Our volunteer-based board is comprised of a diverse group of environmentally-minded members of the SCC community who are dedicated to a green future for all.
Cayce Hill – Co-Chair
Cayce Hill is the Executive Director of Veggielution, a six-acre urban farm located in East San José focused on building environmental and food equity. She is originally from Austin, TX, having arrived in San Jose in 2008 by way of Morelia, New York City, and Tokyo. Cayce previously worked for Delphi Agrarian Arts Foundation, Sons and Daughters restaurant, Japan Organic Agriculture Association, The New York Academy of Medicine, and Montefiore Children’s Hospital. She also serves on the Board of the San José Parks Foundation, is an On the Verge Mayfair leader, and an American Leadership Forum Senior Fellow. Cayce loves to cook, garden, and cycle and is committed to reducing inequities in access to public open spaces, which are fundamental building blocks for healthy, vibrant communities.
Barbara Worham – Co-Chair
Barbara (Babs) Wortham is passionate about studying and protecting the environment. She received her PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences from UC Davis, where she studied and published academic papers on the impacts of drought on the chemistry of underground water in California. She was part of the NOAA Climate and Global Change postdoctoral fellowship program, where she studied the impacts of climate change on tree species as recorded at the La Brea tarpits in Los Angeles. Currently, she works as the lead of climate risk model development at PwC, where she is able to help global companies understand their impact on global CO2 and the impact of climate change on their value chain. Beyond climate related expertise, she is dedicated to learning from the community on environmental issues that matter.
Rod Diridon, Sr. – Past Chair
Rod Diridon, Sr. is the Emeritus Executive Director of the Mineta Transportation Institute. He is known as the “father” of modern transit service in Silicon Valley and chaired more than 100 international, national, state, and local programs most related to sustainability. Rod chaired the SCCLCV Board from 1995 to 2015 and is a Life and Muir Society Member of the Sierra Club. He has driven electric cars since 1996 and his home’s solar array is net-positive to the grid. His B.S. in Accounting and a MSBA in Statistics are from San Jose State University and he served two combat tours as a naval officer in Vietnam. He has 2 successful children, 4 grandchildren and is married to Dr. Gloria Duffy, President and CEO of the Commonwealth Club of California. His political career began in 1971 as the youngest person ever elected to the Saratoga City Council. He completed 5 terms, chaired 6 times, both the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and Transit Board. He chaired 9 successful rail system development project boards including CalTrain, Guadalupe Light Rail, Fremont/ South Bay BART. Rod was appointed in 2001 and 2005 by then Governors Davis and Schwarzenegger to the California High Speed Rail Authority Board and is chair emeritus. He is chair emeritus of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) and the High Speed and Intercity Rail Committee and National High Speed Rail Corridors´ Coalition. He is frequently asked to provide legislative testimony on sustainability. Silicon Valley’s main train station was rededicated the San Jose Diridon Station upon his 1994 retirement from elected office.
Terry Trumbull – Endorsement Chair
Terry Trumbull is Co-Founder of the Santa Clara County League of Conservation Voters. He has served as its Endorsement Chair since 1992. Terry has been an environmental attorney since 1971 and served on a number of public service appointments. Most notably, Terry served as the full-time Chair of the California Waste Management Board. He was also instrumental in the development of the nation’s first air and water pollution control regulations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Washington D.C. Terry teaches Environmental Law and Policy at San Jose State University and currently serves on 3 government commissions. Terry has an Economics degree from UC Davis and a J.D. from Georgetown.
Ruth Merino – Secretary
Ruth Merino retired in 2010 from the City of San Jose’s Office of the City Auditor where she was a Senior Program Performance Auditor. As a performance auditor she performed economy, efficiency and effectiveness audits of City departments and programs. Ruth’s primary environmental interest is in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by using more renewable energy, electric/hybrid vehicles and electric home appliances. In 2012, Ruth attended training given by Al Gore at the Climate Reality Leadership Corp Training Conference on how to present an updated slideshow similar to that shown in the documentary, “An Inconvenient Truth”. In 2013, she completed with distinction an online course, Climate Literacy: Navigating Climate Change Conversations. She is the Chair of San Jose Community Energy Advocates, which successfully advocated for the San Jose City Council to establish the San Jose Clean Energy program in May 2016. In 2020, SJCE Advocates also successfully advocated for the SJ City Council to cease fossil fuel investments such that San Jose’s $2.9 investment portfolio will be fossil fuel free in May 2021. Ruth holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley and has been a member of the Sierra Club since 1992. Ruth drives a 2019 Kia Niro EV which gets 239 miles per charge and is powered by SJ Clean Energy’s 100% renewable energy!
Marico Sayoc – Treasurer
Marico is a community advocate that has dedicated her career to making positive impacts on social and environmental justice issues. She is the Executive Director of CASSY – Counseling and Support Services for Youth, a nonprofit that partners with Bay Area schools to provide resources and professional, on-campus mental health services to students free of charge.
Marico began her career working for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and spent many years in the environmental field also working for the H. John Heinz III Center for Science, Economics and the Environment and the Natural Resources Defense Council.
Marico is the former Mayor of the Town of Los Gatos. In 2022, she was selected as Women of the Year by the California Legislature Assembly District 28. Marico holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Environmental Science from U.C. Berkeley and a Masters in Environmental Management from Duke University.
Bob Levy – Founding President
Bob Levy served as the founding president of the Santa Clara League of Conservation Voters. Bob is a life-long environmentalist. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies from UCSB and a Masters in Urban Planning from SJSU. Bob has a long history of community engagement. He currently serves as a member of the Santa Clara County Planning Commission, co-chair of the Steven’s Creek Advisory Group, and the Water District’s Water and Resources Advisory Committee. Previously he served on and chaired the San Jose Planning Commission, Santa Clara County Park and Recreation Commission, and San Jose Parks Commission. Professionally, Bob is a PMP certified project manager and senior business analyst utilizing his IT and parks experience as a project manager for the Santa Clara County’s Parks Department.
Peter Pham- Board Member
Peter Pham is passionate about stewarding the environment. Born and raised in east San Jose, he got his start in the global youth climate movement, organizing with thousands of South Bay youths to successfully advocate for many pieces of climate legislation at the local and state levels. In addition to his service with the League of Conservation Voters, he has served as a commissioner for public lands, transportation, and redistricting. He has also contributed to the development of microplastic-eating bacteria to tackle marine pollution and global environmental policy. Nowadays, in parallel, he serves as a board member to other environmental organizations. He works in cleantech and helps train diplomats to the annual United Nations climate, desertification, and biodiversity negotiations. Peter has a bachelor’s degree in Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.
Marc Landgraf – Board Member
Marc serves as the External Affairs Manager at the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority and in that role, leads their Community Engagement Team. He has worked in the land conservation field for over 14 years, including three years at the Trust for Public Land and seven years at Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST). As Director of External Affairs at POST, Marc built a broad range of traditional and nontraditional partnerships and also played a strong leadership role in the passing of Measure AA and Measure Q. Prior to working in conservation, Marc was a design engineering manager at Intel Corporation. Marc loves spending time with his family outdoors – hiking, biking and cross-country skiing. He is also an opera fan.
Marc serves as the External Affairs Manager at the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority and in that role, leads their Community Engagement Team. He has worked in the land conservation field for over 14 years, including three years at the Trust for Public Land and seven years at Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST). As Director of External Affairs at POST, Marc built a broad range of traditional and nontraditional partnerships and also played a strong leadership role in the passing of Measure AA and Measure Q. Prior to working in conservation, Marc was a design engineering manager at Intel Corporation. Marc loves spending time with his family outdoors – hiking, biking and cross-country skiing. He is also an opera fan.
Amie Ashton– Board Member
Amie Ashton is the Executive Director of Palo Alto Forward, which advocates to expand housing and transportation choices to create a more inclusive and sustainable city. Amie has a depth of experience working on large scale development and infrastructure projects for a host of private companies and public utilities. A recovering California Environmental Quality Act consultant, she is passionate about policy issues related to the intersection of housing, transportation, and climate. Amie serves as board chair of the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition and is a Keep Tahoe Blue Clean-Up Crew leader. When not biking or picking up trash, she can be found outdoors skiing or backpacking. Amie holds a B.A. in Environmental Studies from UC Santa Barbara.
