Preserving the legacy of Bay Area Action’s environmental work from 1990–2000 and beyond.
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Mark got involved with BAA in 1993 when his friend Holly asked him to redesign the Earth Day logo. Mark gradually got more and more involved in the organization, serving on the BAA Council (Board) and leading several projects over 7+ years. Mark has run a small design studio for over 30 years and worked with many of the Bay Area’s environmental groups such as Committee for Green Foothills and Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition, as well as national/international NGOs such as the Gates Foundation, Amnesty International, and DarkSky International. He spent over a decade working with Silicon Valley tech companies such as Fitbit and CNET, and specialized in helping small startups become leaders in their sectors.
His first career path was actually journalism, and he won awards for writing, editing, and photo journalism, and published a music newspaper on actual paper, when that was a thing. Peter Drekmeier said Mark “is the one person best suited to do this project.”
“BAA changed my life in many ways — teaching me about myriad environmental issues, showing me how nonprofits run from the inside, igniting a passion for North Coast forests, and helping me foster a sense of place. Most of all, the people I met through BAA became my chosen family, lifelong friends and compatriots I’m proud to know and love.”
David founded the EV Project when he embarked on a mission to convert a 1978 MG Midget to electric power. He also helped the Schools Group convert a VW Rabbit. Over the years David brought the MG to many events to demonstrate the validity of electric vehicles, giving numerous demonstrations and rides. David also volunteered an countless events over the years, and served on the BAA Council. He’s an avid bicyclist and continues to work on the Peninsula toward sustainability.
Peter was Issues Coordinator for the national Earth Day 1990 campaign, Executive Director of the Earth Day Network in 2000, and was a founding member of BAA. He served many roles at BAA over the years, including as Executive Director, and leading multiple projects and campaigns. He served on the Palo Alto City Council from 2006 to 2010 and as Mayor in 2009, and has been the Policy Director for Tuolumne River Trust since 2007.
Geoff first got involved with BAA at the first meeting right after Earth Day 1990. He worked on the Alternative Transportation Task Force with David Smernoff and Sue Lambie for a short while, but soon found his niche as treasurer as the organization grew. He played that role up until the time that BAA merged with the PCCF and became Acterra, an organization he still works with today. He worked with David Smernoff, Holly Kaslewicz, and Jim Steinmetz as the Arastradero project was submitting its first proposal to the City of Palo Alto and was involved in the 1993 and 1994 Earth Day events.
Sue Nicholls (née Lambie) was an active BAA member since the beginning, starting as a co-leader of the Alternative Transportation Task Force with Geoff Nicholls and David Coale. She moved on to become the Advisor to the High Schools Group in the fall of 1992 and continued as an advisor until 2002. The Schools Group developed a model for advisors “to lead by following,” which enabled students to gain skills and confidence to lead. Adult leaders and students came up with ideas and together determined the projects and course of the group. She co-founded YEA! (Youth Environmental Action) in 1996 and guided it through its pilot and first three years. She served on the BAA Council and was the Council chair when BAA merged with the PCCF in 2000. She married fellow BAA volunteer Geoff Nicholls in 1992 and they have two sons, who as children were often seen in the office or at BAA events.
David Smernoff was a cofounder of Bay Area Action and has served many roles over the years, from Action Team organizer to head of the Arastradero Preserve Stewardship Project. He was one of BAA+PCCF and Acterra’s three co-directors after the merger, and later became the sole executive director. When Acterra spun off its stewardship projects, David was a co-founder of the resulting Grassroots Ecology. David married Cindy Russell in 1998. They met through BAA and their shared passion for the environment. David co-founded the biotech startup HelioBioSys in 2010 to bring natural products to market based on a patented cyanobacteria refining and harvesting system.
Susan Stansbury volunteered with Earth Day 1990, was a founder of BAA, and had her hand in almost every project, event, and campaign over ten years. She was also Executive Director.
Laura joined BAA in 1992 via The Hundredth Monkey project. With a passion for healthy people and planet, she founded projects like the Peaceable Plate School Lunch Program, BikeWeek, the Environmental Eating Action Team (EEAT), and most famously produced ten years of Decadent Dinners. She was Co-Executive Director with Susan Stansbury, and popularized the saying “If it ain’t fun, it don’t get done!” Post-BAA, Laura continued working with Acterra on food issues and as Database Manager until 2011. She published a book, Cool Cuisine, Taking the Bite Out of Global Warming, in 2008, and in 2024 celebrated 20 years in business as chef and corporate educator for Laura Stec Innovative Cuisine, and 11 years writing “The Food Party!”, a column for the Palo Alto Weekly and Menlo Park Almanac.
