leadership skills and empower youth to advocate for Zero Waste in their communities.