Looking back on the last fifteen years, it's clear that Green Corps has had a tremendous impact on my life. Green Corps gave me the fundamental skills to make a difference on what is, to me, an incredibly important issue: the future of California.

As a fifth generation Californian, it's easy for me to feel a connection to California, its landscape, and its people. And it's painful to me to watch us squander our resources on sprawl. We pave our farmlands, grade our hillsides, and drain our existing cities. And we waste it all on lifeless, exclusive sprawl - an ocean of gridlock, rooftops, and smog.

I grew up in Oakland, which in years past was a vibrant city, with an effective public transportation system, downtown shopping, and an active, diverse culture. I watched firsthand as the life was steadily drained from Oakland. Tax dollars subsidized suburbia - just over the hills to the East - and those who couldn't afford to move were left behind. Schools suffered. Businesses closed. Oakland withered.

Watching my own hometown disintegrate is what motivated me to pursue a lifetime career in environmental organizing. After graduating from UCLA in 1992, I had the passion to do this work, but I didn't have the skills or experience to land a job that would pay me to fight to protect the land and communities of California. Then I found Green Corps.

I joined the Green Corps program in 1992, and it changed the course of my life. I learned skills like working with the media, planning a campaign, raising money and managing staff. During my year with Green Corps, I got to work on hot issues like clean air, recycling, forest conservation, endangered species protection, and rainforest preservation. Plus, I got experience and connections working with organizations like Sierra Club, NRDC, National Audubon Society, and Rainforest Action Network.

Since my year with Green Corps, I have put my skills to use to protect my home state of California. Initially, I worked to 'Keep Tahoe Blue' as Assistant Director of the League to Save Lake Tahoe. In 1996, I returned to Oakland to join the staff of Greenbelt Alliance as East Bay Field Representative. At the time there were two major development projects proposed for neighboring Contra Costa County, just over hill from my hometown. Two massive new town developments, Tassajara Valley and Cowell Ranch, would have brought 10,000 new McMansion-style homes to the area, added 90,000 daily cars trips to the already congested freeways, and destroyed 9,000 acres of farmlands and open space.

The odds of actually stopping the projects were stacked against us. Developers ran the county and controlled elected officials with an iron fist. Since each of the proposed projects was worth billions of dollars, buying an election was a small investment for the developers. The only way to stop them was by organizing overwhelming opposition. And, thankfully, because of my training at Green Corps, I had the skills in my toolbox to defeat the projects.

Over the course of three years, I organized thousands of local residents to speak out against the developments, built local coalitions - ranging from labor unions to soccer moms, and generated dozens of media stories and editorials. As the campaign grew, I hired additional Green Corps graduates on to the cause. Ultimately, through grassroots organizing, we won. The developers withdrew their proposals and closed up shop.

Today, when I drive through Tassajara Valley and Cowell Ranch, which remain intact as open space, I feel grateful and proud. For me, organizing is not just a job; it is a vocation, which I couldn't have pursued without Green Corps.

As a member of the first class of Green Corps, I get to watch subsequent graduates apply their skills to the environmental movement. Consistently, I see people with passion to make the world a better place and, also, a wealth of leadership. Green Corps provides the skills to put that passion and talent to work.

Now, I am working my dream job: Executive Director of a new organization called SierraWatch. I am now employing my organizing skills to protect the Sierra Nevada Mountains from irresponsible sprawl development. I couldn't imagine a more rewarding career.

Click here to read an article that features Tom Mooer's Contra Costa victory. Developers Yank Plan to Build 5,300 Homes in Contra Costa: The San Francisco Chronicle, May 19, 1998.