Christa Backson

Office Manager
963-0583 Ext. 100
christa@cecmail.org

For 16 years, Christa, her husband, and their three children lived on 36 acres in Hawaii, where they built a home out of recycled materials and created and maintained a fruit and macadamia nut orchard, vegetable gardens and a native plant arboretum. Today Christa keeps the office and staff in order as CEC's Office Manager.

Megan Birney

Energy Program Senior Associate
963-0583 Ext. 107
mbirney@cecmail.org

Megan graduated from the University of Southern California in 2007 with a Masters in Public Policy, focusing on Environmental Policy. While at USC Megan worked with the University to reduce their carbon footprint, and with a local councilmember to enhance their environmental agenda. Prior to graduate school, Megan worked in Washington D.C. at the Smithsonian's Office of Policy and Analysis and received her B.A. in Sociology from the University of California, San Diego.

Michael Chiacos

Energy Program Senior Associate, Transportation Specialist
963-0583 Ext. 110
mchiacos@cecmail.org

A native of Santa Barbara, Michael focuses on transportation issues at CEC. Prior work experience involved alternative fuels, climate change policy, and energy efficiency. He has managed field crews and marketed for an energy efficiency program, as well as authored a report to the EPA while at the Climate Trust, a major buyer of carbon dioxide offsets. He currently makes his own biodiesel from local restaurants' waste vegetable oil with the Santa Barbara Biodiesel Co-op. He holds a BA with Honors in Environmental Studies from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR.

Eileen Daley

Accounting Specialist
963-0583 Ext. 100
edaley@cecmail.org

Eileen Daley has been an integral part of the CEC since 2001. She brought with her a varied business background, including everything from assisting with large studio photographic productions for 10 years to developing mail order systems for new health product suppliers. Eileen has called Santa Barbara home for over 20 years now, but took time away to ride her bike across the United States! She continues to ride to work everyday.

Dave Davis

Executive Director
963-0583 Ext. 103
ddavis@cecmail.org

Dave Davis is a Board member and the CEO/Executive Director of the Community Environmental Council (CEC), a 36 year old Santa Barbara-based non-profit. Dave also currently serves as a director of the Santa Barbara Metropolitan Transit District, the provider of regional transit services to the Santa Barbara South Coast and a national leader in the electric bus technology. He also serves on the boards of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project and the Santa Barbara Economic Community Project.

Dave served as the City of Santa Barbara's Community Development Director and City Planner for almost 25 years before retiring from public service. He has also taught planning and environmental studies at UCLA and Moorpark College. Dave has received numerous awards, including national recognition for planning innovation from the National League of Cities, social advocacy from the American Planning Association, and lifetime achievement from the American Institute of Architects. He has been named "Planner of the Year" by the Santa Barbara Citizen's Planning Association as well as "Citizen of the Year" by the Santa Barbara Downtown Organization.

Dave received his B.A. and M.A. in Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara

Megan Diaz

Energy Program Associate
963-0583 Ext. 105
mdiaz@cecmail.org

Originally from Northwest Indiana, Megan studied at Purdue University and earned a B.A with Honors in Broadcast Journalism from Columbia College Chicago. Prior to joining CEC, Megan worked in the film and television industry in Los Angeles and Return to Freedom, Wild Horse Sanctuary in Lompoc. Acknowledging climate change and our dependance on finite resources such as fossil fuels, Megan is thrilled to use her skills in communication, writing, and organization to assist CEC in its challenge to the region to be Fossil Free by 2033.

Sean Farnan

Suzanne Feldman

Energy Program Associate
963-0583 Ext. 116
sfeldman@cecmail.org

Suzanne graduated with a Masters in Environmental Management from the University of Melbourne, Australia in 2003 where she also was employed by the Sustainable Investment Research Institute. Prior to Australia, she worked in Tanzania with the Economic and Social Research Foundation, obtained a B.S. from the University of Washington, and enjoyed growing up in Portland, Oregon.

Tam Hunt

Energy Program Director, Staff Attorney
963-0583 Ext. 122
thunt@cecmail.org

Tam Hunt is the Energy Program Director and Attorney for the Community Environmental Council. He practiced law for a few years at private law firms before donning the white non-profit hat and becoming a public policy advocate. Tam runs CEC’s local energy program (“Fossil Free by ‘33”) but also spends significant time working on state and federal energy policy. In particular, Tam works at the California Public Utilities Commission, the Air Resources Board and the Energy Commission, on various energy policy matters. Tam is a Lecturer in renewable energy law and policy at UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School of Environmental Science & Management. He graduated from the UCLA School of Law in 2001. In his free time, Tam writes fiction and non-fiction and continues to dream of being a rock star.

Kathi King

Donor Relations Associate
963-0583 Ext. 108
kking@cecmail.org

Kathi has a B.S. degree in Telecommunications and Film which she used while working in the television industry in Los Angeles for several years. She has lived in Santa Barbara for the past ten years with her husband, Jeff, and their two children. As a full-time parent for many years before joining the CEC, she was able to participate in a lot of volunteer work in the local community, and she recently enjoyed taking several Environmental Studies classes at SBCC.

Claudia Knudson

Community Relations Associate
963-0583 Ext. 113
claudia@cecmail.org

Claudia was raised in various locals including Mexico City and California. In these places she witnessed drastic changes to a once beautiful historic city, and the loss of natural habitat along our coastline both due to massive development and population booms. Claudia's passion for environmental awareness and the immediate need for shifting lifestyles brought her to work at CEC part-time. Her other time is devoted to her massage therapy practice for women, and raising two daughters.

Sigrid Wright

Assistant Director
963-0583 Ext. 109
swright@cecmail.org

Sigrid holds a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Oregon and an M.A. in Communications Design from the University of Baltimore. Prior to arriving at CEC in 1995, she worked in Washington D.C. with the National Wildlife Federation and the Alliance to Save Energy.