A wild welcome to two new CalWild board members: Wendi and Michele

• March 5, 2023
• Hayley Paronish

Wendi’s love of wild places started early in life. She grew up exploring the creek behind her neighborhood and spent a great deal of her childhood determined to figure out where the creek started, and where it ended. Her career in environmental activism started off strong as a journalist reporting on environmental racism in Richmond.

Wendi’s passion for protecting California’s wild places

Wendi is a filmmaker and journalist with 10+ years of experience working with renowned clients such as National Geographic and The New York Times. She’s passionate about preserving wild spaces and protecting diverse ecosystems, which makes her the perfect addition to our Board of Directors at CalWild. When she’s not on a film shoot or fighting for the voice of our wild places to be heard and seen, Wendi loves hiking, backpacking, climbing, snowboarding, and spending time exploring California. She understands first-hand how climate change is rapidly altering ecosystems—and that CalWild’s work is critical in helping preserve these areas for future generations.

Michele is a senior corporate and commercial transactions attorney with 15+ years of experience negotiating deals and advising public, private, and non-profit entities. She began her legal career with Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Los Angeles and has worked for major platforms and studios across the media, technology, and entertainment industry including Hulu and Paramount Pictures. The most meaningful experiences of Michele’s life have been those where she gets to help others through personal service, including her work as a School on Wheels tutor, an animal care volunteer, and pro bono asylum work.

Michele’s passion for protecting California’s wild places

Michele experiences joy through nature. Her preferred place to be is always somewhere outside: walking through a forest, the mountains in winter, a beach, or swimming in the ocean. From a purely selfish standpoint, she wants to ensure the places that she values and loves to spend time at are preserved. She believes that all humans benefit from a connection to nature and in absence of any human benefit, there is inherent value in protecting other species and places. She also believes that those of us who are fortunate enough to be able to live our daily lives without worrying about where our next meal is coming from or making this month’s rent, have a special obligation to use our time and resources to fight the long, hard fight to protect the environment for all of us.

Read up on the rest of our amazing staff and board members here.