Board of Directors and Staff

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Board of Directors

Eric Goplerud, Chair

Dr. Eric Goplerud is a clinical psychologist, and Vice President and Senior Fellow at NORC at the University of Chicago. A longtime member of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax, Eric has been involved in interfaith social justice efforts to end homelessness in Fairfax County and developing local solutions to climate change. His career and his advocacy stem from a common motivation: to bring people together to solve problems that most severely impact people who are poor, disadvantaged and vulnerab

Scott Peterson, Vice Chair

Scott is a Unitarian-Universalist and co-founder of Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions. A FACS board member and vice-chair of external affairs, he is also chair of the advocacy committee. In that role, his focus has been on moving Virginia’s largest population center, Fairfax County, to address the climate emergency. As the organization’s representative to the Virginia Conservation Network’s legislative committee, he guides FACS’s statewide legislative strategy, works closely with advocacy teams, and helps to build coalitions. Previously, he was employed in the financial industry, where he was managing director of communications at New York Stock Exchange Regulation and director of communications at the Nasdaq Stock Market. Scott is a graduate of the University of Southern California. Born in Pennsylvania, he is the grandson of coal miners.

Bailey Kasten

Bailey Kasten, CAE, ICE-CPP serves as the Chief Data Officer for the Design-Build Institute of America where she is responsible for leading initiatives in all things data, membership, and diversity as well as for generally finding ‘a-ha’ moments for the organization and its components lurking in the data. Bailey has over 18 years of experience in association management and serves in volunteer roles for both the American Society of Association Executives on the Certified Association Executive (CAE) Exam Committee and the Virginia Society of Association Executives on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force, two of her favorite communities. Bailey is a leader for her daughter’s Girl Scouts Brownie troop and Committee Chair for her son’s Cub Scouts pack. Bailey and her family are active members of McLean Islamic Center.

Jack Bowles, Secretary

Jack has been in public service for 33 years, and currently serves as the national Director of State & Local Relations for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He has spent most of his career working on Climate Change and at the nexus of federal and state environmental policymaking, including previous stints at the White House Office of Management & Budget, on Capitol Hill, at the White House Council on Environmental Quality as the Deputy Executive Director of the President’s Council on Sustainable Development and then as the Deputy Director of the White House Task Force on Livable Communities. Jack lives in Great Falls, Virginia, with his wife, two sons and dog. He serves on the Staff-Parish Relations Committee of Great Falls United Methodist Church, the Board of Friends of Riverbend Park, and as the Church’s Chartering Organization Representative for Scout Troop 673.

Rick Galliher, Treasurer

I owned the Chantilly franchise of 1-800-GOT-JUNK? for 18 years and have recently retired. I learned a lot about how waste is handled in Northern Virginia, especially how hard it is to recycle our common household items. Because of this experience, I am a board member of the Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions (FACS), their Solid Waste Team Lead, and the FACS Glass Recycling Working Group member. I am also a member of the Virginia DEQ’s Waste Diversion and Recycling Task Force, and a member of the Virginia Recycling Association.

Donald Craig

Donald Craig recently relocated to the No.VA area from California. He is a member of Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, DC. He has been a long time community advocate around social justice and environmental issues in California and now in Virginia. Donald is currently active on Boards with the NAACP, the Poor People’s Campaign as well as several other community groups. He strongly believes in making a positive difference.

Julie Rosenberg

For nearly 20 years, Julie led the EPA group working with local and state governments to help them design and implement climate, energy and heat island policies and programs. She now leads climate advocacy initiatives through interfaith organizations. As a member of Temple Rodef Shalom, she co-leads the Dayenu Climate Circle’s Local and Congregational Pathway, helping area Jews learn about and then engage in local and state energy and climate decision making. She leads FACS Arlington Hub. In 2017, she co-founded the Arlington-McLean chapter of the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom. Our Muslim-Jewish partnership of women has forged deep, lasting friendships as they work together to build bonds and combat hate.

Jo Doumbia

Ms. Josefina (Jo) Doumbia is a Colombian national and holds Chemical Engineering and Master’s and Doctorate Environmental Engineering degrees. After over 25 years, she recently retired from the World Bank where she focused on environmental, sustainability and climate change aspects. Currently, Ms. Doumbia volunteers with several local environmental and social organizations putting her well-rounded global expertise to the service of these organizations to help addressing climate change challenges. In addition, she is also a certified VA Master Naturalist and an Audubon at-home Ambassador. Ms Doumbia lives with her family, husband and two sons, in Annandale where she cherishes her self-created native backyard sanctuary.

Kris Rosenthal

Kris began as a volunteer for FACS for the Mt Vernon District several years ago, as part of her work on the Climate Action Team at Mount Vernon Unitarian Church. She is the Fairfax Hub leader. As a long-time resident in Fairfax County, she led the re-invigoration of the Citizen’s Advisory Board to the local mental health center, supported Safe Haven, a monthly gathering for LGTBIQ teens and Cis gender teens at MVUC, and has served on the board of Northern Virginia Licensed Professional Counselors, twice. Her passion is to work toward a liveable planet.

Joseph M. Gillmer

Joseph is the Executive Director of Development of The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington and a Certified Fund Raising Executive, Certified Specialist in Planned Giving, and Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy.

Since 2001, Joe Gillmer has served nonprofit organizations and the nonprofit sector with expertise in nonprofit operations, major and annual fund giving, capital campaigns, planned giving, and integrated traditional direct response and digital marketing outreach. He has helped raise more than $865 million, including support for hundreds of faith-based organizations across the United States

Joe and his wife, Leah, live in Franconia, VA. After participating in Solarize Fairfax and a home energy audit in 2017, Joe and Leah implemented a variety of energy conservation and generation measures over the last five years to reduce their home net energy use by 93%.

Jeff W. Johnson

Jeff has been a member of the Unity of Fairfax church in Oakton, Virginia and an active leader of its EarthCare Ministry Team, which is responsible for the congregation’s environmental education and physical care of God’s Five Sacred Acres. Through his and other EarthCare Ministry Team members and the Senior Minister, Unity of Fairfax became a Founding congregation of FACS. He is a Climate Change Policy Consultant who supports government and non-profit organizations in planning and implementing initiatives to address the climate crisis. Prior to his dual retirement he was a Captain in U.S. Navy Reserve Intelligence with 37 years of Navy service and an Intelligence Community contractor for 26 years. He holds an MA Degree in Security Policy Studies from George Washington University and BA Degrees in Journalism and Political Science from the Universities of Oregon and Iowa respectively. Jeff has been a resident of Reston, Virginia for 23 years and Fairfax County for 43 years.

Staff

Andrea McGimsey, Executive Director

Andrea is a committed environmental activist, advocate and leader. She served on the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors from 2008 to 2011, where she led the county’s work on climate solutions. Previously she directed the Campaign for Loudoun’s Future, mobilizing citizens to protect the county’s environment. She co-founded 350 Loudoun and is a presenter and mentor with the Climate Reality Project. Andrea has served as executive director of several non-profit organizations, including Oatlands Historic House and Gardens in Leesburg. As Senior Director for Global Warming Solutions of Environment America, she led campaigns to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as quickly as possible economy-wide in the United States. She is an active Lutheran and a native of Northern Virginia.

Christine Montagnese, Climate Solutions Organizer

Christine Connelly Montagnese joined FACS in March of 2023. She is a lawyer who served as a communication specialist for the U.S. Department of Energy and the Administration for Native Americans. Early in her career, she created young environmental stewards while serving as an environmental educator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, and Nature Forward. She has a bachelor’s in communication from the University of Maryland and juris doctor from the Penn State School of Law. She is a master naturalist and practicing Catholic.