Greening California One Business At a Time.
The California Green Business Program leads the state and nation in working with small to medium-sized businesses to grow a vibrant and healthy green economy. Led by a coalition of cities and counties, we contribute to more livable communities with healthier environments, while also conserving resources and saving money.
Overview
The California Green Business Program is a network of local programs operated by counties and cities throughout California. Businesses that apply receive personal attention from the public agencies and utilities that serve them. The program is funded by grass-roots contributions from local government and utility partners to make it accessible to small to medium-sized businesses in California. Certified Green Businesses exceed all environmental regulations, and implement specific practices to reduce pollution, save water, conserve energy, and protect human health.
Our Goal
The goal of our incentive and assistance programs is to help local businesses conserve energy, water, minimize waste, prevent pollution, and shrink their overall carbon footprint.
Our Impact
The measured results of all 4000+ California Green Businesses put together nets some huge environmental outcomes:
- Over 400,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions reduced, the equivalent of planting over 20,000 urban acres of trees a year for ten years.
- Enough kilowatt-hours saved to power over 25,000 houses for an entire year.
- 100,000 metric tons of waste diverted from the landfill, almost 15,000 garbage trucks worth of waste eliminated.
- 742 million gallons of water saved – a lot of low-flow toilets and showerheads folks!
- Over 20,000 gallons of hazardous waste eliminated.
- $18 million dollars in utility bill savings.
Meet Our Board of Directors
Lars Davenport
Board ChairLars has led the City of Ventura’s Green Business Program since 2016, and was instrumental in developing the statewide Green Brewery checklist in 2018. He is a core member of the Performance and Standards Committee, where his background in the sciences and building performance are helpful in keeping environmental standards high. NO GREENWASHING HERE! Lars is a double Gaucho, with B.S. and M.E.S.M. degrees from UCSB. When he isn’t helping businesses protect the environment, he likes to get outside and enjoy nature.
Mark Chhabria
Board Vice ChairMark Chhabria has coordinated the Marin County Green Business Program since 2017. As part of the County of Marin’s Sustainability Team, Mark works on multiple programs that support the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy, with a focus on building decarbonization. Mark holds a master’s degree in Sustainable Enterprise from Dominican University of California, and was honored to join the CAGBN Board of Directors in 2020.
Courtney Chatterson
Board TreasurerCourtney Chatterson is the Communications Specialist for the City of Long Beach Office of Sustainability. She successfully launched the Long Beach Green Business Program in 2018 and certified 50 businesses within the first two years. Courtney is currently studying for an M.S. in Environmental Studies from Cal State Fullerton and looking forward to graduation in spring of 2021. Courtney joined the board in 2020 and is excited to participate in CAGBN’s leadership team.
Javier Saucedo
Board SecretaryJavier is an Energy Conservation Specialist and owns Energy Conservation Consultants, which provides energy audit services in San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties. Javier uses his knowledge of energy conservation and renewable energy systems to assist businesses and homeowners with their health, safety, comfort, building durability, and energy use reduction goals.
Pam Bold
Board MemberPam Bold is the Executive Director of the High Sierra Energy Foundation, a non-profit that promotes the culture of energy efficiency and sustainability in the Eastern Sierra. Pam graduated from San Diego State University with a degree she never worked one day in, spent her early career in the tech field, and couldn’t be happier that she found her way to a role that allows her to have a positive impact on people and the environment.
Susan Psara
Board MemberSusan Psara is the Hazardous Waste Reduction Manager for Contra Costa County and manages the Contra Costa Green Business Program. Prior to her current role she has worked as a recycling coordinator and as an EH&S Specialist in the biotech industry. As a lifetime citizen of Contra Costa County, she strives to help businesses and community members contribute to making it a cleaner and healthier place to work and live. Her free time is mostly enjoyed spent with her family (ie keeping up with her toddler), but she also loves tending to her fruit trees, finding things to hand-letter, and baking sweet treats for herself and her loved ones. Susan has a B.S. in Environmental Science from the University of California, Berkeley and a Masters of Environmental Management from the University of San Francisco.
Sandrine Cassidy
Board MemberSandrine Cassidy is a Sustainability Specialist dedicated to helping cities, businesses, non-profits and schools implement leadership standards and programs in waste reduction, recycling maximization, energy and water conservation, pollution control and green purchasing. She has helped over 400 businesses adopt green measures and receive certification by the City of Los Angeles Green Business Program, the Culver City Sustainable Business Certification Program, the City of Irvine Green Business Program within the California Green Business Network.
Frank Ferral
Board MemberFrank J. Ferral has been the Program & Public Policy Director for the Greater Stockton Chamber of Commerce for 24 years. He has been a Recycling Market Development Zone administrator in Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin Counties. Frank has also created economic development programs to be leveraged with the RMDZ initiatives like the Stockton Chamber Apprenticeship Program (SCAP), Business Education Alliance (BEA), Fitness Rejuvenates Employee Sustainability & Health (FRESH), Green Team San Joaquin (GTSJ), which include Recycling BIN, REXPO, Lunch at the Landfill and is the program administrator for the California Green Business Network in San Joaquin County. He has recently launched the Growing Unity Inclusion Diversity & Equity (GUIDE) program in Stockton. Ferral holds a BA in Political Science and a Masters of Public Administration (MPA) from CSU Stanislaus. He is also a graduate of WACE Academy 2019.
Nicole Nguyen
Board MemberNicole Nguyen is a sustainability analyst for County of Santa Clara Office of Sustainability, working on a multitude of programs and projects that support the County’s Sustainability Master Plan. She has been the Green Business Coordinator for the Santa Clara County Green Business Program since 2015 and a board member since 2019. She enjoys partnering with business owners to achieve certification while learning about their contribution and impact to the community. Nicole has a B.S. in Sociology with a minor in Asian American Studies from UCLA and a Master’s of Public Administration from Notre Dame de Namur University with a concentration in Human Resources. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her son and husband and attempting to train her cat.
Staff to CAGBN
Jo Fleming
Executive DirectorJo has over 25 years experience in the environmental realm in a wide breadth of scientific research, environmental remediation, commercial/industrial pollution prevention, environmental outcome data and community-based social marketing programs to address some of the most pressing environmental problems of our time. She has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and a Minor in Spanish. She has worked to establish numerous Green Business Programs, green hundreds of businesses, and serves as the Executive Director of the California Green Business Network. Jo has lived and worked all over the world.
Julianne Rhodes
Director of TechnologyJulianne has worked in both the public and private sectors developing specifications for on-site regulatory compliance of projects involving the assessment and removal of hazardous materials from 1987 to 1996. She gained extensive project, personnel, and contract management experience during her 12 years as engineering manager at Cruzio.com and subsequently earned a Masters in Applied Marine and Watershed Science from California State University Monterey Bay. Her background in environmental issues and technology led her to be the Director of Technology and Environmental Outcomes for the California Green Business Network
Shawn Orgel-Olson
Director of Marketing and Performance StandardsShawn Orgel-Olson focuses on program operations, recruitment strategy, and standards development. He also advises the Performance Standards and Marketing Committees of the California Green Business Network. Shawn has over 13 years of enterprise and government sustainability experience. He started his career at Disney Consumer Products where he worked in the Sustainable Business Practices and International Labor Standards groups. In 2015 he joined the City of Santa Cruz where he ran the City’s successful Green Business Program.
Corona Maria
Sustainability SpecialistCorona is a sustainability professional with social media marketing, design, and environmental justice expertise. She conducts marketing efforts for the 40 programs in the California Green Business Network and is the City of Watsonville Program Director where she works with English and Spanish speaking businesses. She also co-chairs the Equity Committee.