Founder

Marianne is the Founder of Goin Native Therapeutic Gardens – she says: “Establishing a nonprofit dedicated to advocating the health benefits of nature is an endeavor that inspires me to share with others to embrace the natural world with curiosity and connection. What more could one want?” One of her favorite sayings is: “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin” – William Shakespeare.

Chair

Laura is a Senior Vice President at Rancho Mission Viejo where she oversees the operations of the Nature Reserve at Rancho Mission Viejo including species monitoring and land management. She is passionate about the outdoors, and sharing the benefits that being in nature brings to people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities. Laura is an enthusiastic gardener and keeper of backyard chickens.

Secretary

Laura served as Orange County Fire Marshal/Assistant Chief with Orange County Fire Authority before retiring in 2013 after a 28-year career. Since 2018 she has been a substitute teacher with Saddleback Unified School District on a part-time basis. Laura is a life-long learner and loves giving back by serving on the Board of Directors of the California Fire Safe Council and the Call to Adventure at the California Fire Museum.

Treasurer

Dave is a retired Operations Executive with over 30 years’ experience in large publicly traded companies as well as venture funded start-ups. In the later part of his career Dave specialized in mergers and turn-arounds of failing organizations.

Kristina is a lawyer and corporate communications consultant. She is committed to giving back and has volunteered with a variety of local organizations from neighborhood groups to community service, education/youth sports to the arts. She has been a Court Appointed Special Advocate for nine years, and currently serves on the boards of Notre Dame Women Connect, the alumnae division of the University of Notre Dame’s national alumni association (Director of Communications), and the Notre Dame Club of Orange County (VP - Communications).

Jerry is a retired military veteran, local architect and life-long resident of Capistrano Valley area. He is actively involved with several local charitable organizations including the Youth Advisory Board. Jerry is a member of the Board of Directors for City Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) and past City of San Juan Capistrano Commissioner.

Megan is in Client Account Leadership at Accenture, where she serves as a champion for utilities, energy, natural resources, and automotive industry clients from innovation strategy to industry transformation. Megan serves on the Municipal Water District of Orange County Board of Directors, the Dean’s Leadership Council for the Graduate Division at UC Irvine and the Advisory Board for Breakthrough San Juan Capistrano, which focuses on breaking the cycle of poverty through the power of education. Megan is passionate about education, nature, gardening, and water use efficiency, and she enjoys giving back by serving on the Goin Native Therapeutic Gardens Board of Directors.

Jim is President of the San Juan Capistrano Fiesta Association who host the annual San Juan Capistrano Swallows Day Parade, one of the nation’s largest non-motorized parades. He is actively involved in several non-profits in Orange County. Jim is former Chairman of the Orange County Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and also former Orange County Behavior Health Advisory Board member.