Greg Carr
Chair of the Board
A retired land use and environmental planner and former planning commissioner who has long volunteered his expertise to conservation.
Our board
The people who hold us to it.
Golden State Land Conservancy is governed by a volunteer board of directors—planners, attorneys, and conservation professionals who set our direction and safeguard the mission for the long term.
What the board does
Governance in service of permanence.
A land trust makes promises meant to last forever. The board exists to make sure the organization can keep them, governing with care long after any single project is complete.
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Fiduciary oversight
Directors safeguard the organization’s assets and stewardship endowments, approve the annual budget, and ensure funds are managed for the perpetual obligations we take on.
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Strategic direction
The board sets the long-range direction—adopting the Strategic Plan, approving major conservation projects, and reviewing progress against our goals.
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Risk & compliance
Directors oversee legal and financial risk, maintain sound policies, and ensure the organization meets its obligations as a perpetual holder of conservation easements.
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Accreditation readiness
The board upholds the national Land Trust Standards & Practices and keeps the organization ready for continued accreditation.
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Supporting the mission
Directors hire and support the Executive Director, act as ambassadors in their communities, and help build the relationships that sustain the work.
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Accountability to the public
As stewards of a public trust, the board ensures the organization reports transparently and honors the promises made to landowners and donors.
How the board works
Structure & practice.
The board meets every other month, with committees carrying the detailed work of finance, recruitment, fundraising, and policy between meetings.
- Officers
- Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer & Secretary
- Meets
- Every other month, first Thursday, 3–5 PM
- Committees
- Finance, Board Recruitment, Fundraising & Policy Packet
- Board size
- Up to 15 volunteer directors, unpaid
Who serves
Seven volunteers who hold us to it.
Directors who set strategy and hold the organization accountable — planners, attorneys, mitigation experts, and public-service veterans.
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Matt Richmond
Vice Chair
A mitigation expert and principal at the environmental consulting firm WRA, Inc., with more than 20 years managing projects from coastal ecology to habitat restoration.
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Dennis (Denny) Rosatti
Interim Treasurer
A public affairs and campaign consultant and former Executive Director of Sonoma County Conservation Action, with expertise in media relations, organizational development, and community outreach.
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Steven Sharpe
Secretary
A Sonoma County land use consultant for 15 years, he has served as an analyst for the County Administrator and Economic Development Board, Executive Officer for LAFCO, and Acting General Manager of the county’s Agricultural Preservation and Open Space District.
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Dean Parsons
Director
A land use planner with Parsons & Associates, previously a Project Review Manager at Permit Sonoma and a Senior Planner for the City of San Rafael, with experience across every aspect of land use planning.
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Kyrsten Shields
Director
A regulatory project manager for over 20 years, she serves as Regulatory Director for the Western Region of RES, a national mitigation-banking and ecological-restoration firm.
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Peter Cohen
Director
Peter is past executive director of the San Francisco Council of Community Housing Organizations (CCHO, pronounced "choo choo"), was formerly the policy director at East Bay Housing Organizations (EBHO) in Oakland, and was most recently the policy director with Sacramento Housing Alliance. He currently works in the policy division of the California Department of Housing and Community Development. Peter is an urban geographer by training who has been involved in a variety of land use, housing policy and community planning initiatives in San Francisco and other parts of the Bay Area and in statewide coalitions over the last twenty years. He has served on the Greenbelt Alliance board of directors and the board of the San Francisco Community Land Trust. He currently lives in Petaluma, and plays in the outdoors all throughout California's bioregions.
Founder & President Emeritus · 1941–2015
Bob Whitney
He founded Golden State Land Conservancy in 2000 on a single idea — trust the landowner — and led it as Permanent President until his passing in 2015.
All 90 properties on our map began the way he insisted they should: with a landowner and a conversation.
Emeritus Advisors
Called on when the project calls for it.
Longtime advisors who lend expertise on law, science, planning, and land use — several of them former GSLC board members.
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Photo pending · DB
Dino Bonos
Land Use Planner
Principal of Bonos Land Planning, a Sonoma County firm specializing in land use and real estate, with 40 years in planning, open-space preservation, and parks administration. A former GSLC Chair and five-year board member.
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Photo pending · WM
Whit Manley
Environmental Attorney
Senior Counsel at Remy Moose Manley, LLP, specializing in conservation and environmental law and co-author of the Guide to the California Environmental Quality Act. A former Treasurer and original GSLC board member for 20 years.
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Photo pending · MZ
Michael Zander
Environmental Scientist
Principal Environmental Scientist at Zander Associates, specializing in natural-resource analysis and biological evaluation, and a liaison between clients and regulatory agencies resolving land use and environmental conflicts.
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Photo pending · RZ
Rose Zoia
Land Use Attorney
An attorney practicing land use law, real estate and business transactions, and civil appeals and writs in California courts.
Interested in serving?
Good boards are built on purpose.
We periodically welcome new directors who share our commitment to California’s land. If board service interests you, we’d like to hear from you.