Meet Our Advisory Council

Anecita is an enrolled citizen of the Dine (Navajo) Nation. She isborn to the Tó dích’íinii (Bitter Water Clan) and born for theIlocano Clan. An alumnus of Stanford University, her area ofexpertise is in water policy and legislative advocacy on behalf ofTribal governments in California. She was appointed TribalPolicy Advisor for the Department of Water Resources in 2013.She provides policy support and recommendations and policydirection in the areas of policy implementation concerning theenvironment, regional water planning, flood management,climate change, energy issues, drought, ecosystem restoration,sustainable groundwater management, water bond grantfunding, and disadvantaged community engagement. Shecoordinates communication outreach with other state agenciesand facilitates and conducts Tribal Consultation and Tribalengagement.She previously served as the Native American Liaison in theOffice of Legislative and External Affairs at the Department ofHealth Care Services (2011-2012). She was the AssistantDirector at the Office of Native American Affairs at the CaliforniaDepartment of Justice (DOJ) in the Office of the AttorneyGeneral (2007-2011). As a strong community advocate, she isactively involved in mentorship programs for youth and women.Anecita has worked extensively with non-profits before joiningstate government. She has mentored youth in film and mediathrough the non-profit On Native Ground, in which she was anearly founder and co-producer in content creation, youthdevelopment, and environmental and social justice films. She isalso the co-founder of GOAT- Golfer of All Tribes, a non-profitthat develops golf skills for youth and women and is a golftournament facilitator, supporting Tribal businesses throughoutthe Indian Country

Vanessa Velasco is a passionate Environmentalist working as asenior environmental scientist in the Climate Change Programat the California Department of Water Resources. She assistslocal water managers in the southern region of California withclimate change planning and supports the department’s climateresiliency efforts. She earned a bachelor’s degree inenvironmental biology from California State University,Northridge, and a master’s degree in environmental sciencefrom Loyola Marymount.

Before founding Climate Resolve, Jonathan Parfrey served as acommissioner at the Los Angeles Department of Water andPower (2008-2013). Jonathan is a member of the LA28Olympics and Paralympic Games Sustainability Working Group.He is a founder and board member of CicLAvia, the popularstreet event, as well as a founder of the statewide Alliance ofRegional Collaboratives for Climate Adaptation. He served asdirector of the GREEN LA Coalition (2007-2011) and as the LosAngeles director of the Nobel Peace Prize-winning organizationPhysicians for Social Responsibility (1994 to 2007). Prior tothat, Jonathan founded and directed the Orange CountyCatholic Worker (1987-1993). He was appointed to GovernorSchwarzenegger’s Environmental Policy Team in 2003.Jonathan received the Paul S. Delp Award for OutstandingService, Peace, and Social Justice (1992), was awarded aDurfee Foundation Fellowship (2002), a Stanton Fellowship(2010), and was appointed a Senior Fellow at the USC MarshallSchool of Business (2011). He is currently an advisory boardmember at the UCLA Center for Healthy Climate Solutions; afellow at the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities; a memberof the State of California Climate Adaptation Technical AdvisoryCouncil (2016); a member of the steering committee for the USClimate and Health Alliance(2016); a member of the steeringcommittee of the Tiüac’a’ai Healthy Land Project of theFernandeño Tataviam Band of Mission Indians; and an advisoryboard member at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. InApril 2016, he received the Los Angeles County Board ofSupervisors Chair’s Green Leadership Award. When he’s not atwork, Jonathan likes to hang out with his wife, Nancy L. Cohen,his four children, and four grandchildren, as well as going withfriends on epic hikes and bike rides.