Member Directory

A passionate advocate for addressing climate change and interested in grassroots to global strategies. Joan has over 30 years environmental advocacy leadership experience, including crafting and leading organizational fundraising, recruiting and managing dynamic teams, forming new collaborations, and developing and executing successful strategic campaigns. Prior to joining The Sierra Fund, she was a consultant to organizations including ClimateWorks Foundation, Texas Land Conservancy, and Rio Fernando de Taos Revitalization Collaboration. She was the communications director for Western Resource Advocates (2014-2018), leading communication strategies that revitalized the brand/web/social media outreach for the organization and gaining over 800 media stories a year for the Clean Energy, Healthy Rivers and Western Lands programs. As Executive Director of the Sierra Nevada Alliance (2001—2013), her visionary leadership grew the organization five-fold (budget, grassroots group membership, staffing), founded new collectives such as the Sierra Water Workgroup, and helped leverage millions of new dollars to Sierra conservation. Prior positions included Sierra Club National Press Secretary, Campaign Director Californians for Pesticide Reform, and Executive Director Pesticide Watch. Joan received her bachelor’s in communications from UC San Diego. Raised in the Sierra Nevada and a multi-decade resident, she is also an avid hiker/birder/snow-lover/artist, and enjoys adventures with her photographer husband and rescue dog Rocket.

I am a climate activist and organizer at heart. With nearly two decades of leadership experience building digital campaigns and convening communities of practice in the climate advocacy space for the purpose of coordinating and sharing knowledge. I live in the Texas Gulf Coast, where I have a front row seat to the impacts of our rapidly changing climate on our environment, and on the imbalance of economic and racial justice in our most vulnerable and under resourced communities. I believe the work of the Lab is critical to building the capacity we need to be successful in our fight for the climate, and am proud to serve as Executive Director of the Lab. I also serve on the Chair of the board of directors of Climate Access. I’m a graduate of American University in Washington DC, and am an elected representative serving as City Councilman and Mayor Pro Tem of my small community on the outskirts of Houston.

I lead CVI’s Boards & Commissions Fellowship, which teaches underrepresented people across the state how to serve in public leadership roles. I also lead a lot of our work to safeguard our democracy because a healthy environment can’t exist without a healthy democracy; this includes legislative session work and organizing work. I support CVI’s work on geothermal expansion and protection, clean energy protections, and public lands protections.

Dawud Shabaka
Dawud Shabaka has over 30 years of experience in the information technology industry as a systems/network administrator, Exchange consultant, software trainer and website developer. He is a graduate of Georgia State University with a BS in Psychology.
After volunteering and contracting with the Harambee House since its founding, Dawud joined the Harambee House / Citizens for Environmental Justice based in Savannah, GA nine years ago as a Senior Director for programs and operations, and as a trainer with their Worker Education & Job Training Program (WEJTP). WEJTP delivers various environmentally based modules from the federally regulated training provided by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) covering topics from the Environmental Careers Worker Training Program, the Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program, the Environmental Health and Safety Training, and the Ready.gov Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training. Currently, he serves as Deputy Director overseeing daily operations and managing several projects including Air Quality Monitoring (AQM), Coastal Equity and Resilience (CEAR) Hub, Brownfields to Health Fields Development, and digitizing/archiving of Harambee House historical documents
Dawud has certifications in HazWoper (Hazardous Waste Operations & Management), Asbestos Removal, Lead Remediation & RRP (Renovation, Repair and Paint), HazMat Awareness, OSHA Safety (Construction & General Industry), Mold Awareness, Weatherization & Energy Efficiency, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training, Emergency Preparedness & Disaster Response training, and Solar PV (Photovoltaic) installation. These training modules are regulated by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA), the Department of Labor (DOL), FEMA and the NIEHS.