Who We Are

Through public education, grassroots organizing, research, and leadership training, Let’s Green CA! is dedicated to making California a model of equitable climate action.

Viewing climate action as a moral imperative, we partner with vulnerable communities and working families throughout our state to build bottom-up solutions to the climate crisis. Confident that people power is the key to transformative climate action, we lift up climate solutions that empower workers and ensure environmental justice. Let’s Green CA! is an initiative of the Romero Institute, a Central Coast nonprofit with a decades-long record of securing justice for the people who need it most.

Our current priorities include advocating for the passage of our Electrify CA! legislation and policy framework in partnership with the Dolores Huerta Foundation and facilitating a home electrification public health and education campaign in vulnerable Central Coast communities. In alliance with environmental justice organizations and labor groups including building trades councils and multiple IBEW locals, we’re also championing workforce and environmental justice standards for energy procurement at each of California’s community choice energy agencies.

Our work is predicated on the state of California’s capacity for leadership. As a leader on environmental issues and the fifth largest economy in the world, we believe the Golden State is uniquely positioned to create a just and equitable model for mitigating the climate crisis that can be replicated worldwide. Climate justice is not only within our power, it’s our moral responsibility.

We recognize that the climate crisis can be overwhelming. It’s hard to know where to start. Today, we invite you to join us in building the solutions to the defining challenge of our time. Together, Let’s Green CA!

Let's Green CA! Staff

Our team includes experts in community organizing, advocacy, the law, climate science, environmental justice, and communications.

CHIEF COUNSEL AND PRESIDENTDaniel Sheehan, Esq.
A Harvard-trained constitutional law attorney, Daniel has led or participated in some of the most important public interest cases of the last 40 years. His lawsuits include the Watergate and Iran-Contra Scandals, the Pentagon Papers, and the killing of Karen Silkwood. In 1973-74, he served as amicus counsel to the American Civil Liberties Union regarding the occupation of Wounded Knee. In 1980, he co-founded the Christic Institute, a nonprofit public interest law center that — among many other cases — prosecuted members of the Ku Klux Klan in Greensboro, North Carolina, and represented victims of the Three Mile Island disaster in Pennsylvania. In his work with LPLP, Daniel has been a principal attorney in drafting the legal strategy for the federal Justice Department’s lawsuit against the State of South Dakota for its violations of the Indian Child Welfare Act. He was present at Standing Rock during opposition to the Dakota Access pipeline. Daniel also served as defense counsel for LPLP lead counsel and water protector Chase Iron Eyes, who was targeted by law enforcement and faced severe charges following the Dakota Access pipeline protests. You can learn more about Daniel Sheehan at his website and his Facebook page.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTORSara Nelson
The Executive Director of the Romero Institute since 1992, Sara has over 40 years of nonprofit leadership, grassroots organizing, national education, and fundraising experience. She was the director of the Karen Silkwood Fund, executive director and co-founder of the Christic Institute, and executive director of the State of the World Forum in San Francisco. She was the national labor chair for the National Organization for Women and a member of the California Commission on the Status of Women. For over a decade, Sara has been working with our Lakota staff and the nine tribes of South Dakota on matters relating to the Lakota Child Rescue Project, as well as with executive agencies in Washington DC. She holds a BA in anthropology from the University of California, Berkeley.
LGCA DIRECTORBenjamin Eichert
Benjamin's passion for social justice organizing began over twenty years ago. Right after high school, he and two friends bought an old van and drove from Albuquerque to Nicaragua volunteering in rural communities. Following that trip, he co-founded Big Noise Films and directed the award-winning documentary, "Zapatista." He has worked as an organizer and contract negotiator with the New York State Nurses Association and was the field director for US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s successful reelection campaign in 2012. Benjamin studied political science at Brown University.
CLIMATE ACTION ORGANIZERLeslie Austin
Making a difference in an interconnected world matters to Leslie. Leveraging her professional experience in publishing and marketing —coupled with her passions for collaboration and sustainability — Leslie works with public institutions, nonprofits, businesses, and communities to conceive and implement environmental initiatives. She aims to inspire equitable action while fostering the adoption of sustainability policies and practices that effectively address our most pressing environmental challenges.
DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATEAnna Mason
Anna oversees fundraising efforts and donor relations for LPLP. With a background in marketing, sales, and entertainment, she is happy to now funnel her energy toward the protection of our planet and the rights of its people. Anna holds a BA in American Literature & Culture from the University of California, Los Angeles.
Senior Public Affairs DirectorHeidi Harmon
Heidi is a social, environmental, and gender justice leader committed to creating an equitable and regenerative world. She has been a climate activist for two decades. As its mayor, she recently led the City of San Luis Obispo CA to one of the most ambitious carbon neutrality goal in the United States. The climate crisis has revealed that everything and everyone is interconnected and that the world thrives when people, planet, and prosperity for all is central. Heidi holds a degree in Liberal Studies from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.
Communications DirectorAndra Belknap
Andra directs the writing and PR/comms for the critical work of greening California. She began her career in political communications as a junior staffer on the 2008 Obama campaign. She has held communications positions in the U.S. House of Representatives and as a presidential appointee to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Andra served as communications director to Congresswoman Lauren Underwood. She holds a degree in political studies and Spanish language from Pitzer College in Claremont, CA.
Environmental Justice OrganizerBatoul Al-Sadi
Batoul works to develop and carry out advocacy campaigns while supporting the growth of a vast, diverse coalition of partners to support a regional and statewide advocacy agenda. Her family’s first-hand experiences with climate change and environmental degradation in Iraq inspired her to pursue climate and environmental justice advocacy work. Batoul is incredibly passionate about humanizing the climate crisis by centering the voices and visions of communities disproportionately impacted by environmental harm. She has experience in climate storytelling, grassroots organizing, and climate and environmental justice research and holds a BA in Environmental Studies and Political Science from the University of Washington.