Board Spotlight: A Conversation with Dennis Rosatti

For Dennis (Denny) Rosatti, environmental stewardship has always been central to his life and career, a fact that quickly became clear as we sat down to talk about his career and his role as a board member at GSLC.

With an educational background in biology and ecology, Denny has long sought practical ways to protect our environment for future generations.

“I grew up in the Boy Scouts,” he shared early on in our conversation. “Spending time on the earth, you know, take only pictures, leave only footprints. [That’s] the mentality I've taken most of my life.”

Today, this determination to leave his surroundings better than he found them shows in his work as the Principal of Rosatti Consulting in Sonoma County. Founded by Denny in 2012, Rosatti Consulting specializes in political consulting, building campaigns for candidates and ballot measures, and helping public agencies and private organizations engage in public affairs and with their communities.

Before moving into political consulting, Denny was deeply invested in improving his community and the environment, serving as Executive Director of Sonoma County Conservation Action for 14 years. In this role, he gained firsthand experience in grassroots campaigning, lobbying, and advancing environmental policy, all skills he continues to implement today. His environmental knowledge and organizational experience made serving on GSLC’s Board of Directors a natural fit when the opportunity emerged.

Denny joined the board in 2023, drawn in part by GSLC’s willingness to approach conservation differently from other similar non-profits. In GSLC’s diverse portfolio of projects, he saw an organization with the flexibility to take on conservation challenges that didn't always fit neatly within a traditional land trust model.

“I really liked that the conservation projects and outcomes [GSLC was] taking on were kind of different, outside the box,” he emphasized. “To me, it felt like [they] were providing a service and a resource that was unique and there was a need for.”

As a board member, Denny helps oversee the organization’s finances, ensures its programs remain aligned with its mission, and evaluates potential projects. Additionally, he recently stepped into the role of treasurer, bringing experience managing budgets as a former Executive Director and as the former volunteer treasurer of an education foundation in his local district.

When I asked Denny what keeps him coming back to conservation work, he shared that he views serving on GSLC’s board as more than lending professional expertise; it's also a form of personal responsibility.

“We have a responsibility based on the incredible social circumstance we find ourselves in to keep our water clean, and the air we breathe decent, and, hopefully, the cancer-causing pollutants to a minimum for the survival of our species and for our kids.”

This belief in responsibility, both individually and collectively, fuels our work here at GSLC. We are working to protect land permanently, not just for our sake, but for future generations.

To learn more about the board, advisors, and staff who make GSLC's work possible, visit our About (opens in new tab) page. If you, like Denny, want to make a meaningful impact on our environment, consider supporting GSLC with a donation (opens in new tab).