meet our team
KEN ALEX
Founder & Senior Advisor, GrizzlyCorps
Director, Project Climate, Center for Law, Energy & the Environment
Ken spent eight years as a Senior Policy Advisor to Governor Jerry Brown, the Director of the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, and the Chair of the Strategic Growth Council, focusing on climate, environment, and land use issues.
Before joining the Governor's Office, Ken was the Senior Assistant Attorney General heading the environment section of the California Attorney General’s Office, and the co-head of the Office’s global warming unit. From 2000 to 2006, He led the California Attorney General’s energy task force, investigating price and supply issues related to California’s energy crisis.
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Ken is a graduate of Harvard Law School and holds a B.A. in political theory from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Tel: 510-590-7763
ken.alex@berkeley.edu
jasmine
curcio
Program Administrator, GrizzlyCorps
Jasmine joined the GrizzlyCorps team in 2022 after serving as a GrizzlyCorps fellow at Pie Ranch. She handles day-to-day administrative operations at GrizzlyCorps, communications & media, data tracking, and assists with fellow support.
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Jasmine graduated from UC Davis with a Bachelors of Science in Environmental Science and Management. She brings her experience as a fellow in the program and passion for environmental health, community engagement through nonprofit work, and creating sustainable food systems.
At Pie Ranch, Jasmine supported the Cascade Regenerator Program, a program designed to support emerging and underresourced farmers build sustainable land-based businesses. She worked on creating an environmental stewardship plan for the ranch, education and outreach, fire recovery and planning projects, and supporting Pie Ranch’s partnership with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and Land Trust. Jasmine also worked with the Santa Cruz County Environmental Health department to aid in the fire recovery efforts following the devastating CZU Complex Fires of August 2020.
ELIZA MUNGER
Director, GrizzlyCorps
Eliza joined GrizzlyCorps in early 2020 to support in the design, development and launch of the program. In her current role, Eliza provides direction for the operation, strategy and growth of GrizzlyCorps. Eliza additionally provides direct support to our host sites and is the main contact for all prospective partners.
Eliza has worked in the nonprofit sector for the majority of her career in a range of roles, including nonprofit operations and outdoor education. In her previous role, she worked for a youth development nonprofit where she played a key role in advancing capacity building functions while working with staff, AmeriCorps members, external partners, donors, and volunteers to create and grow a sustainable and well-organized community-based organization.
Eliza holds a Bachelor's of Science in Biology from the University of Puget Sound. She is passionate about engaging young adults in service, civic action, and the environment.
tel: (510) 394-4089
Cindy
Pace
Program Coordinator , GrizzlyCorps
Cindy joined the GrizzlyCorps team in 2023 as Program Coordinator. After serving as a GrizzlyCorps fellow at the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains in 2022, she now supports program day-to-day functions, communications & design. She maintains relationships with all fellows, oversees event planning, and facilitates GrizzlyCorps internal training curriculum.
During her time as a GrizzlyCorps fellow, Cindy gained firsthand insight about the roadblocks and rewards experienced by early career environmentalists striving to promote climate resiliency in California. Cindy holds a BS in Sustainability Studies and BA in Political Science/International Affairs from UC Riverside. With a foundation in feminist research paradigms and environmental science, Cindy has dedicated her career to incorporating restorative justice principles and expanding networks of solidarity within the climate movement. Cindy strives to build healthy communities and cultures of care for a more regenerative future and hopes to inspire growth amongst emerging environmental leaders.
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Natalie-Francesca Woods
Research Fellow, GrizzlyCorps
Nat joined the GrizzlyCorps team in fall 2023 after completing a GrizzlyCorps fellowship with the Marin Water Volunteer Program. Nat will spend her second service term with GrizzlyCorps as an in-house research fellow. In this role, Nat synthesizes fellow and host site data with ongoing CLEE projects, supports meaningful activities and experiences for her cohort, and develops an accessible and scalable body of resources to support early-career environmental professionals and rural community members alike.
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After graduating from Colby College in 2022 with BAs in English and Biology, Nat moved back to the Bay Area to work with the Marin Water Volunteer Program, based out of the Sky Oaks Ranger Station. On Mount Tamalpais, she spent hundreds of hours spent conducting public outreach on watershed & forest health, running volunteer events, and developing curricula to increase the accessibility of ongoing ecological research and natural resources initiatives to Marin's community members. Watershed management staff, members of her 2022-2023 cohort, and the diverse populations she engaged in community science events would humor her incessant questions, cementing in her mind the necessity of a learner's ethos - no matter who, theoretically, is the instructor of whom.
Francesca Arrigoni
Student Administrative Assistant, GrizzlyCorps
Francesca joined the GrizzlyCorps team in fall 2023 to assist with administrative operations and communications & media.
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Francesca is currently a senior at UC Berkeley working towards a Bachelor's of Arts in Sustainable Environmental Design and minoring in City Planning. She is passionate about climate change resiliency and adaptation and is interested in the intersectionality between conservation & resources and sustainable urban development. Francesca previously worked as a student assistant for the California Energy Energy Commission's Renewable Energy Division and is an active member in the environmental community at UC Berkeley.
After graduating in spring 2024, Francesca plans to pursue working towards climate resiliency and environmental equity at the community-scale and in the built environment.
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