Board of Directors

NIZAR ABDALLAH, MBA, PhD, was Engineering Director at Actel Corp. He was also Co-Founder and Executive Director of a European scientific applications start-up and professor of Computer Science at a French engineering school. He is also external co-director of an international program organized by UNESCO for researchers and engineers in developing countries. His MBA is from Presidio Graduate School and his PhD is from Pierre & Marie Curie University in Paris, France.

EVA AUCHINCLOSS, Board Vice-Chair, was Associate Publisher of a women’s sports publishing company and Founding Executive Director of the Women’s Sports Foundation, as well as a principal of Auchincloss & Turner. A delegate to the U.S. Olympic Committee, she has served on numerous boards such as the Foundation of the California Bar Association, Junior League, Lifeplan Center, Lifeprint Center, and the International Diplomacy Council of San Francisco. She is a graduate of Vassar College.

SARAH CABELL, Student Board Member, is pursuing her MBA at PGS with a focus on sustainable food systems and social equity. She oversaw $1.7 billion in funding and grants for the USDA WIC supplemental nutrition program. Her Presidio team recently won the San Francisco regional competition of the Hult Global Case Challenge, and she received a Fink Family Foundation stipend to research impact investment in food systems. Sarah currently co-chairs the Presidio Sustainable Food Club and holds a BA in human development with a concentration in inequality studies from Cornell University.

GRETCHEN CUMMINGS, MPP, MBA, Board Co-Chair, is Chief of Staff of the Education, Human Development, and Workforce Program of the American Institutes of Research. She was Director of Planning & Organizational Effectiveness at WestEd, a public research and development agency. A cum laude graduate of Princeton University, she earned a Master of Public Policy degree at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and MBA at Presidio Graduate School.

SUZANNE FARVER, JD, an experienced sustainability teacher and leader, is an instructor at Harvard University Extension School for Corporate Sustainability Strategy. She is also Director of Outreach for the Rocky Mountain Climate Organization, a principal of GreenFix, LLC, and former Executive Director of the Aspen Art Museum. She holds a BA from Grinnell College (Phi Beta Kappa), an ALM in Environmental Management from Harvard University, and a JD from the University of Denver.

SASKIA FEAST, MBA, PhD, is Vice President of Technology at EOS Climate, the premier producer of high quality, verified emission reductions. She has also worked for Cyrano Sciences. The author of more than 15 peer-reviewed scientific papers, she has presented at numerous conferences. An MBA graduate of Presidio Graduate School, where she was the senior manager of business partnerships, she earned a doctorate in Physical Chemistry at Liverpool University in the United Kingdom.

LINDA FRANK, MA, Board Treasurer, is an author and former Senior Financial Associate with RBC Wealth Management. She has written widely on business and travel and produced a cable TV show. Active with the American Jewish Committee, she served on the National Council of Jewish Women. Her novel After the Auction follows a woman’s search for a family treasure looted by the Nazis. She holds a BA from the University of Michigan and MA in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin.

ROBERT FRIESE, JD, was a Founding Partner of Shartsis Friese LLP and the founder or co-founder of three operating companies. Named one of The Best Lawyers in America, he was formerly with the Securities Exchange Commission. Long active in civic affairs, he is Board Chair of San Francisco Beautiful and has served as Vice-Chair of Worldwatch Institute. A graduate of Stanford University with a JD from Northwestern University, he also studied in graduate schools in Switzerland and Germany.

JAMIE GARDNER, MPP, founded HF Gardner Consulting to design dynamic solutions for community impact across multiple sectors. She is the former Executive Director of the Taproot Foundation’s Pro Bono Action Tank and VP of External Relations. Prior to joining Taproot, Jamie focused on developing strategic partnerships and providing management consulting with an emphasis on integrating business technology. She currently serves as board director or advisor to several organizations, including the Children’s Creativity Museum, Center for the Greater Good, and SF Child Abuse Prevention Center. Jamie holds a Bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Colorado at Boulder and a Masters of Public Policy from Georgetown University.

LEE GOTSHALL-MAXON, JD, Board Vice-Chair, is a partner of the Allen Matkins law firm. He is a member of the Urban Land Institute, International Bar Association, and San Francisco Planning & Urban Research Association. He has served as Board President of both the Volunteer Center of Marin and Central City Hospitality House, also as a board member of San Francisco’s Legal Aid Society. He is a cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College with a JD from Hastings College of the Law.

RICHARD M. GRAY, MDiv, PhD, Board Secretary, holds a BA, Phi Beta Kappa, from Bucknell University, MDiv summa cum laude from San Francisco Theological Seminary, and a PhD from the Univ. of California, Berkeley. He was with N.W. Ayer, a national advertising agency, for 16 years, and was Ayer’s Detroit Creative Director. Founding president of World College West, he raised $13 million to establish the college and build its environmentally designed 200-acre campus.

HEATHER KING, MBA, is a hands-on strategic planning, marketing & business development executive. She has extensive experience with start-ups & globally branded organizations such as Apple, Disney, Oracle, CNN, & Stanford. Her expertise is in opportunity analysis, framing & messaging, business development, & building strategic partnerships. She is currently working with Management Lab, a think tank/editorial platform supported by McKinsey, Harvard, LSE, & Gartner. Heather has a Dartmouth BA/MBA and an Executive Certificate from Presidio Graduate School.

MAUD ALI LONG, MA, is President and Trustee of The Springcreek Foundation in Corte Madera, California. Previously she served as CEO of an online training start-up, IntegriTeach and Project Director at Philanthropy Northwest in Seattle for The Northwest Giving Project. In addition to her involvement at Greenwood Elementary School in Mill Valley (attended by her two sons), she sits on the board of Educational Tall Ship in Sausalito. Ali holds a BA from Dartmouth College and an MA in Psychology from the University of San Francisco.

CHINWE ONYEAGORO is co-founder and CEO of O-H Community Partners, an economic development consulting firm which has raised $120 million in grants, loans, and subsidies for clients. She is also editor of New Equity Business. She has worked as an investment analyst for Pritzker Realty and as a consultant for McKinsey & Co. Chinwe is a member of The Aspen Institute’s 2008 Class of Henry Crown Fellows, Economic Club of Chicago, and Lambda Alpha International. In 2007, she was named one of Chicago’s 40 under 40 by Crain’s Chicago Business. In 2008, she received an Emerging Leaders Award from the Anti-Defamation League of Chicago and the YWCA of Metropolitan Chicago’s Women of Achievement of Award. She is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard University.

TERESA PAHL, JD, heads the Business & Corporate Section at the Hanson Bridgett law firm. She has served as a judge of the Social Venture Network Innovation Award and has been a member a member of the Board of Governors of the Lawyers’ Club of San Francisco as well as the National Association of Business Owners. She received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of California Berkeley and her law degree from the University of San Francisco School of Law.

RAHUL RAJ is an innovator extraordinaire. As the Director of Sustainability + Merchandising Innovation at Walmart.com, he incubated new revenue streams that leverage the constraints of sustainability to deliver products and services that work better, save money and enable us all to live better. He has been honored with Walmart's Innovation Champion Award and a First Movers Fellowship with the Aspen Institute. He is also the founder of Meal Exchange – a nonprofit recognized by TIME magazine as "revolutionary" for its approach in addressing hunger. He holds an HBBA in Marketing and Philosophy from Wilfrid Laurier University.

WILLIAM A. SHUTKIN, MA, JD, is the President and CEO of the Presidio Graduate School, where he is also the Richard M. Gray Fellow in Sustainability Practice, and an ex officio board member. An executive, social entrepreneur and academic, he is the author of the award-winning book, The Land That Could Be: Environmentalism and Democracy in the Twenty-First Century, and A Republic of Trees: Field Notes on People, Place and the Planet. He has an AB from Brown University and a JD and MA from the University of Virginia.

STEVEN L. SWIG, JD, Board Co-Chair, is a graduate of the University of Oregon and the University of Santa Clara School of Law. Formerly with the Law Office of Joseph Alioto, he was Partner and Managing Director of Titchell, Maltzman & Mark; Executive Vice-President of Swig, Weiler & Dinner Development Co.; and Counsel with Howard, Rice, Nemerovski, Canady, Falk & Rabkin. He has served on many boards including the University of Oregon, the A.C.L.U., and A.C.T.