PRESIDENT

Joe Sandri, has executive experience in the environmental and technology sectors. He has specialized training in environmental and communications law, journalism and radiofrequency engineering, and he serves on several boards. He is former co-President of Fibertower (now owned by AT&T) and former president of IDT Spectrum (whose assets are now owned by Verizon Wireless).  He is on the Board of the Archangel Ancient Tree Archive, on the Advisory Council of the Ecosystem Restoration Communities, and also on the Board and General Counsel of the Environmental Health Trust. He is a member of the IEEE and a long-standing board member and President Emeritus of the National Spectrum Management Association (NSMA). For his full biography click here.

SECRETARY

Aude Peronne is a global presenter of the ecosystem restoration movement. Since 2004, Aude has been engaged in ecosystem restoration, permaculture and community building and bridges both to approach regenerative development and systems thinking design strategies. She advocates for Earth & Water stewardship as well as people's well-being. Aude facilitates the emergence of cohesive collaborative laboratories globally and locally to empower and connect people from all over the world willing to engage in building solutions towards our common aspirations and needs as stewards of our planet.

TREASURER

Clifford Smith is one of the founders of RE 1 Wilderness Management. He is also a managing partner of Appalachian Renewal Project (ARP). His organization has purchased 7,000 acres of reclaimed surface mine sites in Eastern Kentucky and is using the land to demonstrate environmentally-friendly ways these sites can contribute to the regional economy. Clifford was previously the Director of International Equities for The Boston Company Asset Management, where he helped build and manage $35 billion in assets. Earlier in his career, he worked in engineering roles for General Electric and the U.S. Department of Energy. He holds engineering degrees from the Pennsylvania State University and Princeton University, and an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University. 

George Orbelian is a lifelong motorcyclist, with expertise in both building competition motorcycles and experience in racing motorcycles; technology entrepreneur; real estate owner and manager (Orbelian Holdings, L.P.); and environmentalist (Co-founder or Project Kaisei, which funded Scripps Institution of Oceanography SEAPLEX research and received Google Earth Hero recognition). He is a member of the board of the Buckminster Fuller Institute, the Walter Munk Foundation of the Oceans, and the San Francisco State University School of International Business. He is an advisor to Planet Positive Ventures and Bay.Org and an advocate for disaster preparedness and community resilience. George is interested in identifying and sharing comprehensive solutions that will allow humanity to regenerate the ecosystems that sustain all life on this planet and integrating those solutions into resilient communities that incorporate lessons learned in his decades of experience with emergency preparedness.

Teryl is an American born living in France where he is co-founder of “Virsoleil” Center for Regenerative Living a not for profit education and research project along with his wife Claudia. He has a background in the building arts, healing arts, permaculture, regenerative design, and spiritual development. He is a trained HeartMath facilitator, Keeping Joy in Relationships facilitator. He has lived in many places including Hawaii where he enjoyed the privilege of studying traditional massage, dance, ceremony, and chant with Hawaiian elders. At the age of 14, he left school and home in search of meaning and hitchhiked with his dog across the mainland United States working various jobs and experiencing different perspectives. He found meditation at the age of 19 and has had the honor of studying with many gifted teachers and healers. He is the father of two children and grandfather to three boys and a girl. He is a lover of nature and engages with his natural surroundings daily to expand awareness and understanding of both humans and natural systems. He is motivated by his love for our planet and the human potential to work towards building bridges in consciousness as a path towards a healthy and sustainable future.

Maarten studied Global Sustainability Science at Utrecht University with a focus on ‘Water, Climate and Ecosystems’ and ‘Societal Change’ and became Project Coordinator for Local2Local after graduating. At Local2Local, he worked on several exciting projects within food transition. All relevant to restoring a strong relationship between farmers and consumers to create a short transparent and fair food chain. Since then, Maarten has cofounded and been involved with several organizations that are focused on sustainability, fair food systems, and regenerative communities.

“It is my ultimate dream to build self-sufficient communities, where everyone has the equal opportunity to participate, find their place and be part of a community of regions. In my mind, the journey of learning and co-creating in a regional context should be able to solve any problem.”