Our Board of Directors
Dr. Sherry Ryan is an associate professor of city planning in San Diego State University’s School of Public Affairs. She conducts research on transportation-land use relationships, and health and community impacts of transportation systems. She teaches graduate courses in transportation planning, land use planning and geographic information systems (GIS). She is passionate about mentoring and working with students in the urban planning field on real world projects to prepare them for a career in planning and community transformation. In addition to her academic career, Sherry has maintained close connections with planning practice through consulting work and volunteer work for advocacy groups. She has worked as a practicing transportation planner in the San Diego region for almost 15 years, and served as project manager on high visibility projects such as the San Diego Regional Bicycle Plan, the City of San Diego’s Pedestrian Master Plan, and the City of Chula Vista’s Pedestrian Master Plan. She is the owner and principal of Chen Ryan Associates.
Khalisa Bolling brings extensive experience in health interventions in underserved communities. Having earned her Masters in Public Health at San Diego State University, Khalisa has served as the coordinator for the National City's Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes Program. She has managed numerous NIH studies looking at innovative behavior change strategies. She served as the Director of Programs for Outdoor Outreach, an organization that empowers at-risk and underprivileged youth to make positive lasting changes in their lives through comprehensive outdoor programming. Khalisa is currently working for UCSD in the implementation of a multi-level intervention in retirement communities aimed at increasing physical activity.
T. Michael Chee is Manager of Environmental Engineering, a department at the General Dynamics - National Steel and Shipbuilding Company which he helped start twenty years ago. Mr. Chee is a graduate of San Diego State University, and holds a Bachelors of Science Degree in Marine Biology. He also holds Professional Certificates in Air Quality Management, Hazardous Materials Management and Ground Remediation from the University of California, San Diego. Given the company's location, where Chollas Creek meets San Diego Bay, Mr. Chee's background and commitment are assets to the Board.
Vicki Estrada is a landscape architect, urban designer, and President of Estrada Land Planning in San Diego. Estrada Land Planning provides land planning, landscape architecture, GIS, re-vegetation, visual analysis, and urban design services. Vicki is a graduate of Cal Poly SLO and has over 35 years of private practice experience, working for both public and private clients. Her projects have included the Balboa Park Master Plan, the Otay Ranch New Town Plan, the San Ysidro Mobility Study, the Rancho San Diego Specific Plan, and the Downtown San Diego Streetscape Manual. She is currently Chair of the City of San Diego Community Forest Advisory Board, Chair of the San Diego Airport Public Art Advisory Committee, Chair of the San Diego Canyonlands Enhancement Planning Committee; she is on the County of San Diego Historic Site Board, the Cal Poly SLO School of Architecture Deans Advisory Board, the Media Arts Center San Diego Board of Directors, the San Diego Athletic Club Board of Directors, the C3 Parks Sub-committee, and the San Diego Canyonlands Board of Directors. She also served 9 years on the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and co-authored the White Paper on San Diego Canyonlands. Vicki wrote the Chollas Creek Enhancement Program, and is a leading visionary of and champion for Chollas Creek and its communities. For a fascinating presentation on the City’s Urban Forestry program, click here. Move the slide bar to about 1 hour 36 min and that is where the CFAB presentation starts.
Liz Faddis has a career history dedicated to public service. She worked for the Workforce Partnership, mananging a long-term Department of Labor initiative supporting the economic strengthening of youth and their families in the greater Southeastern San Diego area. As a senior administrator for the Metro United Methodist Urban Ministry, she developed partnerships with government, community and faith-based organizations, local and national foundations, schools and local businesses on behalf of the citizens of Southeastern San Diego. She was a founder and the first Executive Director of Groundwork San Diego-Chollas Creek, bringing in significant funding for and managing habitat restoration, education, and community development projects throughout the Chollas creek watershed. She currently works as an administrator in the home health care industry.
Margaretta Hickman has lived in the Chollas Creek area since 1968 and been a community activist for many years. She was president of the Montford Point Marine Association Ladies Auxiliary. She has served several offices in the American Legion and was in The Heroines of Jericho, Daughter of the Elks and the VFW Ladies Auxiliary. She was the Chair of the Webster Community Council and is now Chair of the Webster Heights Community Development Corporation. These many affiliations strengthen the steering committee's connection to watershed residents.
Michael Jenkins (Legal Counsel) serves as an advisor to the Board. He has worked as a community economic development professional, lawyer, educator, and mediator. Mr. Jenkins was director of a community based nonprofit, then worked for Assemblywoman Lucy Killea. In 1986, he joined the City of San Diego as Redevelopment Agency Executive Director and Community Development Department Assistant Director. He left the City in 2003 to practice law in the areas of redevelopment and nonprofit corporations. Mikehas been a mediator since 1991, serving the National Conflict Resolution Center, San Diego Superior Court, and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission panels. He received the NCRC mediator credential in 1995. In recent years he has mediated primarily business, land use, and public policy issues. He concluded his law practice at the end of 2009 to focus exclusively on mediation. Mr. Jenkins has been an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Diego School of Law, the San Diego State University School of Business Administration, and, currently, at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law.
Jeff Marston is president and government relations director for Marston + Marston. Prior to joining his wife Myrna at the firm, Marston spent seven-and-a-half years as senior vice president of a San Diego-based public relations firm. In his last three-and-a-half years there, while his clients, projects and assignments were quite varied, Marston spent the majority of his time serving as the lobbyist for the City of San Diego in Sacramento. Before his employment at that public relations firm, Marston was a member of the California State Assembly representing San Diego's 78th District. While in the State Assembly, Marston served on the Committees on Education, Housing and Community Development and Revenue and Taxation. Since 2001, the City of San Diego has again retained his services to help represent the City's interests in Sacramento and to serve as the liaison to the Mayor, City Council, City Manager and senior staff relative to California state issues.
Myles Pomeroy (Vice President for Planning) is a retired urban planner who worked for the City of San Diego Planning Department for 22 years before retiring in June, 2009. His responsibilities included planning for the Southeastern San Diego and Encanto communities and implementation of the Chollas Creek Enhancement Program, an officially adopted plan of the City. In that capacity, he developed a close working relationship with Groundwork and upon retirement joined the Board. Prior to working in San Diego, he worked for 15 years with the City of St. Louis Community Development Agency.
Bill Ponder brings extensive experience in higher education administration, higher education counseling, teaching, and urban and regional planning. He served as a senior administrator at Eastern Washington University, Shoreline Community College, and University of California at Riverside, and as a member of the Spokane Boundary Review Board, and the City San Bernardino Building Commission, and was appointed by former Governor Gary Locke to the Combined Fund of Washington. His current book, “In the Eyes of God, American Public Education in the 21st Century,” focuses on the profound issues in America and will be in the fall edition of the New York Review of Books.
Leslie Reynolds (Secretary & Executive Director) has over 25 years experience in educational administration, government affairs, media relations, environmental education programming. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, San Diego. She served as chief of staff to a California State legislator for many years, managing staff, constituent services, communications, and drafting legislation. She then served as Vice President of San Diego State University’s Office of University Relations and Development for almost two decades, where she managed community relations, legislative affairs, division budgets, grants, and contracts. She left the university to create a nonprofit organization offering habitat-based service learning and youth leadership programs; she is a founder and the Executive Director of Groundwork San Diego.
Dick Rol, ecologist and landscape architect for AECOM Corporation, has 14 years of experience working for private planning and design firms as well as state and local governments, including the City of San Diego. His work focuses on natural resource planning, habitat restoration, and open space issues. He has been actively involved in citywide open space issues for 10 years including serving as a City staff member on the Open Space Citizen’s Advisory Committee, the City staff liaison to the Wetlands Advisory Board, a member of San Diego Canyonlands’ Canyon Enhancement Planning Committee, and a leader of the Friends of Normal Heights Canyons.
Mary Salas was elected to the Chula Vista City Council in 1996. Putting people first as a leader on public safety issues, she worked to hire 24 new police officers, cracked down on gang graffiti, and expanded after school programs to give our youth an alternative to the streets. As an Economic Development Specialist for the California Trade and Commerce Agency, Mary worked to expand the U.S. Gypsum Drywall Plant and attract new jobs with the Brawley Beef Plant, River Ranch Fresh Foods, and the Cal Energy Zinc Extraction Plant. While serving as Vice President of the South County Economic Development Council and Chairwoman of the Trans-border Business Development Committee, Mary worked hard to create hundreds of high-paying jobs in South San Diego by bringing companies like Raytheon, Solar, and Leviton to our area. Mary was elected to the California State Assembly in 2006, she fought for veterans, serving as the Chair of the Committee on Veterans Affairs, and has worked to deliver jobs to San Diego as a member of the Jobs, Economic Development and Economy Committee. And as a member of the Committee on Water, Parks and Wildlife and the Bi-cameral, Bi-partisan Water Work Group, Mary worked tirelessly to find solutions to our water supply issue.
Susan Taylor (Vice President) is a veteran mediator (over 20 years) with the National Conflict Resolution Center (nee San Diego Mediation Center). Her previous board experiences include Campfire Boys and Girls, Mid City Serior Enterprises, California Women in Government and she currently is a member of the UCSD Alumni Board of Directors and the Board of San Diego Capital Collaborative. Previously she was Chief of Staff to Senator Lucy Killea in Sacramento and when Ms Killea was the City of San Diego's Deputy Mayor. Earlier career experiences included local training for the Peace Corps, overseas disaster relief worker for the National Council of Churches. Also, Susan is a Master Gardener and serves as a school garden consultant for 3 neighborhood schools. She is a member of the Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation and Yosemite Association.
Derryl Williams (President), has more than 33 years experience in Subcontract Administration in the aerospace industry. He currently servesas a Subcontract Administrator for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Strike and Surveillance Systems Division. Mr. Williams has been a resident of District 4 since 1976. His committed service began in the community of Webster, where he served as President of the neighborhood council for 14 years and Vice President for 2 years. During that time period, he assisted in rezoning the community, to reflect its single-family character, in harmony with a light industrial business focus. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Williams assisted in the negotiations that brought McDonald’s, Federal Express, and small businesses into the community, along with helping to spearhead, from the neighborhood perspective, the expansion of Coca Cola. All this was done while establishing the most successful Maintenance Assessment District (MAD) in the City of San Diego. While serving as the Webster Neighborhood Council’s President, the late San Diego City Councilman, George Stevens, appointed him to serve as District 4's representative to the Select Committee on Government Efficiency and Fiscal Reform. Since the inception of Encanto Neighborhoods Community Planning Group in 1999, Mr. Williams volunteered his time and expertise as its Chairman for 10 years, and remains in the Planning Group. He is the District 4 appointment to the Board of Directors of the Southeastern Economic Development Corporation.