Meet our Team

STAFF

Luna Azzouni

Courtney Bird

  • An experienced education coordinator and graphic designer, Luna has been with Tacoma Tree Foundation for almost three years and is well versed in educational program development, equitable engagement strategies, graphic design, and social media outreach.

Natalie Caro

  • In Hawaii, students are taught about mana, the Hawaiian word for energy and life source. And how this mana resides in everyone, everything, and everywhere. This mana can be good or bad, and we have the ability to make it better or worse through the choices we make.

    Coming to Washington in 2012, I saw a difference in how people viewed the nature around where they lived. Wide grass lawns and large shrubs which took over the land were things not commonly seen in Hawaii. I always wondered why these spaces were underutilized and not filled in with native flora. What I learned was that most were not educated on the importance of native plants and how they can provide good mana to the places we live.

    Through the Tacoma Tree Foundation, I aim to educate people in our neighborhoods the importance of native, and even some non-native plants, and how to take care of them. And one day I hope to help share the Indigenous people’s stories on these plants, in the same way native Hawaiians have shared their stories on the land and plants which they still reside on.

Jessi Pickel

  • Jessi Pickel (she/her) was born and raised in Oklahoma but moved to Washington in 2014. Living so close to a large body of water, the South Sound, has brought her great joy since moving here. Knowing that there is a huge diverse underwater world just beyond her door has always been a delight to explore and she loves sharing it with her family when they visit. She loves that the Tacoma Tree Foundation gives out and plants trees that help keep pollutants from the Puget Sound so that her daughter and future generations can enjoy it too.

Adela Ramos

  • In the urban forest of my imagination, the root systems of Big Leaf Maples, Douglas Firs, and Western Red Cedars are entwined with Colorines, Jacarandas, and Pirules. These are the trees whose colors, scents, and seasonal transformations compose the canopy of the two places I call home: Tacoma, where I have lived for the past 13 years, and Mexico City, where I come from and return to every year. Thanks to my grandmother and mother, both border-crossing and courageous women, I grew up finding the connections between seemingly disparate languages and people, places and their urban forests. Today, I am fortunate to spend my days cultivating connections between the Tacoma Tree Foundation and partners in the Greater Tacoma area and Pierce County, as well as crafting communications that speak to the interests and needs of our supporters and the people we serve. Drawing on nearly 20 years in higher education, my love of literature, history, and science, I develop our educational programming. In all of these ways, I am excited to support the Foundation’s goal to green Tacoma in community. Hablo español.

Jaala Smith

  • Jaala Smith (she/they) was born and raised in Tacoma and has spent their adult life serving as an educator, social worker, artist and community organizer throughout the Puget sound area. Now settled back in their hometown, Jaala invests in Tacoma’s grassroots organizing networks that address the devastating effects of systemic racism & supremacy; from the housing crisis, to food insecurity, to environmental justice. Jaala believes that everyone knows how to cultivate safe and healthy spaces for their community to grow, play and love and that we all have the right to do so.

    Tacoma Tree Foundation is thinking thoughtfully about how trees contribute to healthy and safe communities of all people in Tacoma, especially those who are marginalized by the dominant culture. Jaala is proud to be contributing to their city in this way.

    When Jaala isn’t busy distributing trees with the Tacoma Tree Foundation or serving others you can find her gardening, birding, supporting small businesses, and spending time with their people and kitty.

Eden Standley

  • I grew up in South Florida, and ever since I was a child, I have been enjoying the outdoors and helping to clean up our environments. I enjoy spending time with my family and planting new plants and trees around my neighborhood to later enjoy during walks. I am South Tacoma proud.

Sarah Low

  • Sarah C. Low, Founder of Tacoma Tree Foundation, combines a love of trees and nature with her professional background in urban and community forestry. Sarah has been studying trees since she noticed ants on a favorite flowering dogwood when she was 10. Her curiosity for trees and nature led her to pursue a career focused on urban ecosystem health and sustainability. All along the way, Sarah found relief, healing, connection, and joy outdoors. Sarah provides educational talks, leads mindfulness walks, and helps to connect people to nature and to each other.

Dan Nakamura

Alejandro Fernández

  • Eden (they/them) is a lifelong Tacoman who is passionate about uplifting and empowering the City’s diverse community, which they hope to do through their writing. They are majoring in Gender Race and Sexuality, Creative Writing, and Psychology at Pacific Lutheran University. They love Ice Cream Social, the Red Elm Café, and thinking critically (usually about Queer theory) while walking around downtown.

Julia Wolf

  • Julia Wolf was born in Tacoma and grew up in Bonney Lake. She has a deep love for the outdoors, having participated in outdoor sports and discovering a love for outdoor photography when she was young. Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, she finds beauty whether there is low fog or clear skies. Julia is excited to be working at TTF and always meeting new people that love the environment and plants.

Lowell Wyse

  • After a career in higher education, I joined the Tacoma Tree Foundation team in 2021, first as a board member and then as a staff member. Since October 2021, I have served as Executive Director, which means I am in charge of the work we do to fulfill our mission as a community-based organization. Everywhere I go, I get to tell the story of how the people who love Tacoma are coming together to create a greener and more resilient urban area after enduring generations of environmental harm. On both sides of my family, I come from a long line of teachers and land stewards. My worldview is shaped by being a descendant both of Swiss-German Mennonite farmers who moved to Ohio’s Maumee Watershed seeking religious freedom and also of the Ojibwe people who continue to steward the lands and waters around Lake Superior in northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. I grew up on our family farm in Michigan and have also lived in the Great Plains, the Hopi territory in northern Arizona, the Chicago metro area, and the Barranco neighborhood of Lima, Peru. Now I live and work in downtown Tacoma and volunteer on the Sustainable Tacoma Commission. I am deeply motivated by the values of community, justice, stewardship, resilience, storytelling, and placemaking. When I need to recharge, you might see me running with my dog in Point Defiance or surfing on the Northwest coast. Pronouns: he/him/his. Hablo español.

BOARD

a woman sitting in a hiking trial by a creek

iLeana Areiza 

Rubén Casas

  • Hi there, my name is iLeana Areiza, and my pronouns are she/her/ella. I'm a canoeist, swimmer, sister, neighbor, friend, and advocate. I live in South Tacoma and am passionate about improving the city by planting as many trees as possible. One of the things I love about Tacoma is its racial diversity. As a Latine woman, I have faced challenges in a world that values some races over others. To overcome this, I reclaimed my Embera Chami indigenous roots, which are from a tribe in the mountains of Colombia.

    Additionally, I traveled to the Witoto indigenous reservation in the Colombian Amazon territory for seven weeks to start my journey of healing my ancestral indigenous roots from the overwhelming colonization process. My work with the Tacoma Tree Foundation is essential to me because it helps make the city more resilient to climate change and addresses inequities. Trees not only provide essential infrastructure for more equitable cities, but they also fill me with a sense of joy and tranquility. My background in science, multiracial, and multiculturalism helps me better understand the challenges historically underrepresented communities like South Tacoma face. As a Tacoma Tree Foundation board member, I prioritize equity.

Vivian deZwager

Janel Krilich

  • I am a first-generation American whose parents' serendipitous meeting in Tacoma planted the seeds for my love of Tacoma. We traveled the earth to see family but we always came home to our neighborhood. My roots are firmly planted in Tacoma with a world-wide view. For me, seeking knowledge, community and joy in my every day is essential, and being amongst trees and nature has served this purpose. I am all the family titles but mom first, friend, neighbor, volunteer, creator, arborist, cheerleader, small business supporter, master gardener, party planner, horticulturalist, optimist, home owner, philanthropist, tree hugger, and lover of all conifers, especially dwarfs. Serving on the board with Tacoma Tree Foundation allows me to follow so many passions… to collaborate with a team of like-minded folks, to increase tree canopy coverage in the neighborhoods with the biggest need, to educate our children about the environment and foster future tree huggers, and advocate for the old, majestic trees that already bring so many resources to the residents of Tacoma.

  • I grew up in North End Tacoma, attended Heritage Middle School and Stadium High School. My paternal grandparents immigrated from Croatia around 1915 and managed a corner grocery store in Ruston. I left Tacoma when I was 18 and returned 23 years later. When I was young, I couldn’t wait to leave and explore the world. Now I have lived here for the last 25 years and can’t imagine living anywhere else. The way the city has developed since the 1970’s is exciting; the cleanup of the Foss Waterway, the development of the museum district, UW–T, Union Station, Ruston Way Trail, Chinese Reconciliation Park, and the Brewery District, all make Tacoma a highly desirable place to live. Now I want to make a meaningful contribution to improving the city for future generations by greening our neighborhoods. As a backpacker and hiker, I appreciate the importance of trees and the access to nature. My work experience includes 5 years at Ohio State Parks and 23 years at Pierce County Parks as a fiscal manager. Today we need to plant the seedlings that will grow into Heritage trees in 50 years and nourish future generations of Tacoma residents.

Angelia Paul

Jennifer Schaal

  • Jennifer Schaal (she/her) is an army brat and itinerant adult who twenty years ago came to Tacoma after more than fifty moves and discovered it to be the best place in the world to live. Jennifer is also a sorta-retired emergency manager who knows that climate change is real, and science is real, and that Tacoma needs the fighting chance to stay cool in the coming heat that only trees provide, and that Tacoma Tree Foundation is full of amazing people who are amazing at getting those trees where they need to be.

    In her spare time (whatever that is) Jennifer can be seen digging holes in her yard, riding the T Line up and down the hill, conducting walking meetings in Wright Park, visiting Tacoma's marvelous museums, hauling coffee grounds from Red Elm to her garden, going to free concerts, and following her artist friends around town to see what they do next. Jennifer believes the quality of life in Tacoma is second to none, and she prays every day for Tacoma to become a model for urban justice, anti-racism, kindness, and peace.

Michael Yadrick, President

  • My family and I have been living in Tacoma for 9 years, and we are grateful for a walkable neighborhood and close-knit community. My ancestry includes Irish, Scottish, Colombian, and Slavic roots, several generations removed from farming and mining livelihoods.

    I gravitate to Arbutus (madrone) trees, because of the way they twist and turn towards the sun and grow in unlikely places. I imagine a future for Tacoma where we achieve tree equity and heat justice and we adapt to current and future impacts of climate disruption. I believe in the power of Tacoma Tree Foundation to help us all come together around the urban forest as a means of peace-building across diverse cultures, ancestries, abilities, ages, and genders.

    I work as a Restoration Ecologist at the City of Tacoma's Environmental Services Open Space Program.

Terry Tipton, Treasurer

Amanda Starnes, Secretary

  • I’m a native Minnesotan and moved from Saint Paul to Tacoma in 2015. I was immediately captivated by Tacoma’s strong sense of place, civic pride, and community optimism for our future. I also quickly learned our tree canopy was less than 20% (much less than St. Paul’s 32% and other cities that boast up to 50% coverage) and I knew this was something I wanted to help change. Tacoma and Pierce County need trees, especially in economically disadvantaged areas.

    I’ve spent my career in finance, financial management, and business intelligence. As Treasurer, I understand the importance of establishing solid financial roots of revenue and assets. I’m equally excited to see us strategically align those financial resources with investments in our quality people, programs, and organizational branches. Finally, I’m passionate about monitoring and measuring whether those investments are fulfilling our mission, growing our canopy, and yielding a more prosperous and equitable future for all in the South Sound.

  • Lawyer and public servant by day. Avid reader, baker, certified tree-hugger, garden-grower, outdoor-enthusiast, wife, dog mom and Super Auntie by nights and weekends. I was born and raised in and around Tacoma. My childhood was filled with sappy hair and semi-regular splinters from scaling the tree in our front yard. A tree so huge I could see my Grandma and Grandpa’s house from the top. Granted – they only lived one street away, but as a kid, that was like free-soloing El Capitan! As a current resident of South Tacoma, it is my dream to see our yards, streets, and parks lined with trees. I’m mentally etch-a-sketching the concrete jungle surrounding my neighborhood as I write this – envisioning each happy little Bob Ross tree come into being. A Tacoma for everyone, cared for by everyone, for the enjoyment of everyone, for generations to come. So, a kid in any neighborhood in Tacoma can enjoy the rush of a bird’s eye view of the City of Destiny.

  • Jenny Wetzel, a dedicated professional in Tacoma's real estate sphere, channels her passion into fostering both equitable housing opportunity and the growth of the urban forest. She recognizes the urgency of expanding housing availability and canopy coverage in sync with the city's escalating population growth and the challenges posed by global warming.

    Her commitment to aligning the interests of real estate and environmental sustainability, reflects a forward-thinking approach to the evolving needs of Tacoma.

    A lifelong learner, Jenny's journey took a turn with the discovery of Housing Redlining, at the start of her Real Estate career. Having grown up on the South Side of Tacoma, she now understood that less opportunity was provided to her peers and friends, not for a lack of effort, but systems at play. This revelation sparked her dedication to educating the community on the profound impacts of redlining, shaping her mission to address historical disparities and uplift communities affected. Through her work as a Realtor and now Board member of TTF, Jenny strives to create strong communities through awareness and growth of both trees and housing.

Luke Vannice, Vice-President

Jenny Wetzel

  • I’m a lover of a good tree-lined sidewalk; a well-connected pedestrian network. I am curious
    about urban spaces, what makes them desirable, and for whom these spaces feel comfortable.
    My one wish for Tacoma is for conversations to continue about the many benefits of urban tree
    canopy. I would like to see green and gray infrastructure discussed as two essential pieces of
    our city in policy and design standards, forming a synergy to create the City of Destiny for all
    Tacomans. Both my parents were educators. My dad an industrial arts teacher and grandparents were farmers. This connection to practical learning, the craft of making, and working with the land informs my passions today as a landscape architect at Site Workshop on the Hilltop. My practice is centered on designing public spaces that contribute to biodiversity and are for all to learn, play, meet up, grieve, reset, and discover. I’m inspired by horticulture, art, and community activism. In my free time I’m sweeping Commencement Bay on my paddleboard, collaborating on tactical urbanism projects, backyard fires with loved ones, or
    searching for the best burger in all of Tacoma. 

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Our Mission

The Tacoma Tree Foundation educates, empowers, and supports community members in neighborhood-based greening.

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