Advisory Board

Renee Dake Wilson
Architect Activist | Dake Wilson Architects
Renee (she/her) is an architect activist creating homes, institutional buildings and communities throughout Southern California neighborhoods. Renee received her Bachelor of Architecture degree from Cornell University in 1992, and is a licensed architect in California and Colorado. In 2002 she and her husband Brian co-founded Dake Wilson Architects, a small architecture firm with an environmental focus. A leader of numerous professional and civic organizations with a focus on equity and the environment, Renee seeks the open collaboration and exchange of ideas that comes from working with diverse interest groups. Renee enjoys cheering on the Angel City FC, knitting, and is always training for some sort of running event because she loves seeing LA from new perspectives.

Edith de Guzman
Water Equity and Adaptation Policy Cooperative Extension Specialist | UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation and Co-founder of the Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative
Edith de Guzman (she/her) is an interdisciplinary researcher, practitioner, educator, and consultant working with diverse audiences to understand and address the impacts of climate change in under-represented communities. She is a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist with the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, where her work investigates best practices for the sustainable transformation of the Los Angeles region and beyond in the areas of water management, climate adaptation, heat mitigation, and urban forestry. From 2014 to 2020, Edith served as Director of Research at Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization TreePeople. Edith co-founded and directs the Los Angeles Urban Cooling Collaborative, a multisectoral partnership working to alleviate the public health risks of extreme heat. She earned a PhD at the UCLA Institute of the Environment & Sustainability, where she conducted applied, interdisciplinary research on climate adaptation and climate health equity using community-based methods. Edith also earned a master’s in urban planning and a bachelor’s degree in history and art history, both from UCLA. When not working or studying, she can be found hiking, playing guitar, or creating art exhibitions that explore the human connection to the environment.

Dana Karcher
Project Developer | Davey Resource Group, Inc
Dana Karcher is a project developer for Davey Resource Group, Inc, working with communities throughout the central U.S. helping them achieve their vegetation management goals. She has worked closely with planners, architects, engineers, landscape architects, elected officials, and community groups to increase awareness of the importance of trees and to recognize the urban forest as a valuable resource. She has been active in issues that assure the health and well-being of residents through the use of urban forestry as a solution to community challenges. This includes serving on the citizens advisory committee for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District, leadership roles with the Western Chapter ISA, California Urban Forests Council, and the California Urban Forests Advisory Committee. She currently serves as secretary of the Colorado Tree Coalition. She is an advocate for personal leadership growth and was a founder of the Municipal Forestry Institute and worked on a new initiative, the Green Communities Leadership Institute. She is a Certified Arborist and a Municipal Specialist and Past President (2021-22) of the Board of Directors of the International Society of Arboriculture. She was recently honored with a True Professionals of Arboriculture Award from the ISA.

Rachel Malarich
City Forest Officer, City of Los Angeles
Rachel Malarich is the City Forest Officer for the City of Los Angeles. In this role she works to ensure all of the City’s departments and external partners use an integrated and equitable approach to implementing the City’s urban forestry goals, and is responsible for leading the development and implementation of the City’s first Urban Forest Management Plan. She has 17 years of experience in urban forestry with a focus on environmental justice, urban forest management, strategic planning, and community engagement. Before her appointment as City Forest Officer, Rachel served as Assistant Director of Environmental Services for Koreatown Youth and Community Center (KYCC), where she oversaw planting of thousands of trees in underserved communities in central Los Angeles. Prior to that, she spent a decade with TreePeople, including three years as Director of Forestry. She is a Certified Arborist and Tree Risk Assessor Qualified with the ISA and serves on the Board of Street Tree Seminar, the LA/Orange County chapter of the California Urban Forest Council.

Gabriela Medina
Public Affairs Manager | SoCalGas
Gabriela Medina is part of the Los Angeles Regional Public Affairs team at SoCalGas, covering the cities of Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, Gardena, Carson, Compton, Long Beach, Signal Hills, and Council District 8, 9, 10, and 15 within the City of Los Angeles.
As a strategic manager and leader with 15+ years’ experience in government and public sectors, Gaby has a demonstrated track record of developing local, regional, and federal policies, building effective relationships across the political spectrum, crafting and deploying external relations and communications plans, and overseeing extensive projects through development and oversight. Prior to her role with SoCalGas, she served as the District Director to Councilwoman Traci Park, representing the Westside communities of Los Angeles since her election, December 2022. In this role, Gabriela successfully put together a district team that would deliver monumental results in their first year in office. Her portfolio consisted of managing capital infrastructure projects, expanding recreational spaces, and advising the Councilwoman on district matter items.
Prior to that, Gaby served as the District Director to Councilman Joe Buscaino in Council District 15. In this role, she led the Councilman’s Housing and Homelessness agenda, permanently clearing and housing 40% of the people experiencing street homelessness. With twelve years of experience in City and Congressional matters, and five years working in the non-profit sector, Gabriela has established strong relationships with organizations, government representatives, and businesses throughout the region.
Gabriela is a native of South Los Angeles, attended UCLA, and currently lives in San Pedro with her fury son, Louie.

Samantha Nuno
Grants and Proposals Manager | Climate Resolve
Born and raised in the Northeast San Fernando Valley, Samantha has personally seen how wildfires and extreme heat affect communities of color, many of which are already overburdened by high levels of air pollution and lack of tree canopy coverage. Her upbringing inspired her passion for climate resilience and environmental justice within her academic and professional career. Samantha graduated summa cum laude from UCLA in 2022 with a Master’s degree in Public Policy as well as cum laude from Scripps College in 2018 with a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Analysis.
In her current role as the Grants and Proposals Manager at Climate Resolve, Samantha writes grant proposals and accesses new funding opportunities and relationships. She particularly enjoys supporting the Ready for Tomorrow program, Climate Resolve’s no-cost grant writing assistance program that connects disadvantaged communities (DACs) and disadvantaged vulnerable communities (DVCs) in SoCal to climate planning research, funding, and resources.
Previously, Samantha worked at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation (LCI) as a Luskin Fellow and an administrative intern at Culver City’s Transportation Department. During her LCI fellowship, she worked on the climate adaptation team, assisting in research related to how the climate crisis (specifically extreme heat) impacts vulnerable populations and informs policy to increase community resilience. Samantha aspires to work towards an anti-racist and climate-just future rooted in principles of abolition, environmental justice, and intersectional feminism.

Marcela Oliva, Assoc. AIA
LATTC Architecture and Environmental Design Professor
USGBC CA, Board Member | Careers by Design a Mayor’s Green New Deal Workforce, Founder
For over a decade, she served as the Knowledge Architect for the $12 billion Building Program at the Los Angeles Community College District, where she spearheaded the development and implementation of the nation’s largest Digital Twin/Virtualization BIM/GIS System, in alignment with National Intelligence Standards. Renowned for her expertise in Omniverse, Metaverse, and Digital Twin technologies and their transformative impact on social mobility, she is a Professor of Architecture and Environmental Design at LATTC and the founder of UCLA Extension courses, Transforming Community and Design for Social Justice.
Beyond academia, she held a pivotal role in Knowledge Management at NASA, serving as the principal investigator for the Cyber-Physical Systems National Science Foundation Grant. Her contributions have been recognized with the California Governor’s Award in Geospatial Technologies and a National Park Services grant. She remains actively involved in organizations such as STEAM, PANDO Populus, ENCOUNTER LA, and Urban River Labs, and is a sought-after speaker on education, STEAM, technology, innovation, and social justice. Her speaking engagements include USC’s Building Information Modeling for Executives, the International AIA, and Caixa Barcelona’s Focus the Nation.
Her work has garnered numerous accolades, including the Alpha Rho Chi Medal from USC, the 2012 Educator of the Year award, and the Government Innovation award at Bentley Systems’ International event in London in 2016. Recognized for integrating biomimicry and digital twins, her efforts have been celebrated by the Climate Neutral Campus Report, UNCF Building Green, and the Kresge Foundation. Under her leadership, the LATTC Architecture Program secured the National Park Grant in 2018, and her students excelled in the JUNK Battle PANDO POPULOUS Design Competition.
Currently, she leads the Mayor’s Workforce Initiative for the Green New Deal, focusing on the AEC Industry Cluster through Careers by Design LA. Her academic credentials include a Bachelor of Architecture from USC, an M.Arch/Building Science degree from Columbia University, and a Harvard GSD edX Architecture Imagination Certificate. Recently honored with the 2022 AIA LA Presidential Award for Educator of the Year, she was recognized on March 21, 2024, when the LATTC Architecture Program was named Organization of the Year by the Los Angeles Business Journal.

Drew Ready
Senior Project Manager | Council for Watershed Health
Drew Ready is a senior project manager at the Council for Watershed Health. He is also Certified Arborist, Water Conservation Specialist, and Watershed Coordinator with over thirty years of experience in the fields of ecological restoration, invasive plant management, arboriculture, urban forestry, and landscape design. Drew served as the Department of Conservation funded Watershed Coordinator (Los Angeles/San Gabriel Watersheds) at CWH for 11 years where he led innovative initiatives including the Sustainable Landscape Seminars, the Landscaping Lightly calendar series, the Weed Watch invasive plant education program, and the PlantProfiler native/water-efficient plant app.
As an arborist and horticulturist, Drew has helped agencies such as the City of Los Angeles, South Pasadena, and Claremont develop approved tree lists. He co-developed Los Angeles Unified School District’s Drought Response Outreach Program for Schools (DROPS) that was successfully awarded five million dollars for stormwater improvements at six elementary schools. Drew has also led Water Conservation Programs at Chino Basin Water Conservation District in Montclair before returning to CWH in July of 2019.
Currently Drew is leading multi-million dollar ecological restoration and water conservation projects that remove Arundo donax aka giant reed, a highly flammable, high water use invasive plant from the Los Angeles and San Gabriel River Watershed.

Matt Spitsen
Senior Program Manager, Alliance for Community Trees
Matt Spitsen joined the Arbor Day Foundation in 2017 and currently serves as Senior Program Manager of the Alliance for Community Trees program, leading the Foundation’s network of community-based organizations dedicated to planting, caring, and advocating for trees in cities and towns across North America. Through this program, he ensures network members are provided with educational and networking sessions, professional resources, and access to funding opportunities with the Arbor Day Foundation’s donors and corporate partners around the world.
In his work with community-based organizations around the country, Spitsen has helped expand the Arbor Day Foundation’s focus and role in educating and providing funding opportunities around environmental justice for the Foundation’s programmatic partners. Through this work, he also played a key part in the Arbor Day Foundation applying for and being selected as a National Pass-Through Partner to the USDA Forest Service, helping distribute millions of urban and community forestry dollars from the Inflation Reduction Act to partners across the country.
Matt is a proud Husker and has a degree in Marketing from the University of Nebraska. For over 18 years, he has volunteered and worked in director roles in the nonprofit sector with organizations like Nonprofit Hub, Launch Leadership, the Boy Scouts of America Cornhusker Council and the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network in Lincoln, NE.

Kat Superfisky
Urban Ecologist, City of LA | Director, Grown in LA
Kat Superfisky is an urban ecologist, designer, and educator who devotes their days, nights and dreams to transforming urban areas into more inhabitable places for people, plants, and other animals. After obtaining a Master of Science in Conservation Ecology, Master of Landscape Architecture, and Teaching Certificate from the University of Michigan, Kat moved 2,300 miles across the country for the Los Angeles River. Kat sees LA (and its river) as the perfect laboratory to explore how to (re)design urban areas into more “symbiotic cities.”
Prior to transplanting in LA, Kat helped oversee ecosystem management efforts for 24,000 acres of public parkland in Metropolitan Detroit, and also developed an interactive education program about sustainability for the University of Michigan. In LA, Kat has spearheaded ecological planning and design efforts at Studio-MLA (a landscape architecture and urban design firm); catalyzed Grown in LA (a nonprofit movement that aims to “Plant Seeds, Power People, and Transform a City”); and is currently the City of Los Angeles’ first Urban Ecologist.
Kat helps to enhance the urban forest by serving on the LA Urban Center’s Executive Oversight Team, California ReLeaf’s Board of Directors, and City Plant’s Advisory Board, and is also on the Ecological Society of America’s Board of Professional Certification and a member of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA).

Craig Tranby
Environmental Affairs Officer (retired) | Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, Distributed Energy Solutions, Partnerships
At LADWP, Craig managed key energy efficiency and water conservation partnerships with non-profit organizations, educational institutions like LAUSD, and other government agencies and utilities which includes overseeing the primary funding for the City Plants program. In his 26 years with the City of Los Angeles, he developed and implemented programs and policies on various sustainability and community issues, including tree planting/greening, urban heat island, climate action planning, community education, green building, materials reuse, and brownfields. Urban heat and resilience efforts have included: development and management of Community Partnership Outreach Grants program featuring CBO partnerships and education, development of cool roofs municipal code requirements and incentives, oversight of LADWP free trees efforts through City Plants, developing pilot greening/cooling activities with LAUSD, and other activities regarding various cooling strategies.
Using this experience, Craig will provide insights and guidance to City Plants regarding tree/greening opportunities and synergies with local government and nonprofits.

Delton Walker
Sustainability Consultant
Delton, appointed to the Board in June 2021, has been a highly engaged volunteer with City Plants since 2017. He first came to City Plants while working at Farmers Insurance as a Project Manager helping the organization develop and execute their Enterprise Sustainability Strategy with the goal of reducing Farmers’ environmental impact and improve employee engagement. While at Farmers Insurance, he was also a key member of the Black Professionals Alliance, an employee resource group dedicated to the career advancement of Black Professionals and volunteering in the Black Community. After leaving Farmers, in 2024 Delton began working at American Family Housing (AFH), a non-profit affordable housing developer servicing Los Angeles County and Orange County. Working in AFH’s Real Estate Development Department, he combines his passions for Real Estate Investing, Sustainability and Community Service to lead efforts in building much needed affordable housing for low-income residents.
Delton received his B.A. from UC Santa Barbara in 1995, completed the Sustainability Certificate Program at UCLA in 2017, received board leadership training from the African American Board Leadership Institute (AABLI) in 2020, and is currently working on his MBA from the University of Arizona (Global Campus), from which he will graduate in June of 2025.