Our Team
Staff
Willa Gruver, Program Manager
Resilient Communities
willa@sustainablesolano.org
Willa grew up exploring and falling in love with California’s natural beauty, raising chickens, rabbits and quail, and selling vegetables at her local farmer’s market. While earning her B.A. in Environmental Studies at Carleton College, she facilitated community-building and environmental education on campus as a member and house manager of a Sustainable Living Interest House Co-op. She further honed her community-building skills while working in event planning and people operations at GiveWell, and developed an interest in sustainable city planning through UC Berkeley’s [IN]City program. She believes that creating connected, engaged communities is a crucial component of forming and upholding systems of care for people and the planet.
As a Resilient Communities Program Manager, Willa focuses on building community connections and facilitating community-led conversation, education and action. Outside of work she can often be found befriending neighborhood cats, roller skating in the park and singing.
Stephanie Oelsligle Jordan, Program Manager, Chef
Local Food
stephanie@sustainablesolano.org
Experienced chef and healthy-eating advocate Stephanie Oelsligle Jordan is program manager for our Local Food Program initiative. She assists with operational plan creation and oversees program administration. Chef Steph grew up in Nebraska and holds a BA in Communication Studies from Northwestern University. After working in marketing and PR for several years, she caught the “cooking bug,” and in 2004 earned a Certificate of Professional Cooking from the Illinois Institute of Art. Shortly after culinary school, she started her own company, Hot Dish Inc., through which she catered numerous private events. She has taught over 400 public cooking classes at various venues in Chicago and also served as adjunct faculty in the Culinary Department at Robert Morris University. A mother of two young boys, Chef Steph is passionate about teaching children to eat healthy from a young age, and increasing the accessibility of quality, organic food to families. She is an advocate of cleaning up our nation’s broken food system and works for food justice whenever possible.
Elena Karoulina, Development Director info@sustainablesolano.org
Elena was the founding Executive Director of Sustainable Solano; she grew the organization from its tiny root, Benicia Community Gardens, first joining as a Board member in 2012. In 2026, after 3 years of a comprehensive co-executive leadership model with Allison, Elena stepped down from her Executive Director role. Elena continues to support the organization in what she does best — development of strategy, funding and people, and provides oversight to the most complex programs, while exploring her next chapter in nonprofit and/or philanthropy sectors. Her interests and capacities include creating healthy social forms through organizational development, support for nonprofit leadership and overall capacity building in the nonprofit sector where these new social forms and human-centered organizations can be designed, implemented and practiced
Allison Nagel, Executive Director
allison@sustainablesolano.org
As executive director, Allison focuses on helping the organization best serve our communities in Solano County through various programs that ultimately serve the good of the whole. She is dedicated to ensuring the organization is fiscally strong and operationally successful and committed to upholding its nature-inspired approach to nonprofit organizational management. Allison is grateful to work with a team and board who share a common vision for a healthier, more resilient future and inspired by the power of people to create change within their lives and communities. Allison holds degrees in journalism and business, and has a Permaculture Design Certificate through Sustainable Solano and Vital Cycles.
Nicole Newell, Program Manager
Sustainable Landscaping
nicole@sustainablesolano.org
Although a longtime Benician, Nicole didn’t feel like she belonged to a community until she discovered Benicia Community Gardens. Having earned her degree in biology and having a personal passion for healing herbs and growing anything organic (especially from seed), Nicole joined the 2015 Land Caretaker’s Training, where she was introduced to permaculture.The concept resonated with her as a caretaker of people, now evolving to being a caretaker for the earth as well. She continued on to receive a permaculture design certificate with Toby Hemenway.
Seeing the interconnection of all things inspires her to continue learning, evolving, and creating with others a fulfilled life. For her, healing and community resilience begins in a garden, and she looks forward to working with others to continue to bring sustainable landscapes into Solano County.
Yien Saeturn, Operations Coordinator
yien@sustainablesolano.org
Yien’s journey into the world of finance started with a lot of heart and a lot of determination. As a young mother, she learned early on how to balance the beautiful but busy demands of family life while working a full-time job and going to school for accounting to build a stable future. That experience taught her how to manage time, grow, adapt, and truly learn the value of community.
With over five years of experience keeping projects, schedules, and details organized, Yien uses her knack for problem solving to help meaningful causes thrive. As SuSol’s Operations Coordinator, she combines her love for working with people with her love for keeping our day-to-day operations running smoothly. She is excited to bring that dedication to Sustainable Solano. Yien loves that SuSol works as a collaborative, non-hierarchical team where every voice matters, and we all chip in to care for the earth, food, and each other.
Clairese Wright, Public Education Coordinator Fellow
Sustainability Service Corps
clairese@sustainablesolano.org
Rooted in Solano County, Clairese grew up as a dedicated 4-H member, serving her local community from an early age. Her hands-on volunteer work sparked a deep curiosity about the environment and a desire to give back to the community that shaped her. This passion led her to UCLA, where she earned a B.S. in Environmental Science with a minor in Environmental Systems and Society. Her commitment to environmental stewardship and volunteerism shines through her research and community initiatives. She designed and led “Don’t Make Pollution, Be the Solution,” an educational project that taught classrooms in Solano County the importance of protecting our waterways and natural landscapes. She also worked alongside UCLA Housing to conduct a comprehensive energy baseline audit. Additionally, Clairese collaborated with the Climate and Wildfire Institute to demonstrate the ecological benefits of prescribed burns over catastrophic wildfires, highlighting how Traditional Ecological Knowledge offers vital solutions to today’s wildfire crisis.
As Public Education Coordinator, Clairese fosters community engagement across Sustainable Solano’s initiatives. Driven by a deep passion for bringing people together to protect the environment, she utilizes her knowledge in environmental justice and land conservation to inspire, educate, and empower local residents.
Sustainable Solano Board of Directors
Maggie Kolk, Board President
Maggie is a dedicated food safety and quality professional with diverse experience in training, auditing and consulting across the food supply chain. She has developed and implemented food safety programs for a variety of food processing, manufacturing and retail facilities preparing for FDA and USDA regulatory compliance. She is an enthusiastic, experienced trainer with a background in instructional design and has developed and delivered accredited courses in HACCP, Advanced HACCP, GMPs, Internal Auditing and related topics. Maggie is an approved training provider for Global Food Safety Initiative standards and is a certified trainer for Seafood HACCP. She is also a lead trainer for the Food Safety Modernization Act’s Preventative Controls course and Produce Safety.
Maggie has volunteered with a many U.S. food and agricultural organizations, including Global Growers, Clarkston, Georgia, and Slow Food Atlanta – Farm to School programs. She was the SQF International Conference chair from 2013-2017. Maggie is the current co-manager of Sustainable Solano’s Avant Community Garden in Benicia with her husband, Jack. She was recognized by Congressman Garamendi as one of Solano County’s 2023 Women of the Year. Her degrees and certifications: A.S. Business Administration, Peirce College in Philadelphia; B.S. Food Science and Nutrition, M.S. Food Science, SJSU in San Jose; CP-FS, National Environmental Health Association; ATD Instructional Design Certification.
Ron Kane, Board Member/Treasurer
Ron joined the Benicia community over 35 years ago when his wife became an English teacher at Benicia High School. When he moved his family to Benicia, Ron became active with Boy Scout Troop 8. An Eagle Scout himself, he mentored dozens of Scouts on their Eagle Scout projects and believes the appreciation of the outdoors and learning of new skills is critical to today’s youth.
Ron is actively involved in the community, serving as Vice Chair of the City of Benicia Parks, Cemetery and Recreation Commission, and serving on the Board of Directors for the Benicia Bocce League. Ron earned a Permaculture Design Certificate through Sustainable Solano and Vital Cycles. He has volunteered with SuSol’s environmental leadership internship, and during the annual demonstration food forest tour highlighting Wild Cherry Way, a permaculture garden in Benicia designed by SuSol and owned by his children. Ron is an avid gardener and maintains a food forest at his home as well as an allotment at Avant Garden. He enjoys fresh seasonal vegetables throughout the year, but is really excited during the tomato season, growing over 25 heirloom tomato plants.
Food insecurity is an important social issue to Ron, who advocates for providing consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life. He volunteers regularly with the Food Bank of Contra Costa and Solano and believes community initiatives such as community gardens, co-ops and farmers markets can improve access to fresh food.
Ron has a B.S. from Pennsylvania State University and an MBA from Golden Gate University in San Francisco.
Veronica “V” Bearce, Board Member
“V” is a native Californian and long-time Benicia resident. She devoted 24 years to educating children in the Travis district. She has volunteered with Sustainable Solano for over 10 years. “V” believes in food for healing and sustenance and ran her own vegan food business to help promote that healing. She is always willing to jump in and help where needed.
“V” is president of the Benicia Theatre Group’s board of directors. When she’s not hanging with her grandkids, she can be found gardening, working a jigsaw puzzle, walking around Benicia, writing, or taking time to smell the roses.
Dr. Bonnie Hamilton, Board Member
Bonnie is a pediatrician who has practiced in Solano County for almost 30 years. She believes positive change occurs most effectively at the community level, where local action can result in a ripple effect into neighboring communities.
She serves on the board of the Solano County Medical Society, is a delegate to the California Medical Association and has done decades of advocacy work for the health and safety of all Californians. She belongs to Climate Health Now and Physicians for Human Rights, and advocates for climate justice and health equity. She is also involved in lobbying efforts with our local and state elected officials to bring attention to the climate crisis and to put into action practices that will help heal our Earth.
In 2017 she trained with former Vice President Al Gore in the Climate Reality Leadership Corps. She facilitates a Solano Climate Policy Action Team through the Bay Area Chapter of the Climate Reality Project, which focuses on local action addressing climate issues and clean energy resilience, independence and security. She teaches climate-related workshops and does presentations on solutions to the climate crisis to numerous community members, college students and faith groups.
Her particular interests are promoting regenerative farming practices, green renewable energy and clean solar+battery microgrids at the community and local government levels. She is also interested in green space expansion, wetlands preservation, waste management, plastics reduction and climate justice.
Allison Nagel, Executive Director
allison@sustainablesolano.org
As executive director, Allison focuses on helping the organization best serve our communities in Solano County through various programs that ultimately serve the good of the whole. She is dedicated to ensuring the organization is fiscally strong and operationally successful and committed to upholding its nature-inspired approach to nonprofit organizational management. Allison is grateful to work with a team and board who share a common vision for a healthier, more resilient future and inspired by the power of people to create change within their lives and communities. Allison holds degrees in journalism and business, and has a Permaculture Design Certificate through Sustainable Solano and Vital Cycles.
Marilyn Bardet, Past President
Marilyn, a long-time resident of Benicia, is a civic & environmental activist with a life-long commitment to social and environmental justice. She is a founding member of the Good Neighbor Steering Committee, a local grassroots environmental watchdog, a founding member of Benicia Tree Foundation, an ex-officio member of the Benicia Community Sustainability Commission, and a certified member of the Benicia Emergency Response Team; in the past she served as a council-appointed member of the City of Benicia General Plan Oversight Committee. In her free time, Marilyn writes poetry, gardens, paints and hikes. She is also an active member of Arts Benicia.
Advisory Boards & Volunteers
Click here to learn about the people who make our work possible, including advisory board members and volunteers.