Board Members
Marleen Luckman - Director, President Marleen Luckman, MS, BBEI, is a certified Building Biology Environmental Inspector through the International Institute of Building Biology where she also serves as an instructor. Marleen has been an elementary school teacher for the past 30 years and a school and program director. She is an experienced public speaker on home environmental health issues and advises consumers on wise consumer choices. Since 2008, Marleen has held the position of Green Operations Coordinator at the Ojai Unified School District funded through a grant to Food for Thought, working to reduce waste, conserve resources, reduce pesticide/herbicide use, and training teachers in hands-on environmental education lesson planning. In 2009, Marleen presented an environmentally preferable purchasing policy to the OUSD Green Committee and worked closely with the Committee to tailor it to the needs of the District.
She has been working with the OUSD Director of Operations to develop an integrated pest management plan that reduces pesticide/herbicide use on campuses and outlines the uses of physical barriers and mechanical methods to mitigate pest and weed issues. In 2011 she designed a Sustainability Plan for the District and solicited input from the Green Committee, Department Heads, and the Superintendent to create a plan that includes ongoing activities, successes, and short and long-range goals. This document was presented to the OUSD School Board in October, 2011. Marleen also serves as a Planning Commissioner for the City of Ojai and sits on the Complete Streets Subcommittee.
Vina Lustado - Director, Vice President, Governance Committee Chair
Vina Lustado is the founder of Sol Haus Design, an architectural design firm that specializes in sustainable building. After receiving a professional degree in architecture from USC, Vina has gained extensive experience working in notable architectural offices in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago. She attributes her positive influences working with exceptional people in creative environments.
Vina strongly believes in philanthropic and social causes. She has been involved with Habitat for Humanity’s Green Team and Global Village Team in Alaska. She has also spent time in Italy as a volunteer for VFP.
One of the highlights in Vina’s career is an international fellowship in Germany to research ecological housing. Addressing issues of affordability and sustainability is the main focus of her firm. Vina values the concept of simplicity in design and in the way she lives.In her free time, Vina is found outdoors rock climbing, hiking, biking, or just basking in the beauty of Ojai. Being in nature nourishes her soul.
Dale Hanson - Directory, Secretary
Dale is a community activist. She has lived in Ojai for 20 years. Her interests are mostly in family issues, community, animal welfare and the environment. She is active with the American Red Cross, the Ojai Valley Youth Foundation, several animal groups and is a board member of the Ojai Valley Green Coalition. She also serves on the Food and Ag Committee.
Marcia Murphy - Director, Treasurer
Marci was born in San Diego but also spent a few years of her childhood in Richmond, Virginia and Billings, Montana. Her career as a Corporate Controller in Los Angeles ended in 1985 when she chose to be a stay-at-home mom and help her then-husband run their financial executive recruiting company. Marci moved to Ojai in 1992 in order to enroll her daughters in Oak Grove School, and in addition to the business, kids, dogs, cats and horses, she was honored to be able to chair the Parent Steering Committee for a couple of years and run a highly successful annual fundraiser. With the girls now on their own, Marci spent seven years doing extensive remodeling, both interior and exterior, on her mid-century home, much of which she did herself. After selling the house and traveling with her two dogs, she came back to Ojai in early 2011 to start her own small business, Accounting Confidential, LLC (accountingconfidential.com).
Marci’s interest in the environment started when she became pregnant with her first child. “I truly was a ‘suit’ before that, but bringing someone else into the world that I loved so dearly meant I had to educate myself for her optimum health.” Her passion grew as she understood the connectedness and interdependence everything on this earth has with one another. If one part of our earth body is ailing, it affects the whole system. She still finds it shocking that for greed’s sake, untold numbers of living beings suffer and die.
“It’s very easy to feel overwhelmed and powerless against such powerful opposing forces; ignorance and fear in addition to greed; and my remedy is to join with an organization that I feels puts it’s money and effort where it’s it is really needed so I can be part of the solution and feel like I’m making a difference.”
Noel Douglas - Director, Food Council Liaison
Noel Douglas-Roth is a musician, minister, teacher and entrepreneur. During the '70s, Noel combined his stage talents of acting and singing with that of teaching, and became one of Silicon Valley's foremost instructors in the area of Stress Reduction. His years of experience qualified him for a California State Teaching Credential. Noel went on to become a trainer in the motivational industry with Sage Seminars, Inc. In his mid-twenties, Noel founded a non-profit community service agency that opened The Soupline Natural Foods Restaurant and Food Co-op. The Soupline Restaurant continued as The Peasant Chef for over 15 years.
Noel's purpose in life is to empower us all to be more our creative selves by sharing experiences which encourage productive thinking, open communication, close friendships, supportive environments and humanitarian services which can prosper everyone. Noel's years of entrepreneurial experience have given birth to The AIM Game (AIM: Advanced Idea Management) which he conducts as a productivity seminar or consultation for business teams and individuals. He is currently preparing a multi-media educational version of The AIM Game for publication.
Today Noel resides in Ojai, California, where he is a live-in property manager and caregiver. The birth of his first grandchild in 2009 has reinvigorated Noel's sense of community.
Kerry Miller - Director, Built Environment Council Liaison
Kerry is a designer, builder, project manager, consultant, and artist. He has been designing and building houses, additions, and remodels for 10 years in the Ojai Valley, following his previous 20 years in Corrales, New Mexico, where he built with adobe, stone, ICF (insulated concrete forms), standing dead spruce, and many other products that we now call green, using energy-efficient products, passive solar energy, and the natural terrain of the land. Those products and designs, along with many of the new green products and designs, are now incorporated into his Ojai Valley work. With a bachelor’s degree in sculpture from the University of New Mexico, Kerry incorporates his artistic skills into every project he works on, creating functional art.
In New Mexico, Kerry was on the board and organizing committee of the Corrales Harvest Festival, an event similar to Ojai Day. In Ojai, he has been on the organizing committee of the October Classic Run, a fundraiser for the Ojai Hospital Foundation, since its inception. Kerry lives in Ojai and can be reached at kerry@kerrymillerdesigns.com
Tyler Suchman - Director, Technology
Named to the 2007 Top 40 Under 40 by the Pacific Coast Business Times, Tyler Suchman is Founder and CEO of Emergencity, Inc., an emergency services company that is focused on building resilient communities and saving lives. Tyler also runs The Ojai Network, a collective of websites focused on community and culture, including The Ojai Post, a community blog featuring over 30 authors and 3,500 daily visitors.
Sabrina Venskus - Director, Advocacy Liaison
Sabrina Venskus is the principle of Venskus & Associates, P.C., a public-interest law firm with offices located in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. Sabrina’s areas of practice include environmental law, land use and zoning, natural resources law, tenant rights, historic preservation, native burial rights, energy regulation, and government disclosure.
Ms. Venskus is a member of the Environmental Law Section of the California Bar Association, the Ventura County Bar Association, and the Executive Committee for the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Environmental Law Section. She has served as chair for various land use and planning boards, including those for the Venice Neighborhood Council, the Westchester/Playa del Rey Neighborhood Council, and the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce. Sabrina spends a few hours each month volunteering her time at various Tenants' Rights Clinics, providing at-risk tenants with free legal advice.
David White - Director, Watershed Council Liaison
David White has a B.S. in Biological Sciences and a Ph.D. in Medicine from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He has been involved in numerous environmental groups in Ventura County since 1987, including the Keep the Sespe Wild committee, Food for Thought Ojai, the Ojai Valley Green Coalition, and the Center for Regenerative Agriculture. David has also worked as the science teacher and environmental coordinator at Happy Valley and Ojai Valley Schools. He currently wears many hats as the Executive Director of Ojai’s Center for Regenerative Agriculture, Director of Oak Grove School’s Once Upon a Watershed program, and is active at ten schools in the Ventura River Watershed. David is also the garden coordinator for Food for Thought's Ojai Healthy Schools program, managing and coordinating the garden based learning programs at the five OUSD elementary schools. As a Coalition board member, he is the acting watershed program liaison. One of his favorite things to do is to plant trees with kids.
Deborah Pendrey - Executive Director
Deborah moved to the Ojai Valley in 2000. Along with her work as the Coalition’s Executive Director since 2008, she offers administrative/bookkeeping services. She and her husband, Wayne, also run a wholesale retractable screens business from their home.
The Coalition represents Deborah’s first volunteer participation in a formal nonprofit organization. During her first year and a half with the Coalition, she was appointed as Executive Coordinator, and her title was later changed to that of Executive Director. Deborah’s 15 years in the restaurant industry, 10 years as a business owner, and an A.S. degree in accounting gave her the needed managerial skills for public speaking, engaging with people, and helping the Coalition organize its infrastructure. As time allows, she is taking classes in fundraising and nonprofit management.
To say Deborah is passionate about her work with the Coalition is an understatement. She hopes to be at net zero with her own carbon footprint when she leaves this Earth, and plans to work on it along with the whole community’s until that time.
The Ojai Valley Green Coalition sincerely appreciates Deborah for her service!
