Tara is a visual artist, curator, and Public Art Commissioner in Palo Alto. Originally trained in film, she received an FTI Young Filmmaker Award before running a graphic design firm, winning a PICA Print Award. She was an assistant curator at the Chelsea Art Museum in New York, co-founding No Longer Empty with projects featuring artists such as Yoko Ono, and founding The Frank in Redwood City to showcase Bay Area artists. As an artist de la Garza transforms hard-to-recycle plastics into minimalist sculptures and immersive light installations. Her work has been exhibited widely, including at Mass MoCA, the Chicago Art Institute, Cornell University, the San Diego Art Institute, Palo Alto Art Center, Spring/Break NY and LA, and the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco. Her artist book is in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Watson Library. Through Inventurous, Tara leads workshops that reframe plastic as a material for creativity and dialogue. She designs Rubbish Bags, organizes community collection efforts, and advocates for environmental awareness. She manages the nonprofit’s outreach, marketing, web presence, and social media, while also building partnerships and engaging volunteers.

Max is a mission-driven technology leader and entrepreneur with a passion for transitioning the world to a clean and sustainable energy future. As a VP of Engineering, his experience leading technical teams of multiple companies help him build and scale high-performing software development teams. He has an MBA in sustainability with a specialization in vehicle to grid technology.

Ting is a Senior Advisor to WattTime and Climate TRACE, a global coalition of nonprofits co-founded by Al Gore that uses satellite imagery and AI to track greenhouse gas emissions from every major source on Earth. At Climate TRACE, he leads the development of the user impact and climate strategy, supporting governments, cities, and industries in adopting data-driven solutions to reduce emissions. His leadership has helped forge partnerships with UNEP, the World Bank Group, and C40 Cities, as well as with leading scientists, private-sector innovators, and international standards bodies in emissions accounting. Through these collaborations, Ting helps turn high-resolution emissions data into practical, system-level solutions—informing national climate plans, guiding sector-wide decarbonization, and advancing environmental justice efforts globally. With over two decades of experience in macroeconomics and emerging markets, Ting previously managed investment portfolios across Asia, Latin America, and EMEA at BlackRock and Caxton Associates. He later co-founded Orinda Park Capital, an investment firm focused on global supply chains and commodity cycles. This background continues to shape his approach to climate action, especially in designing policy incentives that align public and private sector efforts and mobilize capital toward impactful, measurable outcomes. Ting also serves as President and Board Member of Inventurous, a nonprofit that transforms post-consumer plastic into public art and sustainability education to inspire local action and community engagement.

Jean is the Executive Producer, of Engagement Strategy at Institute for the Future which is dedicated to the work of bringing people together to think about the future and have both the hard and the imaginative conversations to build a better future.

Susan is a board member, nonprofit advisor, volunteer and zero-plastics advocate. She began her professional career working for Internet companies is the mid to late nineties in product management roles for organizations such as Netscape, Yahoo and Realtor.com. She later transferred her skills to technology nonprofits such as Volunteermatch and Benetch working in strategy and development. Having served on the board of the San Mateo County Parks Foundation for 9 years and now the Point Lobos Foundation, Susan enjoys the challenge of preserving and protecting our local parks and land while encouraging use, access and educational programs. She volunteers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium as a guide once a week and is actively involved in her community sharing information about plastic reduction and hosting events on plastics reuse and upcycling. She is the parent of three young adult daughters and her love of the hiking and the outdoors has taken her to some exotic locations including the summits of Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Fuji. With over two decades of experience in macroeconomics and emerging markets, Ting previously managed investment portfolios across Asia, Latin America, and EMEA at BlackRock and Caxton Associates. He later co-founded Orinda Park Capital, an investment firm focused on global supply chains and commodity cycles. This background continues to shape his approach to climate action, especially in designing policy incentives that align public and private sector efforts and mobilize capital toward impactful, measurable outcomes.

Carter was a co-director and mentor at MakerX, the only teen run makerspace in the US. He is currently studying Engineering at CalPoly San Luis Obispo

Petra is visiting us from the Czech Republic where she worked for Porsche Engineering. She has a background in fluid dynamics and engineering and has designed many useful products for our injection molder and has streamlined our production process. She is an avid recycling advocate.