Erika Brown moved to Durango from Salt Lake City where she was the Director of Environmental Affairs at a leading manufacturer of environmentally responsible materials for the architecture and design community, 3Form. At 3Form, she drove the company’s sustainability strategy and operations toward net neutrality and an audacious vision for more sustainable manufacturing. This included creating and implementing an environmental management system, which became ISO 14001 certified, greenhouse gas inventory and reporting, researching and recommending certifications and driving a series of aggressive environmental initiatives, including becoming a zero landfill manufacturing facility and achieving carbon neutrality. While living in Salt Lake City, Erika also acted as an Organizing Committee Member of the Salt Lake Sustainable Building Conference and as a Board Member at the University of Utah Presidential Sustainability Advisory Board.
Maya Kane has a strong background in environmental science, policy, and law. She holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Science from Yale University and eight years of professional experience in scientific research. Her past research projects include studying the impacts of agriculture on endangered species conservation and evaluating the effects of climate change on the stability of ecological communities. For her Master’s research, she published two studies modeling the viability of populations of endangered bighorn sheep in the Sierra Nevada and the risks and benefits of potential management scenarios to promote their conservation. Most recently, Maya completed a law degree at the University of Oregon, where she had the opportunity to examine critical environmental issues from legal and policy perspectives. As part of her education, she assisted a local nonprofit with a legislative campaign to restrict toxic air emissions from field burning, worked on a successful lawsuit to enjoin the poisoning of watersheds in a wilderness area, and participated in a campaign to file the first state and national litigation petitioning for an injunction against greenhouse gas emissions under the public trust doctrine. Throughout her career, Maya's commitment to education and community involvement has been and will remain a core value. From mentoring high school students in science, to volunteering as a biologist on a National Wildlife Refuge, to teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in ecology, her volunteer and professional contributions have enriched her and honed her leadership and communication skills. She says this combination of skills and experience would allow her to bring a unique perspective to the Sustainability Alliance Board.
Zachary Ray was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, until moving to Durango to attend Fort Lewis College. While attending FLC, he got inspired by trade issues and politics. After attending a Fair Trade Convergence in Denver in 2006, he became an Oxfam America CHANGE leader in the area of trade economics and specifically fair trade issues. CHANGE leaders are charged with bringing campaigns to their campuses and travelling the country to conferences to teach and learn in their area of expertise. After three years of working with Oxfam as a CHANGE leader, Zachary Ray became the lead facilitator for their social justice training program in Boston, MA, where he began to focus on training college-age people to be leaders themselves. Also while attending Fort Lewis, he worked for the FLC Environmental Center as the Local Food Coordinator for four years and served three years on the EC's board of directors. He graduated from Fort Lewis in May 2009 with Summa Cum Laude honors and a 3.9 GPA in Sociology and Human Service. After graduating, Zachary Ray was a local food fellow for the Growing Partners of SW Colorado and became very involved in local food sustainability. Since then, he has been working at Desert Sun Coffee Roasters as the head roaster and production manager. He is very passionate about social and environmental justice issues and would love the opportunity to work with SASCO. He is interested in serving on the board because he has attended several SASCO events that he really appreciated and would love to help out. He believes in the mission of SASCO and is specifically interest in supporting the group's efforts in local & regional policy, food & agriculture, and education & outreach. 
Ryan Riebau is a Business Economics Major who graduated from Fort Lewis College in 2010. He was a member of the FLC Sustainable Business Team during 2009-2010 and conducted an Economic Impact Study of the Four Corners Motorcycle Rally in 2010. He also helped pitch the Sustainable Business Program, worked with Local First, and organized the Re-Localization Fair. Ryan was a 4CORE Outreach Intern in 2011 and worked closely with the Resource Smart Business Program marketing and project organization. Ryan thinks that the best way to lead is by example, and that is why he would like to apply his skills to the Sustainability Alliance's Sustainable Local Economic Development project, to help make Durango a national example in community development and sustainable growth.
The creation of carbon markets, carbon offsetting and the valuation of eco-systems are premised on the idea that marketisation and reliance on economic incentives will yield sustainable outcomes. Many environmentalists like these policies because they seem to work with, rather than against our existing economic institutions and incentives. But as market-thinking expands with eco- and carbon-footprints, an obvious question is whether economics in command has become part of the problem.
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Community Events
City of Durango hosts Spring Electronics Recycling
May 18th, 2012
Next Transition Town Bayfield Meeting
May 18th, 2012
Permaculture Design Course 2012 WILD FOODS~WILD LIFE~COMMUNITY
June 28th, 2012
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