Advisory Board

Meet the Regeneration Advisory Board!

Jakki Castorena-Davila

Monterey Bay Area Bilingual Programs Manager

Jakki is the Monterey Bay Area Bilingual Programs Manager with Environmental Innovations and has experience spanning sales, social media marketing, design, and community outreach.

She brings passion and expertise to projects, notably leading efforts to assist small, local businesses in disadvantaged communities meet local and state mandates and certify those who go above and beyond as Green Businesses.

Through this process, she makes sure that the Spanish-speaking business owners of the Pajaro Valley, her home community, are treated equitably.
Before joining EI, Jakki worked on impactful initiatives in water pollution prevention and community cleanup programs as an intern for the City of Watsonville.
In her spare time, Jakki enjoys exploring and cleaning up the Watsonville Sloughs, diving into arts and crafts, and getting lost in captivating stories told through movies, shows, and books.

Rebecca Garcia

2020 Mayor, Watsonville City Council Member

Rebecca was born and raised in Watsonville. She is the daughter of immigrants from

México who worked in the agricultural fields. She received her B.A. at UCSC and her

Masters in Education Administration at San Jose State University. She was a teacher

and administrator in PVUSD which included Assistant Principal at Watsonville High

School and Principal of Rolling Hills Middle School.

Rebecca’s involvement with Climate Change began in 2014 where she served eight

years on the Watsonville City Council and as Mayor in 2020. Previously she served for

20 years on the Cabrillo College Governing Board. She is now retired, but continues to

want to serve her community.

Anne Hayes

Director of Development, Western Region, Climate Central

Anne was most recently a Director of Development at UC Santa Cruz, where her portfolio was focused on donors to the Environmental Studies Department and the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems. She recently led a campaign to endow the Kenneth S. Norris Center for Natural History at UCSC, raising more than $3M. Earlier, she served the Institute of Marine Sciences, Earth and Planetary Sciences, the Science Communication program, and the UCSC Natural Reserves.

Prior to her ten years at UCSC, Anne led programs and development efforts for environmental education organizations in the San Francisco Bay Area. Throughout her career, Anne has also been a freelance writer and editor, primarily in the areas of ecology and natural history.

Anne is married and lives in rural Santa Cruz County.

Kirsten Liske

Vice President of Community Programs, Ecology Action

Kirsten is grateful to serve as the Vice President of Community Programs at Ecology Action, a kind, innovative nonprofit making the world a better place by helping people take action to reverse climate change and address water shortages. She lives and works in Santa Cruz, California, a seaside redwood haven that she could not leave after graduating with honors from UCSC, a college renowned for having the nation’s coolest mascot, the banana slug.

During Kirsten’s tenure at Ecology Action of Santa Cruz, the organization has experienced significant growth in size and breadth of program expertise, growing from a staff of 9 and a budget of $591,000 to a current staff of almost 100 and a budget $16 million. Kirsten’s contributions to Ecology Action are her ability to grow and establish new programs, build successful collaboratives, and manage high-performance teams. Kirsten enjoys taking long walks up big hills with heavy packs, diving in alpine lakes and playing with her nieces and nephews anywhere they want to play.