Get To Know Us

History of WMCA

West Marin Climate Action was founded following a workshop at the West Marin School in November 2019. The workshop elicited input from community members about actions that could help solve the climate crisis while increasing our local resiliency. Attendees identified three areas of highest interest: local food, renewable energy, and reducing waste. Those are the action areas WMCA continues to focus on today.

Commonweal, a 501(c)(3) organization based in Bolinas, is our fiscal sponsor.

"Climate Justine Now" written on cardboard sign at a public march

In Memorium, David Rempel

Our friend and colleague, David Rempel, died on August 14th, 2026. He had ALS. We deeply appreciate and honor David’s community activism and leadership around climate change issues.

David was a co-founder of West Marin Climate Action and, for more than five years, he led our Renewable Energy Action Team. Hundreds in our community benefited from the webinars he hosted on heat pumps, electric trucks, calculating your carbon footprint, water conservation, and more. He advocated to install more EV charging stations in West Marin. David’s initiative and leadership were essential to programs including our Electric Vehicle Expos, and he helped to bring millions of dollars in grants to West Marin for clean energy community microgrids.

David was very unassuming, but his intellect was prodigious. David’s superpower was finding common ground, stimulating groups to produce effective ideas, and quietly fostering those ideas into actions. And it is a rare soul who could match David for sheer curiosity. Just a week before he died, David emailed out a research-supported Grist article making the case that swapping your internal combustion vehicle for an EV is almost always the greener choice, even when your gas vehicle runs just fine.

David’s example reminds us that life on this planet is precious. His leadership showed us how to consciously enhance our relationship with that life. He will continue to inspire us, even as we miss his presence.

Our Team

Steering Committee

Eleanore Despina, Co-founder
Sembrando Vida, Exec Committee
Marty Frankel, Pt Reyes Station
Executive Committee
Bing Gong, Co-founder
Executive Committee
Madeline Nieto Hope, Inverness
Local Food, Waste Reduction
Kathy Hunting, Pt Reyes Station
Local Food, Renewable Energy
Julie Liss, Inverness
Local Food, Glean Team Lead
Trinka Marris, Pt Reyes Station
Local Food, Sembrando Vida
Jim Quay, Bolinas
Executive Committee
Scoby Zook, Inverness
Renewable Energy
Fernanda Vasquez, Petaluma/Santa Barbara
Staff

Key Volunteers

Andrew Bock, Inverness Park
Renewable Energy
Rich Brown, Inverness
Renewable Energy
Bob Densmore, Bolinas
Glean Team Lead
Tom Flynn, Marshall
Renewable Energy, Microgrids
Susan Hayes, Inverness Park
Local Food
Catherine Hunter, Stinson Beach
Local Food
Marnie Jackson, Nicasio
Glean Team Lead
Gideon Letz, Stinson Beach
Renewable Energy
Toni Littlejohn, Point Reyes Station
Renewable Energy
Jorge Martinez, Point Reyes Station
Sembrando Vida
Michele McCulloch, Point Reyes Station
Garden Steward
Lawrie Mott, Inverness
Renewable Energy
William Prince, Inverness
Renewable Energy
Jane Stringer, Inverness
Glean Team Lead
Julie Young, San Geronimo Valley
Glean Team Lead

Hear from Our Community Partners

The West Marin Glean Team is a critical partner for Share the Bounty. Thanks to them, the beautiful produce grown in West Marin stays right here, nourishing the community. Since we started working together, the West Marin Glean Team has harvested and delivered over 8,000 pounds of backyard and farm produce!

—Tracey Van Hooser, Share the Bounty
West Marin has unique energy challenges. Getting involved with WMCA is a great way to connect with other climate-minded residents to learn how to save energy, reduce fossil fuel use, and stay resilient for a sustainable future in West Marin.

—Mark Chhabria, Senior Sustainability Analyst, Marin County
The Environmental Action Committee of West Marin (EAC) values West Marin Climate Action for engaging community members in actions to confront the climate crisis. In fact, EAC was instrumental in helping WMCA get established, and we continue to work together on education, local events, and outreach. EAC's mission is to protect and sustain the unique lands, waters, and biodiversity of West Marin through advocacy, science, education, and engagement.

— Ashley Eagle-Gibbs, Executive Director, EAC
We are excited to be working with West Marin Climate Action in Tomales to develop renewable energy solutions to increase our climate resilience to live more sustainably.

- Donna Clavaud, Board President, Tomales Village Community Services District