Valerie joined the Commission in 2012. She previously served as executive director of the Saginaw Basin Land Conservancy in Michigan where she managed $4 million dollars in grant funding to purchase conservation easements. Prior to that she served in various roles with the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, Alliance for Bay County Schools, United Way, […]

Melissa Kalvestrand served many roles at the Commission since joining in November 2009. After 10 years of consistently taking on more responsibilities, she was named executive director in January 2020. During her tenure at the Commission, she has overseen the accreditation review process and facilitated the accreditation decisions for over 100 applicants each year. She […]

Jake Faber is the manager of growth & partnerships at Upstream Tech. He previously managed the Land Trust Alliance’s collaborative remote monitoring projects with NRCS and other conservation partners to support effective stewardship through innovative remote monitoring technologies. Prior to that he organized aerial monitoring opportunities for conservation advocates across the Southeast and led hands-on […]