Curriculum Vitae

Geoffrey D. Smith, MA

858.442.1425 cell

1512 Frederick Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95401

Education

MA, Leadership and Nonprofit Management, University of San Diego (2005)

Post-graduate computer science courses, San Diego State University (1978 - 1984)

BA, Biology, University of California, San Diego (1977)

Professional Training and Certifications

'Inspiring Leaders for Sustainable Communities', The Leadership Institute for Ecology and the Economy, www.ecoleader.org (class of 2012)

Professional Employment

Communications Director, San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy, www.sanelijo.org (2009 - 2010)

Water Conservation Policy Advocate, The Utility Consumers' Action Network, www.ucan.org (2007 - 2009)
Executive Director, The Escondido Creek Conservancy, www.escondidocreek.org (2005 - 2007)

Imperial County Program Manager, Desert Protective Council, www.dpcinc.org (2004 - 2005)

Public Affairs Specialist, USDA Cleveland National Forest (2003 - 2005)

Conservation Program Coordinator, Sierra Club, San Diego Chapter, www.sierraclub.org (2000 - 2003)

MIS Manager, Stellcom Technologies (1996 - 2000)

Software Engineer, Scientific-Atlanta, Signal Processing Systems (1990 - 1993)

Software Engineer, Litton Data Systems (1989 - 1990)

Software Engineer, Logicon, Tactical and Training Systems Division (1984 - 1989)

Software Engineer, Johnson Controls, Special Systems Operations (1979 - 1984)

Business Manager, UCSD Bike Shop (1975 - 1977)

Consulting & Contracting

BikePartners.net, www.bikepartners.net (2011 - present)

Partners4Nature, www.partners4nature.com (2005 - present)

The Computer Smith, www.thecomputersmith.com (1993 - 2005)

Writing Samples and Publications

Lagoon News - The quarterly newsletter of San Elijo Lagoon Conservancy, which Geoffrey edited and contributed to (Fall 2009 - Summer 2010). Authored articles are noted:

2009 Summer

2009 Fall

2010 Winter Donors -- authored 'Thinking Globally... and Acting Locally'

2010 Spring -- authored 'Youth and You in the Lagoon'

2010 Summer -- authored 'Local Youth Stewards with Global Perspectives'

‘San Diego’s Challenge of the Century’ - Defines the water shortages that face San Diego and prescribes aggressive remedies that can free us from water shortages without rationing. Co-authored with Michael Shames, Executive Director, UCAN (August 2008)

'Essay Question: What changes do you think are needed in the local nonprofit sector, and how will what you learn in this program help you to effectuate that change?' - Essay answer outlining my personal views on nonprofit governance. Completed in fulfillment of my successful application for admission to the University of San Diego, Masters in Nonprofit Leadership and Management program (July 2003)

The Watershed Voice - The quarterly newsletter of The Escondido Creek Conservancy, which Geoffrey edited and substantially wrote (August 2005 - May 2007):

2005 Summer

2005 Fall

2005 Winter

2006 Spring

2006 Fall (1-3-4-6), (2-5)

2006 Winter (1-3-4-6), (2-5)

2007 Winter

Wilderness4All Blog - Musings about the environment, current events, wilderness, and other things that excite me and bother me

'What I Meant to Say Was ...' - Graduate position paper on leadership, The University of San Diego (May 2005)

'David Brower: Hiker, Climber, Hero' and 'One Club Column' - Tribute memorial to David Brower, and monthly column. Hi Sierran (Jan/Feb 2001)

'One Club Column' - You can have my job .... Hi Sierran (May/June 2001)

Hi Sierran newsletter… TBD (pending scanning of articles and columns)

The Desert Report… TBD (pending scanning)

Words of the Wild… TBD (pending scanning)

Public Speaking

'Valuing Open Space: Answering hard questions regarding perceived connections regarding our
environments, the public's sentiment, and its implications', San Diego Green 2006 (San Diego, September 14, 2006)

‘Volunteer Public Lands Stewardship: A Recruitment Model', 3rd International Fire Ecology & Management Congress (San Diego, November 13 - 17, 2006), http://emmps.wsu.edu/firecongress

'The Role of the IT Decision Maker in the Deploying of Revolv', Wireless Knowledge Industry Advisory Council (San Diego, June 24, 1999)

In addition to the above-listed formal presentations, Geoffrey has given numerous talk to local civic groups in connection with organizations and campaigns that he has been associated with over the years

Geoffrey in the News

'Feds Scan North County for Wilderness Areas', SDUT (September 16, 2011) -- News of Interior Deputy Secretary David Haye's site visit to Beauty Mountain Proposed Wilderness. Smith is quoted.

'A Wilderness Sliced in Two', SDUT (March 1, 2011) -- Editorial about Congressman Issa's wilderness bill. Geoffrey Smith is mentioned as a person who leads hikes into the area through Wilderness4All.

'Environmentalist Geoffrey Smith Moving on to Greener Pastures', La Jolla Light & Del Mar Times (January 10, 2011) - biographical

'Wilderness Proposal Gets New Life in Congress', SDUT (January 6, 2011) - featured in photo

'A Day in the Watershed', NCT (September 5, 2010) - op/ed piece concerned linear creek park

'A River Runs Through Them', SDUT (May 8, 2010) - Hike leader Geoffrey Smith of Mira Mesa said he has been working for more than 25 years to obtain federal protection for wilderness areas, which prevents development and keeps the lands in their natural state. Smith is regional organizer for the California Wild Heritage Campaign, an effort to get federal protection for more than 2.4 million acres of wilderness and 22 rivers. “We believe very passionately in what we do,” he said.

'Lake Drinks a Lot of Water', SDUT (December 8, 2008) - “Can we afford to be putting especially treated water that could be used for drinking water in a big man-made hole so people can fish?” said Geoffrey Smith, a San Diego consultant who has worked for consumer activists. “There are plenty of reservoirs in the county where fishing is allowed but water is held for potable use.”

'County is Host to Many Sustainability Efforts', SDUT (September 20, 2008) - “The increasing number of conferences on the theme of sustainability is heartening. I only hope that some of it gains traction and results in significant and long-term policy changes for the better,” said Geoffrey Smith, who manages an Internet-based calendar of environmental events in the region.

'Forest Marks 100 Years', SDUT (June 29, 2008) - “It's a pressure release from the really mechanistic and stressful society that we live in,” said Geoffrey Smith of Mira Mesa, a consultant for local nonprofit groups who has hiked and camped in the forest over the decades.

‘Protection, Acre by Acre: Couple’s long fight to preserve backcountry aided by powerful ally’, SDUT (March 2007) - Profiles the work that Geoffrey and his wife Camille Armstrong are doing to mobilize volunteer grass-roots support for federal wilderness and wild and scenic rivers protection

‘Project seeks to raise green for the environment’, SDUT (November 28, 2006) - The Escondido conservancy started in 1991, but didn't have the money for an executive director until last year. Unlike most environmental leaders in the region, the conservancy's executive director, Geoffrey Smith, has a master's degree in nonprofit leadership.
“A lot of . . . (environmental groups) really lack the business skills of understanding what their mission
is and how to build a program around their mission and stick to it,” Smith said.
A 2003 study of land conservancies in the county found they were twice as likely to have done a formal
planning process for on-the-ground work as they were to have a strategy for the organization.
The lack of management expertise is especially apparent at the board level, Smith and others said.
Currently, the boards commonly consist of friends and activists without much regard for specific skills
such as public relations and fundraising.

'The Little Bird That Roared', KGTV (June 2, 2006) news report on Lennar Homes Bridges Unit 7 proposal

Many more reprints TBD pending scanning

Awards & Proclamations

Founders Award, San Diego River Park Foundation (2010)

City of San Diego, Councilmember Sherry Lightner, Recognition for 19 years service as Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve CAC Chair (2009)

County of San Diego, Supervisor Pam Slater-Price, Recognition for 19 years service as Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve CAC Chair (2009)

Special Recognition Award, Citizens Coordinate for Century 3 (2007)

Silver Cup, San DiegoChapter, Sierra Club (1992)

Environmental Nonprofit Volunteer Work

Established Sierra Club San Diego Chapter California Desert Protection Act Campaign Task Force, coordinated the successful federal campaign in San Diego (1994 bill protected over 7 million acres of desert wilderness), 1988 - 1994
Member, Chairperson, 1990 – 2009, Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve Citizens Advisory Committee, 1987 – 2010:

Oversaw development of Preserve Master Plan and Natural Resources Management Plan

Co-organized pioneering Volunteer Patrol for 4,000 acre open space park

Overseeing Ranger Station capital project

Founding member, Black Mountain Open Space Park Citizens’ Advisory Committee, 1994 – 2004
Founder and manager, Sierra Club Chapter Bookstore, 1993 – 2002
Directed relocation of Sierra Club office to storefront location in redeveloping business district, 1988
Chairperson, Sierra Club San Diego Chapter Forest and Wilderness Committee, responsible for USFS and BLM policy advocacy, and agency collaboration, 1992 – 1998
Chairperson, San Diego Chapter, Sierra Club, Executive Committee, responsible for managing a $250,000 budget, policy and business administration for 15,000-member chapter, 1988 – 1989
Chairperson, Sierra Club San Diego Chapter Singles Section, 2000-member activity of the Chapter engaging in outings, events, advocacy, 1984
San Diego Co-Coordinator, Mountain Lion Initiative (Prop. 197), successful opposition campaign, 1996
Pioneered Sierra Club Chapter Conservation-Outings Program, 1995
Co-developed the Sierra Club Chapter ‘One Club’ program, now a national grant-funded program, 1995
Founder and coordinator, San Diego Environmental Leader Network (www.sdeln.org), regional networking group and shared events calendar. Renamed San Diego Eco Network in 2011 (www.sdeconetwork.org) 2001 - present
Statewide Steering Committee founding member, California Wild Heritage Act Campaign (www.californiawild.org), 2000 – 2004
Founder, Wilderness4All (www.wilderness4all.org), Wilderness advocacy and education, 2003 - present
Founder, The Sorrento Coalition, organized and lobbied for protection of Lopez Ridge in Los Peñasquitos Canyon Preserve, San Diego, 1985 – 1988
Signature drive coordinator, Parks and Wildlife Initiative (Prop. 70), successful parks bond measure, 1987
Outreach coordination, San Diego Managed Growth Initiative, successful land-use planning measure, 1985
Founder and SYSOP, Environmental Bulletin Board System (EBBS), the Sierra Club’s 2^nd messaging collaboration system, 1992 – 1997
Founder and co-moderator, ‘One Club’ email list server for Sierra Club San Diego Chapter, 1995 – 2004
Steering Committee member, Founder and moderator of email list serve, San Diego Fire Recovery Network (www.sdfrn.org), 2003 - Present
Board of Directors Member, Vice-Chairman, Desert Protective Council (www.dpcinc.org), 2005 - present
Board of Directors Member, San Diego Tracking Team (www.sdtt.org), 2006 - 2010
Member, Executive Committee, San Diego Conservation Resources Network (www.sdcrn.org), 2006 – 2007
Founder, the San Diego ebase Community, user group for ‘ebase’ nonprofit fundraising development and relationship management software. Assisted in deploying ebase for half a dozen nonprofits to date
And my foremost accomplishment: Married my best volunteer activist, Camille Armstrong, July 25, 1998 at Laguna Meadows, Cleveland National Forest

(Last updated: October 26, 2011)