Francisco Parés Olguín is originally from San Diego, California but has lived across the border in Ensenada, Baja California most of his life. Although he has an academic background, holding a B.S. in Civil Engineering from Universidad Autonoma de Baja California and a MSc in Renewable Energy from Universidad Autonoma de Guadalajara, his passion for…

Abby Edwards a CivicSpark Project Coordinator working with the Operations team in Sacramento. Abby received a BA in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Cruz in 2014. She worked for the university for a couple years before joining the Peace Corps in 2016. Her primary work addressed food insecurity through developing income generating activities with women…

Skylar is currently a Sustainability Specialist for UC Davis Student Housing and Dining Services where she manages sustainability education and engagement programs for Student Housing residents, and large waste-diversion initiatives during residence hall move-in and move-out.  Before joining UC Davis, she served as a CivicSpark fellow at the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District. As…

April Great Story by Ayelet Zamek, 2018-19 Central Coast Water Fellow Yellow. Orange. Another kind of orange. After a wet winter, driving down Highway 58 in April turns into an elementary-style exercise in knowing one’s colors. Purple. Blue. More yellow.  Even the most responsible divers, AAA cards tucked in the sun visor, would be distracted…

Katie Webster joined the Local Government Commission (LGC) in 2019 as a Project Coordinator with the CivicSpark™ Operations Team. CivicSpark™ is a Governor’s Initiative AmeriCorps program, which provides capacity-building support for local governments throughout California to address climate change. Prior to joining LGC, Katie was an Outreach Coordinator at GRID Alternatives, a nonprofit solar installer.…