LBC Action

Our Leaders

Martin LeBlanc

Principal

Martin LeBlanc is a strategic planning, public policy, and fundraising specialist with two decades of experience helping organizations expand their impact. Most recently, LeBlanc served as the Managing Director of Innovation at Sixkiller Consulting LLC, a Washington, DC based strategic advisory firm. In 2014, he created the No Child Left Inside Alliance, a coalition of nonprofits, businesses, and government agencies that successfully advocated to establish a $2 million program focused on outdoor education and recreation programs. With the support of the Obama Administration, LeBlanc brought together diverse stakeholders to launch Fresh Tracks, a shared leadership experience for young adults from Compton, California and Alaska Native Communities. Fresh Tracks culminated in a December 2016 roundtable on Outdoor, Youth, and Diversity convened in the Roosevelt Room of the White House.

Juan Martinez

Principal

Juan D. Martinez is the Children and Nature Network’s Vice President of Strategic Partnerships and CEO of Leaders in Action LLC. He has over 10 years of non-profit management and implementation of strategy. A National Geographic Explorer and a TED Speaker he brings the power of ideas to life through community driven solutions. Juan has made a commitment to help empower the next generation of leaders dedicated to addressing systems of inequity and access to opportunities by working with community leaders, non-profits, and businesses across the country.

Juan Martinez

Organizational Strategy & Development

C.J. Goulding

Youth Engagement & Leadership Facilitation

CJ Goulding is passionate about facilitating growth in three things: people, community, and leadership. In his day job, he trains, mentors and supports a national network of over 330 leaders who are changing systems and creating equitable access to nature in their communities. This work draws from experience leading outdoor trips, conservation crews, and youth internship programs for the National Park Service. He completed a MaED in Urban Environmental Education with IslandWood and Antioch University, where he studied the power of community and its connection to nature in urban settings. His essay “Why I Wear Jordans in the Great Outdoors” has been published and featured in culturally relevant outdoor curriculum across the country. He is an eager facilitator, writer, photographer, and lover of sharing and supporting stories.

C.J. Goulding

Craig Engelking

Government Relations Consulting

Craig Engelking has 17 years of experience lobbying in Olympia. Prior to establishing his own firm in 2014, Craig was the chief state lobbyist for the City of Seattle. Before that, he was the legislative director for the Washington Chapter of the Sierra Club. Currently, he is the owner of Engage Strategies, where his mission is to provide outstanding government relations services for tribes, non-profits, and responsible businesses working to promote sustainability and to create opportunities for people who need them. Current clients include the Lummi Nation, IslandWood, Northwest Energy Coalition, Opportunity Council, and Tiny Trees Preschool.

Craig Engelking

Harris Soloman

Organizational Strategy, Management & Strategic Planning

Harris Solomon is an independent consultant focused on organizational strategy and management, strategic planning and program development, and strategic communications. He has a deep grounding in urban systems and policy, with more than a decade of experience in the government and nonprofit sectors, including as the Associate Director of the 10 Minute Walk Campaign, which he helped stand up and launch during his time with The Trust for Public Land. He previously held positions with the City University of New York, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and office of former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg. He is based in New York City.

Harris Soloman

Ray Rivera

Strategic Policy Officer

Ray is a social entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in politics, campaigns, nonprofits, advocacy and mission-driven organizations. In just the last few years Ray has led the creation of numerous social ventures and nonprofits, including multiple organizations that specialize in digital campaigns and political advocacy. Prior to that he served in President Obama’s Administration at the Department of the Interior and at the White House Council on Environmental Quality. Ray also serves on numerous nonprofit boards that connect with his passion for civic engagement and getting diverse communities active in the outdoors. Ray earned his Master’s Degree in Public Administration at the Harvard John F. Kennedy School of Government and currently he advises companies and causes part-time while performing his full-time job of caring for his two boys, Mateo and Gregory, ages 8 and 6. Whatever time Ray has to spare after getting the family into the great outdoors, he invests in mentoring the next generation of political and civic leaders.

Laurie Miller

Strategic Financial Officer

Laurie Miller has devoted the last 20 years to the art of financial and operational leadership for mission-driven organizations. She began her career 35 years ago as a CPA with an MBA in corporate Seattle but inevitably succumbed to her affinity for the not-for-profit sector. Laurie honed her strategic business skills over 16 years at IslandWood, then transported her knowledge to New Zealand to provide strategic guidance to a start-up group of sustainable businesses formed to benefit the local New Zealand communities.  She has served on several nonprofit boards and is currently a financial advisor to Global Child Nutrition Foundation, an international organization dedicated to school feeding programs around the world.

Tashia DeLaCruz-Arnold

Organizational & Youth Development

Tashia DeLaCruz-Arnold is an enrolled member of the Quinault Indian Nation and the grand-daughter of Tony and Roxanne Ogemageshig and Ed and Betty DeLaCruz and Elizabeth Perez and is the daughter of Kamimi Ogemageshig and Lester DeLaCruz. Tashia studied at Washington State University, graduating with her Bachelor’s degree in 2013 and graduated in 2019 with her Master’s degree in Youth Development Leadership from Clemson University. Tashia is the Education Manager for the Quinault Indian Nation, overseeing the department to ensure Quinault students are meeting educational standards, college ready, and have social and emotional support throughout their academic journeys. As a youth development professional she focuses on applying and implementing current youth development theories to empower and support youth to achieve personal, professional, and academic goals. Tashia is a strong advocate for Indigenous representation, especially youth, and believes in the importance of enabling Indigenous peoples to thrive and lead healthy lives.

Communications & Creative Marketing

Alaina Oleston

Alaina Oleston

Graphic Design & Brand Identity

Alaina Oleston is the President and Founder of The Creative Twist in San Diego, California. Alaina is an expert in branding companies of all sizes and stages of development.  She is passionate about branding and its ability to propel a business forward to new frontiers, expanded customer base and stronger bottom line.

As Director of Marketing for a credit union in Upstate New York, she was responsible for the successful renaming and rebranding the organization after 25 years in business. The successful efforts helped position the credit union to grow from $80 million in assets to $120 million in just two years.

The Creative Twist works with numerous clients across the United States in a full range of marketing, communications and design capabilities.

Thatcher Heldring

Writing, Editing & Narrative Strategy

Thatcher Heldring is a freelance writer and author focused on Type 1 Diabetes, environmental education, and other issues related to children and health. He has also partnered with clients working on literacy, sustainable communities, youth leadership development, and health policy. He is also the author of four sports novels for young readers. He lives in Seattle with his wife, two sons, and a blind gecko. You can reach Thatcher through his website at www.spitballinc.com.

Thatcher Heldring
kit mcgurn

Kit McGurn

Filmmaker

Kit McGurn is a producer and cinematographer with a wide range of experience creating visual media focused on social and environmental issues.  He has a policy background in state and national public lands and wildlife conservation issues in North America. As a producer and filmmaker, Kit has worked on short documentary content and feature length films for PBS, National Geographic Wild Channel, The U.S. Forest Service, Netflix, and for a variety of national and state environmental NGOs. Previously, Kit spent nearly a decade working in the public and non-profit sector on topics as wide-ranging as federal air quality policy and wolf recovery in the Pacific Northwest.