Board of Directors
Juliane Mittman
Juliane Mittman is a business owner, resident of Springville and sits of the WildPlaces’ Board of Directors as finance chairman and marketing director. A member of the Springville Chamber of Commerce, she leads the way for many innovative and creative ways to sustain business, community and the environment.
Laura Howe
Laura Howe has been involved as a volunteer for many years prior to her Board position. She is a business owner in Los Angeles and active in many facets of understanding and educating urban and rural citizens about the urban/wild interface.
Michelle Richter
Michelle Richter is a teacher at Walt Whitman High School in LA and owns land in southern Sierra Nevada in Kernville. Michelle organizes 20 youth from her school each year to attend WildPlaces’ Immersed in the Wild.
Orhan McMillan
Orhan McMillan is president and creative director for Dezins – Web and Multi-Media Marketing, LLC. Dezins is a full-service marketing agency whose primary focus is to promote each business/organization as a unique expression of success by targeting their individual flavor. Orhan has been a part of WildPlaces since its inception and continues to support the programs and mission of this valued organization. Orhan continues to provide services to the marketing and web presence for WildPlaces and plans to do so long into the future.
Peyton Ellas
Peyton Ellas is a long time WildPlaces supporter, member and volunteer. She successfully led WildPlaces’ land advocacy program in 2005-2006. She is the owner and operator of Quercus Landscape Design & Garden Service which specializes in native landscaping.
Scott Parkin
Scott Parkin is Campaign Director for Rainforest Action Network’s Wells-Fargo Bank campaign. He has extensive training in non-violent, direct action strategies, media campaign training and critical thinking/environmental literacy. Scott is also very involved with campaign against mountain top removal in West Virginia coal mines.
Susan Macias
Susan Macias lives in Long Beach where she is an adult language educator. She owns land in Walker Basin in the southern Sierra Nevada. She has extensive training as a wildlife tracker and permaculture gardener as well as sustainable building design.
Wes Mass
Wes Mass owns Pleasant Valley Orange Ranch in Springville where he brings innovative marketing ideas to rural business areas. He is an artist and founder of the Packing House Art Gallery, located at his ranch’s orange packing house.
Carlos M. Gomez
Carlos M. Gomez was born in El Salvador in 1979, where he spent a good part of his childhood. Later on he moved to Los Angeles and lived there for a few years. In 1992 Carlos moved to Bakersfield, California. He went to high school there and is now continuing his education in college. He is a part time student, works full time with the educational system, and is very active in the community.
Two years ago, he came together with a couple of good friends and founded MAIZ de Bakersfield College, a club that emphasizes education and cultural awareness on campuses and in the community. MAIZ has been involved in local, state, and nationwide projects dealing with education, healthcare, civil/human rights, culture, and youth development. They have received Bakersfield College’s “2006-2007 Club of the Year” and “2007-2008 Outstanding Club Service” awards, as well as personal recognition as a student leader from the Center for Kern Political Education, Kern County Board of Supervisors, California Legislature Assembly, and The United States House of Representatives.
Ann Garner
Ann Garner has been working for the Porterville Unified School District for 15 years and lives in Springville. She is an avid supporter of service learning projects for all ages and enjoys giving back to her community in an ecological manner.
Youth Board
Stephanie Ruiz
Stephanie Ruiz lives in Porterville and is currently a student at Granite Hills High School. After graduating from high school she plans on attending CSU Long Beach and studying to become a professor in mathematics. She loves going snowboarding and being active in any type of physical activity. She is also a very creative person that loves to come up with new ideas that may benefit her community.
