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Who We Are
Mission Statement
To provide educational tours that demonstrate the sustainable economy in action, inspire support of local green businesses, and empower people to incorporate environmental responsibility and social justice into their personal and professional lives.
Sustainable Business Alliance
EBGT is a project of the Sustainable Business Alliance, a membership organization for companies committed to greater environmental and socially responsible business practices. Our Non-Profit number is 01-0919727.
Staff
Marissa LaMagna - Executive Director
Marissa founded Bay Area Green Tours in Fall 2008 and is thrilled to be showcasing the local green businesses developing in her East Bay backyard, known as the Green Corridor. She has worked as a community organizer most of her life and helped to start a teen center in New York that is now a Boys & Girls Club. She has taught high school, elementary school, vegetarian cooking and yoga. She has also been a film editor and was associate producer for The Sounds of Science, (now Pulse of the Planet) an internationally syndicated radio show.
In 2004, Marissa founded Studio Rasa, a green certified community arts and wellness center in Berkeley with a mission of fostering environmental awareness. She has been passionate about the environment ever since the fourth grade, when growing up in New York City, she often worried about where the garbage would go. She came up with an eco-friendly disposal system comprised of arteries underground that would whisk away garbage from apartments and sidewalks to be incinerated naturally in the center of the earth. She is still working out the kinks for this invention.
Marissa is on the Board of Directors of The Sustainable Business Alliance (www.sustainablebiz.org), a member of BNI, The Berkeley Chamber of Commerce and Buy Local Berkeley. When she is not working at the David Brower Center as part of the Dominican University Green Business Cluster in Berkeley, Marissa can be found working in her “office” in the redwoods or perched on the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean. marissa(@) bayareagreentours.org
Salem Kimble - Operations Manager
Salem Kimble comes to Bay Area Green Tours from Boulder, Colorado and with a lifetime of ecologically- minded living. She studied Global Studies at UC Santa Barbara and while in Boulder led youth on "Inspiring Journeys of Creative Expression and Responsible Empowerment" with Renaissance Adventures. A life-long vegan and avid recycler, Salem grew up with an environmentally conscious perspective and is dedicated to using her time on the planet working to mitigate climate change and spread sustainable solutions far and wide.
Salem can be reached at salem (@) bayareagreentours.org
Her love of nature and animals prompted her to work on trail restoration in local parks. She currently volunteers at the Ecology Center of Berkeley, working with the Climate Action Groups to lower our carbon footprint and supporting events at the Farmers Market. Isabella also volunteers with a free community acupuncture clinic serving those in need.
Isabella nurtures herself and her love of dance through the East Bay Dance Community. She has also happily spent a life nurturing her children Nicholas and Emily Joy. Isabella can be reached at isabella (@ )bayareagreentours.org
Ana Toepel - Tour Manager
Ana Toepel is a mother, a passionate advocate for sustainability and an educator. For the past twelve years, she worked in public schools, as a classroom teacher, program developer, staff leader, and school “greening” director. Simultaneously, she immersed herself in the sustainability movement through self-education, activism and volunteer work with a variety of community and global organizations. She is currently a student in the Green MBA program at Dominican University and feels blessed to have the opportunity to spotlight our dynamic, local green economy. Ana can be reached at ana (@) bayareagreentours.org
Suzy Karasik - Sales
Suzy Karasik holds a Master's Degree in Psychology/Somatics, a Diploma in Comprehensive Nutrition, and is a Certified Integral Health Practitioner. A lifelong student, she is trained in Deep Ecology and numerous forms of breath/body work, (Eastern & Western). Using those teachings as a basis for survival in the modern world, she studied with many masters in many disciplines, including yoga for 25 years.
Presently her focus is the Green Movement and our future; providing the youth (and those who love them) with inspiration to lessen our carbon footprint and to connect with what truly matters.
She began her career teaching History and Geography; forever dear to her heart. Her corporate career includes a decade in Silicon Valley, primarily in Product Marketing & Business Development. She survived dot.coms, booms and busts in semi-conductors, data communications and manufacturing software.
After completing a degree from CIIS and participating in "every retreat, workshop and training I could possibly experience" this long time activist turned to travel and humanitarian causes, including HIV/AIDS Education and Permaculture Design, with the US Peace Corps in Malawi and NGO's in South Africa. "It was absolutely life changing; the pinnacle of my life's adventures, well, so far anyway!" Suzy believes environmental education and revealing truth and information about our food and water supply is critical for Mother Earth and her inhabitants.
Her personal experiences led to research and collaboration with experts in the fields of wholistic health, diet and nutrition. Choosing to specialize in the digestive system, cleansing and detoxification, Suzy teaches us how best to achieve authentic wellness in this 21st century environment. Striving to find the best products and practices available to support whole body health, she passionately seeks to educate the masses in regards to what we put “in to and on” our bodies. For more information please do visit her website, www.Specialized-Systems.com
Suzy is a long time member of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, the Science & Consciousness community, a perpetual student of quantum physics, cellular biology/rejuvenation, personal growth/transformation and the sacred mysteries of life on Mother Earth. At her best in nature, she perpetually seeks balance and that vital connection with all beings.
Suzy volunteers as the US liaison for Sahayatri Nepal and as Regional Coordinator for www.GatherTheWomen.org mentoring and assisting in reaching one's highest good. She maintains a support network with families in Malawi, India and Nicaragua. Partnering with like-minded leaders who desire to teach and give back, she strives to BE the CHANGE she wants to see in the world. "There is so much one can still do and the time is now." Suzy can be reached at suzy (@) bayareagreentours.org
Elena Velez - Administrative Assistant & Latino Liaison
Elena brings to EBGT extensive experience teaching languages to people of all ages and a passion for stewardship of our environment for our children's futures. A mother of two young boys herself, Elena is constantly promoting environmentally friendly living practices within different multicultural groups using her multilingual skills. Elena can be reached at elena (@) bayareagreentours.org
She studied Advertising and Marketing in her native country of Colombia and Sculpture in Italy. After years of study in different topics, Elena is excited to now be fully focused on work that she truly loves; being an environmental advocate and communicator on behalf of the planet. Elena presents workshops, interprets documents and catalogues, and provides an eco-centric translation for organizations working to reach out to the Hispanic community. She also works as a “greening” consultant for small businesses. elena_velez(@)ebgt.org
Robert Bostick - Intern
Robert Bostick has spent of 20 years in Sales and Marketing. In 2008 he decided to move his career towards the field of sustainbility and has been enrolled in a full time "GreenMBA" Sustainable Management Program at Dominican College in San Rafael, CA.. His final capstone project is to create an effective business plan for Bay Area Green Tours. He resides in the East Bay.
Baxter – Tour Mascot
Baxter likes long walks on the beach and hiking in the mountains. He’ll be your best friend if you say “hi’ and loves all things green. Baxter can be reached at baxter(@)ebgt.org
Advisory Board
Mark McLeod
Executive Director - The Sustainable Business Alliance,
President - Board of the Downtown Berkeley Association
Gil Friend
President & Chief Executive Officer - Natural Logic
Robert Girling
Professor Business Administration - Sonoma State University
Michele Molitar
Chief Executive Officer, Nectar Consulting Inc.
Justin Martello
Financial Advisor – Effective Assets
Jonathan DeYoe
LPL Financial Planner –DeYoe Wealth Management
Lisa Bullwinkel
Hoopla Coordinator - Another Bullwinkel Show
Deborah Badhia
Executive Director - Downtown Berkeley Association
Leila Kahatpoush
Sustainability Consultant – Breathing Room
Allen Price, SPHR, MBA
Human Capital Consultant - First Third Consulting
