Team

vanessa@climateactionhv.org

Vanessa works as a consultant for Partners for Climate Action, where she co-developed the Local Champions program and the Building Decacarbonization Grants program. Vanessa is an elected official on the Board of Trustees for the Village of Rhinebeck, NY, where she led her Climate Smart Community Task Force to bronze certification. As a consultant, Vanessa has worked for The New York Times and clean energy companies. Previously, she worked at Etsy.com for over a decade.

avalon@climateactionhv.org

Avalon oversees PCA’s Ecological Restoration Grant program and Pollinate Now! Prior to PCA, she directed a coastal climate resilience education initiative through NOAA’s Environmental Literacy Program. She also has over a decade of farm work experience in New York and Canada, and has worked with various food justice- and agriculture-focused nonprofits as a development consultant. Avalon received an MS in Ecosystem Restoration from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, and a BA in Geology from Colgate University. She is a member of the Riverkeeper Young Advocates Council and the Town of Gallatin Conservation Advisory Council.

cate@climateactionhv.org

Cate Byrne is an environmental advocate and professional musician who is especially interested in urban resilience and environmental justice. A recent graduate of New England Conservatory, Cate is currently pursuing her master’s in Climate Science and Policy from Bard College.

Cate’s background is rooted in community leadership. She was a founding member and vice president of New England Conservatory’s first Student Government Association, the founder and chair of New England Conservatory’s Environmental Club NECO, a teaching assistant, and a resident leader. Cate views her sustainability work and music as intersectional, and she is building a career in the climate justice sector while continuing to advocate for social and sustainable change through the arts.

bob@climateactionhv.org

Bob has dedicated his professional life to working at the intersection of economics, environmentalism, and culture with an eye toward locally owned business, resilient agriculture, and democratic participation in decision making. Bob also directs the Local Economies Project at the New World Foundation.

Prior to this, he served as executive director of the NoVo Foundation and director of the Rudolf Steiner Foundation’s East Coast Office.

paige@climateactionhv.org

Paige co-founded the Integrative Medicine Foundation which focused on permaculture, renewable energy, and the protection of intellectual property rights of traditional healers in East Africa.

Holding a Master's Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, she worked as a psychotherapist in private practice and an art therapist in the New York City public school system. Paige has written, produced, and hosted radio programs and podcasts that feature economic and collaborative solutions to climate change and inequity. She was also associate producer and outreach campaign manager for the Sundance feature film God Loves Uganda.

matt@climateactionhv.org

Before co-founding Partners for Climate Action, Stinchcomb founded and led the Good Work Institute - a local organization committed to working towards a Just Transition in the Hudson Valley. Additionally, he is a co-founder of Place Corps, an educational program dedicated to cultivating a call to know, love, and serve our places. Prior to working in the non-profit sector, Matt was the VP, Values and Impact at Etsy.com.

Stinchcomb serves on the board of directors for the Schumacher Center for New Economics (chair) and the Hawthorne Valley Association (co-chair).

For nearly 30 years, Jack has been a writing and story consultant for independent films and online media, creating compelling content on science, history, and current events for mass audiences, NGOs, and advocacy groups. A distinguished instructor, he has taught documentary workshops throughout the US and Europe. He has also written and directed Emmy Award-winning films for National Geographic and PBS, with series such as Nature and Nova, focused on such topics as climate change in Peru, natural disasters in Haiti, and the opium trade in Afghanistan. Prior, he was a reporter with Time magazine, where he covered the White House and Congress.

Susan is a passionate environmental advocate, architect, and founder of Dirty Gaia, an organization focused on earth stewardship, environmental awareness, and home food growing. Her lifelong love of growing vegetables combined with a deep respect for living systems provides a unique platform from which to promote environmental sustainability. Along with launching a gleaning program to distribute excess produce from home and community gardens to local pantries, she leads the Rhinebeck Community Garden, co-founded Rhinecliff’s Morton Seed Library, and was a past Good Work Institute fellow.