Our Team BB-old

Jeremy Fackenthal is the Managing Director of the Institute for Ecological Civilization. Prior to joining EcoCiv, Jeremy focused on teaching, filmmaking, and event production, working with a number of non-profit organizations. He continues to explore the intersection of arts, philosophy, and social change as a means of communicating what an Ecological Civilization could become. He earned a Ph.D. from Claremont Graduate University in 2012. Jeremy leads EcoCiv’s work with WEAll. He has extensive experience conceptualizing and supporting multi-year projects and providing managerial overhead for projects led by other team members. Jeremy’s core role is ensuring all EcoCiv projects are mission-centric and effectively managed and financed. 

Jessica Mardock is a researcher, educator, and numbers guru, who is passionate about bridging the gap between research and practice by instituting social science and statistical best practices into real-life application. Jessica directs budgetary analysis and business development for the Institute for Ecological Civilization and financial business operations and compliance for ViviFi Planning, LLC. She earned a Master of Science from the University of Cincinnati and a Bachelor of Arts from Franklin College. Jessica is a dedicated steward of the environment and can often be found educating her daughter on the finer points of gardening, baking/cooking, and finding the best tree to hug whilst recharging in nature.

Ellie Leaning is the Director for W12+ and the Projects Director at the Institute for Ecological Civilization. She has over ten years of experience in non-profit project management and research. Combined with her undergraduate and graduate degrees in Environmental Studies, she has a well-rounded environmental and social science background with particular experience in international affordable housing, slum upgrading, wildlife conservation, rural development, sustainable fisheries, resilient food systems, and water security. Ellie has managed and supported several USAID, World Bank, and Oxfam America projects and has worked directly with and for grassroots environmental and humanitarian organizations predominantly in the USA and South Africa. She is comfortable managing teams on deliverable led multi-year projects and balancing big picture timelines and goals with quality control and attention to detail. 

Dr. Kelli Archie is an environmental social scientist, and has spent the past 12 years as an academic in New Zealand and the USA studying climate change adaptation and teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Climate Change, Geography, Environmental Science and Environmental Studies.  She earned a Ph.D. and M.S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Colorado, Boulder and a B.A. in Economics from Colorado State University. As a native of the Colorado Rocky Mountains, she is particularly interested in alpine and mountainous regions and she has worked around the world in the United States, the Indian Himalayas, Vanuatu and New Zealand. Kelli is excited to about transitioning to the non-profit world where she hopes her work can make a more tangible difference.  Kelli currently lives on the side of a ski run in Grand County, Colorado with her husband Tim, their four young daughters and one very old dog. When not on the road learning as much as they can about our beautiful planet, the Archies can typically be found on or near a trail; skiing, biking, hiking, or rock climbing.

Ebony Bailey is a researcher, photographer and filmmaker whose work explores cultural intersections, diaspora and food justice. She is interested in using communications as a means of telling stories that weave together diverse social causes. She received a B.A. in journalism at USC and recently completed her Master’s thesis documentary project at the National Autonomous University of Mexico.

Austin Roberts holds a PhD from Drew University in the Graduate Division of Religion. His dissertation was on political theology, process thought, and the Anthropocene. After joining EcoCiv as a project manager in 2018, he collaborated with other team members to produce the EcoCiv Podcast. He now lives in Northern California where he teaches college courses in religion and philosophy.

Jesse Knapp leads EcoCiv’s operations in the nation’s capital, connecting with partner organizations, coordinating media strategy with the EcoCiv publicity team, and setting goals and strategies for events around the world. He has a background in politics as well as media. He served as a legislative aide to U.S. Senator Bill Nelson before studying film at the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, where he earned a master’s degree. Before joining EcoCiv, he worked as an independent film producer in Los Angeles. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Cornell University.

Azra Tanović is a multi-disciplinary sustainability professional, private consultant, and a recent graduate of Tufts University’s Master of Science program in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering (with a graduate certificate in Water: Systems, Science and Society). Since graduating from Tufts, Azra has worked as a private consultant in the public, private and NGO sectors, on a number of environmental and climate change projects with a particular focus on water quantity and quality issues.

Anna Hixson is the Research and Development Analyst for the Institute for Ecological Civilization. She is an environmental researcher with a special interest in the connection between environmental and human health. She has a diverse research background covering environmental impact assessments, heavy metal pollution, sustainable aquaculture and marine innovation, and sustainable tourism. Anna has conducted and participated in research in Iceland, Switzerland, Australia, and the US. With a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and a graduate degree in Marine and Coastal Management Anna recognizes the necessity for interdisciplinary research and cross-sectoral solutions. 

Tom Broad is a technology generalist who enjoys working with folks of all kinds. He is a technology researcher, educator, project manager, and absolute data nerd who is passionate about making technology simple — whether it is speaking in layman’s terms or implementing a new technology or business system. Since working for Apple, Inc, Tom enjoys continually keeping up-to-date on the latest technology trends, security flaws, and the latest technology risks. For more than 15 years, Tom has consulted in technology for a variety of different companies, non-profits, churches and entrepreneurs, working through their common technology issues in very methodical, systemic and simple, yet collaborative ways. Tom thoroughly enjoys all subjects outdoors and has a deep passion for preserving our world for many generations to come. Tom can often be found out hiking beautiful Ohio trails or camping with his wife and four kids, taking in some rest and relaxation in nature.

Caitlin Healy is an Administrative Assistant at the Institute for Ecological Civilization. She provides overall administrative support to EcoCiv leadership and editing of communications and other documents. For WEAll California, Caitlin contributes project planning and hub outreach support to ensure that the project documentation and planning materials are well organized and that project constituents are up to date and informed. Caitlin earned an MA in Asian studies from UC Santa Barbara, and has a background in Chinese to English translation, copy editing, and localization project management.