Linda Friar
Chair of the Board
Linda Friar served as Chief of External Affairs at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), overseeing intergovernmental relations, public affairs, speechwriting, and science information services for the federal agency made up of more than 8,000 employees nationwide. Previously, she was Deputy Chief of Public Affairs at the Bureau of Reclamation, managing national communications for the agency’s 600 dams and reservoirs, including Hoover and Grand Coulee. She also held senior roles with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of the Interior’s Everglades Task Force, and Everglades National Park. A former adjunct professor at Florida Atlantic University she taught graduate and undergraduate students from many disciplines in environmental policy and planning as well as sustainable cities for over 20 years in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning.
Kristine Zeigler
Vice Chair
Kristine Zeigler is co-founder and former chief executive officer of Planet Women. For the past 26 years, Kristine has been an environmental nonprofit leader focused on helping all beings to thrive on a healthy Earth. Previously, Kristine served as Conservation International’s Chief Development Officer and Director of Philanthropy at The Nature Conservancy in California, raising funds for global land, water, ocean, and science programs. Kristine also served as Director of Development at Yosemite Conservancy and worked at the San Francisco Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the San Francisco Zoological Society. Kristine studied art history and French at Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. She holds a private pilot license and flies a Cessna and a Piper. A published fiction author and creative writing teacher, she supports and mentors nature writers as co-founder of New Nature Writers. Kristine is currently working on a nonfiction title, Fundraiser’s Companion – A Reference to Demystify Major Gifts and the Fundraising Process, a book for anyone who finds themselves in fundraising and needs to look up how to do something or how to understand part of their job.
Matt Teeters
Treasurer
Matt Teeters works as the Regional President of Alpine Bank’s Denver region. Matt first joined the bank in January 2006, and began his career working the Avon branch in the Vail Valley. Over the past four years, Mr. Teeters has served an integral role of expanding the bank’s services across the Front Range. In doing so, the Union Station branch has grown to become the 2nd largest bank, measured by asset size, in the bank’s entire 38 branch footprint. Matt is a Colorado native and was born and raised in Denver. He attended Grinnell College, earning a bachelor’s degree in Economics and he completed his MBA from the University of Denver in 2013. Matt also serves as a board member for Roundup River Ranch, Volunteers for Outdoor Colorado, the Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, and the Metro Denver Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Governors. In acknowledgment for his leadership with these organizations, Matt was selected as one of Colorado Biz Magazines Top 25 Young Professionals in 2016. His hobbies include mountain biking, golfing, skiing, and spending time outdoors.
Laurinda Oswald
SECRETARY
Laurinda Oswald was born in Tucson, Arizona, but grew up in Italy, living in Florence for three years and Rome for nine. Her parents purchased the ranch in Amado, Arizona which she has now managed for 25 years. For the past ten years, she has raised cattle on an eight-pasture grazing rotation system enjoying the wonderful benefits of the watershed along four miles of the Santa Cruz River. Laurinda has two children, and when not at her ranch, she enjoys visiting her family both in New York City and Italy.
Skylar Begay
Board Member
Skylar Begay was born on the Navajo Nation and grew up on the reservation and in Flagstaff, Arizona. He is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation but is also Mandan and Hidatsa. His mother’s Clan is the Tangled People Clan, and his maternal Grandfather’s Clan is Towering House. His Father’s Clan is the Water Buster Clan. Skylar is an experienced outdoor professional getting his start in the Coconino Rural Environmental Corps’ Youth Conservation Corps. He then progressed in the Arizona Conservation Corps from Crew Member to Crew Leader of the first “Ancestral Lands Crew” which was composed of all Indigenous Youth from various Tribal Nations. He served as Crew Lead for multiple Summers working all over the state of Arizona’s public lands. Concurrently he pursued and earned a B.S. in Geography with a minor in Sustainability from Arizona State University. After, he served three years with the U.S. Forest Service in the Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre, and Gunnison National Forests in Southwestern Colorado. In 2021, he began a fellowship with Archaeology Southwest as Tribal Outreach Fellow and after two years he transitioned into his current position as Director of Tribal Collaboration where his work revolves around the protection of natural and cultural resources in collaboration with Tribal Nations.
Alan Dennis Gracia
Board Member
Alan Dennis is the General Manager and Owner of Ingenieria Dennis, Inc., with more than 30 years of engineering and construction experience. He serves as owner, representative, and construction manager for large and medium-sized water and wastewater treatment plants, including pump stations, reservoirs, and pipeline projects. He has extensive experience in advance management and large-scale project administration, coordination, and design regarding infrastructure projects in the areas of energy, water, and urban developments. Alan holds a Civil Engineering Degree from ITESM (Instituto Tecnologico Y Des Estudios Superiores de Monterrey) Monterrey Campus, Mexico 1984.
Maria-Elena Giner
Board Member
Dr. Maria-Elena Giner is a nationally recognized water resources and policy expert with more than 35 years of experience in the Colorado River Basin, Rio Grande, and U.S.–Mexico border region. She currently serves as Global Portfolio Leader for Water Resources and Community Planning at Black & Veatch. She previously served as U.S. Commissioner of the International Boundary and Water Commission, where she led binational agreements with Mexico on Colorado River management, drought response, and pollution prevention. During her tenure at the Border Environment Cooperation Commission, she worked in more than 100 small and medium-sized communities, advancing approximately $6 billion in environmental infrastructure, and brings deep expertise in water management, infrastructure, and cross-border collaboration
Anna Hill Price
Board Member
Anna Hill Price is currently the Director of Development for The Kildonan School in Amenia, New York where she manages fundraising with major donor development for the school which specifically addresses dyslexia and other language-based learning challenges. Ms. Price graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Psychology. In Public Service, she was a member of the planning and Zoning Commission in Garfield County, Colorado, 1996-2000 where she provided guidance to the Garfield County Supervisors regarding alignment between proposed projects and Garfield County Comprehensive Plan. Ms. Hill is skilled in creating and implementing effective approaches to development and sales and has a history of effective networking and connecting people to opportunities across multiple industries, including media, consulting, education and nonprofits.
Dan B. Kimball
Board Member
Dan B. Kimball retired after a 30-year career with the National Park Service (NPS). From 2004 to 2014, Dan served as Superintendent of Everglades and Dry Tortugas National Parks. In that position, Dan led Everglades National Park’s involvement in restoration of the Everglades, the largest ecosystem restoration project in the history of the planet. His work in Everglades restoration focused on water quantity and quality; endangered species; non-native species; assuring compatibility with South Florida’s built environment; and building a coalition to sustain Everglades restoration. Dan previously served as Chief of NPS’s Water Resources Division. Dan also held positions with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Office of Surface Mining, and environmental consulting firms. He also served for 10 years on the Jefferson County Open Space Advisory Committee in Colorado. Dan is a recipient of many awards, including the Presidential Rank Award and the National Parks Conservation Association’s Stephen Tyng Mather Award. Dan also serves on the Board of Directors of Archaeology Southwest, Friends of Saguaro National Park, Western National Parks Association, and Western Art Patrons, a support group of the Tucson Museum of Art. Dan is a graduate of Denison University and the University of Arizona and resides in Tucson, Arizona
Gabriela Luken Marce
Board Member
Gabriela was born and raised in the Imperial Valley-Mexicali border. She attended school in the USA and Mexico. She is bilingual and bi-cultural. Gabi has a BA in International Relations with a focus on International Policies from Instituto Tecnológico de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM), and a post graduate study in International Trade Law from University of California at San Diego. Gabi has work experience in compliance banking for several money transfer companies and has worked in public relations and fundraising for private and public institutions. She lived in Japan for two years with her husband Josep and their two sons, Patricio and Bernardo. While in Japan, Gabi learned different conservation and ecological practices and policies that her family still practice today. She supports several environmental projects and associations in Mexicali, Mexico.
Julie Murphy
Board Member
Julie Murphy was appointed as the Colorado Energy and Carbon Management Commission (ECMC) Director on July 1, 2020. Julie has knowledge of complex issues, including conflicts, facing natural resource management from the policy, technical and legal perspectives and works with Colorado’s diverse energy stakeholders to find common sense, consensus solutions. She earned a B.S. in Wildlife Biology, Kansas State University; a Master of Earth and Environmental Resources Management and J.D. from the University of South Carolina; and a Master of Studies in Environmental Law from the Vermont Law School.
Anna Murveit
Board Member
Anna Murveit is an independent mediator, facilitator, and consultant who focuses on water policy and climate adaptation. Her practice specializes in multi-stakeholder convening, strategic planning, policy analysis, and stakeholder engagement. Her passion is for rivers, and she has been fortunate to work on protecting the Klamath, Colorado, Lower Salt/Gila River, and now the Santa Cruz, as a member of the SI Board. Previously, Anna worked as a policy and management consultant at CEA Consulting. In this role, she worked with national-level environmental NGOs and a Fortune 500 energy company on policy research, political advocacy, and regulatory strategy. She also managed communications and outreach for the Klamath River Renewal Corporation, the responsible for implementing the largest dam removal project on Earth, so far. In 2020, she joined Southwest Decision Resources, a collective of natural resource facilitators. She holds a MS in Water, Society, and Policy from the University of Arizona. Her research focused on technology and stakeholder engagement on the Colorado River. Her articles have been published in several peer reviewed journals including Environment and Planning: F, Climatic Change, and Geofluids. She also holds a BA from Whitman College in Geology and Environmental Humanities.
Loretta Pineda
BOARD MEMBER
Loretta Pineda’s love of Colorado’s land and people motivated her relentless advocacy efforts promoting environmental education and sustainability. Loretta worked in state government for over 30 years at the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR). At DNR she became a “mining history nerd” fascinated with the social, cultural, economic, and political facets of mining. As one of the few Latina women working in management, Loretta mentored women and historically underrepresented groups by developing strong partnerships with co-workers, and mining industry and environmental leaders. She found common ground in challenging environmental issues and advocated for public participation and education initiatives encouraging others to understand the importance of natural resource management and environmental restoration. Loretta retired from DNR in 2014 and in 2015 became the executive director for Environmental Learning for Kids (ELK), a Denver nonprofit. Loretta managed a $6 million capital campaign creating the Montbello Open Space Park and an education center for ELK programming. While fundraising, Loretta continued to support, engage, and learn from ELK’s youth leaders. Loretta retired (again) in 2021 and continues to serve on boards including Friends of Front Range Wildlife Refuges, Western Resource Advocates, and Next 100 Colorado Coalition. Loretta grew up on a farm in Weld County graduated from Colorado State University and lives in Denver.
César Ponce Gámez
Board Member
César Ponce Gámez is President and CEO of WDF Services, a manufacturing business intelligence-oriented group. With more than 34 years and the experience on building more than 30 companies in the manufacturing and technology fields, César has led multimillion-dollar ventures across the energy, aerospace, technology, and automotive sectors. His community service includes serving as a past president of the Patronato de la Alianza Empresarial de Mexicali, Sector E initiative and promoting technological platform initiatives to advance development as well as support local citizen decision-making in Mexicali. He holds a degree in Mechanical-Electrical Engineering from the Facultad de Ingenieria at the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC) and with an MBA in top management from CETYS university. Cesar is a frequent speaker on disruptive and critical thinking. When he is not working, Cesar loves watching science programs, do research for problem solving and also cooking for his wife and children.
Richard Schaefer
BOARD MEMBER
Richard Schaefer is the Senior Vice President and Branch Director for RBC Wealth Management. He has over 35 years of experience in the financial industry, specializing in individual portfolio development and management. He now specializes as a designated Accredited Wealth Manager. Richard graduated from the University of Arizona and holds a BS in Business Administration. Richard was named a recipient of the 2017 RBC Global Citizen Award which celebrates RBC colleagues who are leaders in their community, who are active volunteers both inside and outside of the firm. Richard also has a passion and devotion for improving the lives of children in his community through serving on eight different non-profit boards as examples of his dedication to improving his community.
Richard and his wife, Stella, are both third generation residents of Tucson and they have two sons and one grandson.
Shaina Shay
BOARD MEMBER
Shaina Shay is Owner and Editor-in-Chief of The Water Report. She has spent more than a decade developing expertise in water policy and management, conservation, and community outreach. Shaina has worked as a Water Resources and Conservation Specialist for two investor-owned utilities (EPCOR Water and Global Water Resources) in Arizona. She also spent several years working in Victoria, Australia as a water market specialist and senior consultant with Aither. Shaina holds various leadership positions within prominent water organizations — such as the American Water Works Association (AWWA) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) — as well as regional organizations like the Southern Arizona Water Users Association (SAWUA).
David Wegner
Board Member
David Wegner recently retired from a senior staff position on water, energy and transportation committees in the U.S. House of Representatives. In that position he worked on legislation that directly affected administration policy and federal agency actions related to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Department of the Interior, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy. Prior to serving in Washington, D.C. he worked for over 20 years for the Department of the Interior managing water and science programs in the Colorado River basin and the Grand Canyon. Currently he works as a part-time senior scientist to Jacobs Engineering and continues to provide input and strategic counsel to the National Academy of Sciences, several Members of Congress and international organizations focused on water and climate issues. He currently splits his time between Tucson, AZ and Durango, CO and the Colorado River.