Category: Individual Advisor Profiles

Meet Our Advisors: Albin Gielicz

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A Strong Advocate for Sustainability 

Since moving here in 2007, he’s chaired the Social Services Commission, North of Montana Association, Virginia Avenue Park Advisory Board, and Santa Monica Travel and Tourism Board.  He also serves on the Recreation and Parks Commission, the Montana Avenue Merchants Association Board, Buy Local Santa Monica Executive Committee, and CASM Advisory Committee.  

Albin is committed to improving the quality of life for all Santa Monicans and visitors. He is a strong advocate for all things sustainability and has authored a children’s book about water conservation, called The Super Sustainables, Facing the Drought.  You can often find Albin biking around town, running along the beach bike path or walking his dog Zoe in Palisades Park.

Albin graduated from Miami University (Ohio) and received an MBA from Thunderbird, School of Global Management. 

Albin’s favorite climate action: installing solar and converting lawns to be drought-tolerant plants

Meet Our Advisors: Jim Dodenhoff

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Jim is a passionate energy and sustainability expert with over 25 years of successful experience in the energy and environmental services industry. He has held leadership, business development, management, and consultative roles with a broad group of market participants including microgrid control solution providers, energy/advisory consulting firms, electric utilities, recycled product manufacturers, and environmental service firms. Jim is currently the Principal of Silent Running, a California-based Energy and Advisory firm focusing on renewable energy project development, energy efficiency program management, and equity in clean energy programs.  Jim has an M.B.A. in Strategy/Finance from the UCLA Anderson Graduate School of Management and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Energy Studies/Mechanical Engineering from Brown University.

Meet our Advisors: Natalya Zernitskaya

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Natalya Zernitskaya has been part of the Santa Monica community since she moved to the LA area after earning her B.A. in Economics from UC Santa Cruz.  Natalya has always been passionate about making a positive impact in her community and as such, she has been an advocate for housing, the environment, voting rights, and other policies that support inclusion and equity in her local and regional communities for over a decade. She was born in Belarus and moved to the United States in the mid-1990s with her family as Jewish refugees after the fall of the USSR.

Outside of serving on the Advisory Board of Climate Action Santa Monica, Natalya currently serves as Secretary of the board of the Human Relations Council of the Santa Monica Bay Area, Secretary of the board of the International Women’s Resource Center, Recording Secretary of the Santa Monica Democratic Club, and as a member of the Santa Monica Transient Occupancy Tax Advisory Commission. Several prior roles of note include previously serving as President of the League of Women Voters of Santa Monica, Secretary of the administrative board of the Church in Ocean Park, and a member of the City of Santa Monica’s Audit Subcommittee. In addition to her “extracurriculars,” Natalya works in the financial services industry as a Sr. Due Diligence Analyst and holds her Series 7, Series 66, and Series 24 licenses. Natalya is also a member of the Institute for Portfolio Alternatives’ Rising Leaders Council for 2022-2024. 

Natalya’s favorite climate action is minimizing her carbon & GHG emissions by choosing to walk, bike, take a scooter, or public transit instead of her car whenever possible.

Meet our Advisors: John Zinner

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John Zinner’s experience in green building, policy development, entitlement support, project and program planning, and project management make him an asset to the CASM team. Prior to founding Zinner Consultants, John served as Energy Coordinator and Planning Advisor for the City of Los Angeles Office of the Mayor, and founded the Los Angeles office of an environmental consulting firm. He founded Zinner Consultants in 1990 and served as its Principal until it was folded into Zinner Consultant Services in 2021. 

Zinner has been recognized for his accomplishments. He has developed and managed groundbreaking sustainability and green building programs for the City of Los Angeles, Playa Vista, Whole Foods, Boeing Corporation, the Los Angeles Unified School District, and the cities of Rancho Cucamonga, Santa Monica and Fayetteville, North Carolina. He served as the Principal-in-Charge of over 70 LEED certified projects, including 12 that earned Platinum, for clients such as UCLA, the City of Los Angeles, URW (formerly Westfield), Tishman Speyer and Worthe Real Estate Group.

He was awarded status LEED Fellow status by the U.S. Building Green Building Council.

Did you know?

CASM advisor, John Zinner, became an environmentalist while backpacking in the Sierras as a teenager and seeing behavior that troubled him.

Learn more about John Zinner’s leadership, community involvement, and more by clicking here.