Board Member Biographies
Janette Leonidou co-founded, and for twenty years directed, the Silicon Valley law firm Leonidou & Rosin. She is a past president of the San Mateo County Legal Aid Society and a former Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children (CASA) volunteer. In 2018, Janette scaled back her work in the law to pursue environmental and other non-profit endeavors. She is excited about the use of trees and other plants, as well as regenerative practices, to help slow climate change and support healthier communities. She lives in Monterey with her husband and son.
Laurie Eavey moved permanently to Monterey in 2015 after living part-time in her second home in Pacific Grove since 1995. Laurie has a B.S. in Systems Analysis and Business and an MBA. Her career has been spent with software companies HP and Adobe Systems where she held a variety of management, executive, and professional roles in a number of functions; Customer Support, Human Resources, Marketing, Executive Education, and IT. Her role before retirement as a Business Solutions Analyst brought to bear her skills in working in cross-functional teams and database technologies to develop efficient processes and systems. Outside of work, she is most comfortable in the kitchen, cooking and preparing food. Her passion for the environment was sparked in reading books and participating in a ‘Be the Change’ environmental awareness program. She went on to attend an intensive permaculture design two-week course during her work sabbatical. Laurie is Co-chair of Sustainable Monterey aiming to apply her passion, skills, and experience in business systems, food, and permaculture practices to address the multi-faceted challenge of climate change and protecting our planet.
Karen has been a Del Rey Oaks resident since 1997 with her husband, Dirk Harris. Her BS in marine biology from Texas A&M at Galveston first brought her to the Monterey Peninsula in 1983, when the Monterey Bay Aquarium was being built. She was employed at Monterey One Water (formerly Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency) for 28 and a half years, working as a lab analyst, an industrial waste inspector, and, for 17 years, as the agency’s community relations specialist. She was on the board of the Water Awareness Committee of Monterey County, Inc., for many years, including serving as chair. She managed several Water Awareness Day community events at the Monterey County Fairgrounds and Del Monte Shopping Center. In addition, she has been a volunteer diver at the Monterey Bay Aquarium for over 30 years and performs feeding shows in the Kelp Forest. Helping connect people to make things happen is her passion. Ask her about sustainable shrimp culture!
Robin has a background in geology, residential construction, archeology, wastewater plant operations and urban and regional development with an emphasis on the community participation and community outreach components of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. (NPDES). She has done extensive bicycling including commuting, courier, and touring. She has successfully pushed for the inclusion of a bicycling green way to be included in the future growth area of the City of Salinas. She has also been involved in obtaining state funding for a restoration project on Santa Rita Creek managed by the Central Coast Wetlands Group. She is a founding member of Sustainable Salinas and Salinas Neighborhood Council.
She is currently directing the Santa Rita and Bolsa Knolls Watershed Group to bring awareness to the needs of the urbanized areas of the Santa Rita Creek Watershed. This group conducts community projects that include community native plant garden installation at Santa Rita Park, annual Santa Creek Fair, storm drain stenciling, and other project s to demonstrate best practices for property owners to prevent pollutants from entering the creek and for creating native plant habitats. The group also aims to develop community environmental activism through its projects.
She has a B.SC. in Geology with minors in anthropology and biology, Masters in Regional and Urban Planning.
Catherine moved from Texas to Monterey in 1998 for a managerial position in Information Technology, retiring in 2013 after 32 years in the field. Since then, she’s channeled her energy into community service, leading the Monterey Peace and Justice Center as Board President since 2015 and chairing Sustainable Seaside since 2016. She also serves on the Friends of Seaside Parks Association Board.
A passionate advocate for environmental sustainability and social justice, Catherine believes environmental justice is essential to building a sustainable future. On Saturdays, you’ll likely find her tending pollinator gardens in one of Seaside’s neighborhood parks. She holds a B.A. in Business Computer Information Systems from Midwestern State University and has been an active force in local advocacy since joining Sustainable Seaside in 2009.
Ellen first joined sustainable organizations upon returning to the U.S. in 1994. After living in Japan in the 70′s and Hong Kong, China, and Tibet from 1985-1994, she began to understand food as medicine, health, and life, and dependent on the quality of air, water, and soil, balanced with sunlight. Her volunteer efforts are focused on restoring balance to our planet, the relationship to nature, and ensuring the perpetuation of our planet for future generations. She is a member of the Sustainable Carmel Steering Committee, Central Coast Sanctuary Alliance, CERT certified volunteer, Sustainable Pacific Grove Community Garden, Monterey Peninsula Volunteer Service, Women’s Council of Realtors, NAR, CAR, MCAR, Professional Women’s Network, the American Massage Therapy Association, and the Zero Balancing Health Association.
Angie brings a unique blend of hands-on skills, leadership experience, and a deep commitment to building stronger communities. As a former Compliance Officer for a large Central California grower, she managed environmental permits and collaborated with local agencies. Before moving to California, she served on the advisory board for the Mountain Arts Community Center in Signal Mountain, Tennessee, where she founded a nonprofit that restored a historic 1926 grammar school, now a thriving arts center.
Angie’s practical skills were shaped through nine home remodeling projects with her husband, where she took on plumbing, wiring, flooring, and interior finishes. She’s especially passionate about landscaping and creating inviting outdoor spaces.
Currently, Angie volunteers weekly at the Oak Woodland Community Garden in Marina and helps organize local events for Citizens for Sustainable Marina (C4SM), where she will serve as Co-Chair in 2025. Having joined CSMC’s board in 2025, Angie is eager to apply her skills in collaboration with others to advance CSMC’s mission.
Born and raised in Sacramento, CA, Cathy was inspired by her first experience of Earth Day (1971) in Davis, CA. She helped to establish two community stores, the Sacramento Natural Foods Coop, and the Chico Natural Foods Coop, and she then joined a work collective that ran a natural foods business and lived communally. After three years struggling to go “back to the land,” she returned to college to study plant science (UC, Davis, BS and MS degrees). She retired from a 25-year career in plant cell biology that included starting and running her own plant biotech company, Summit Plant Labs.
She has pursued an encore career in music therapy since 2003 (Colorado State University, Master’s in Music). While a music therapist in Austin, TX, she served as board member and officer of the Capital Area Parkinson’s Society for 2 ½ years. She enjoys organic gardening, outdoor adventures, music, and the beauty of the Central Coast with her husband and grandchildren.
Tom made the Monterey Peninsula his permanent home in 2012 after a successful 30-year career in management roles within the computer hardware industry. He brings both creative and strategic thinking to his work, holding a B.F.A. from Drake University and an M.B.A. from Golden Gate University. A passionate advocate for environmental sustainability, Tom serves on the Board of LandWatch Monterey County and contributes his expertise to the Salinas Valley Basin Groundwater Sustainability Agency (SVBGSA) Advisory Committee and its Saltwater Intrusion Working Group.
You can often find Tom out in the field—literally—as a State Park Champion with the California State Parks Foundation, where he volunteers his time planting native trees and removing invasive species in local parks across the Peninsula and Big Sur. He’s also a dedicated volunteer at the Elkhorn Slough Reserve and an enthusiastic member of the Monterey Bay Area Hiking Group. In addition to his environmental work, Tom mentors full-time students at CSU Monterey Bay through the Pay It Forward (PIF) program, supporting the next generation of changemakers.