Sustainable Works Home2024-04-12T13:05:07-07:00

We help people activate sustainable behaviors

Sustainable Works fosters healthy and more equitable communities to heal our natural environment

through interactive events, educational programs and green business initiatives

About Us

Sustainable Works partners with cities, businesses, organizations, and educational institutions in LA County in order to help them reach their sustainability and climate action goals.   Our programs are designed to provide key stakeholder groups with the motivation, knowledge, and resources needed to integrate more sustainable solutions into their daily lives.

We’re grateful for our sustainable office space located at the Sustainability Center at Santa Monica College  where we’ve been assisting Santa Monica – and other cities – since 1998.

Community Programs

Our Community Sustainability Program targets city residents with a range of educational and interactive  events focused around various aspects of sustainability. These events educate, inspire, and empower residents to take action and reduce their personal environmental impact.

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Community Residents Engaged

Business Programs

Our business programs helps cities create more sustainable businesses. Climate Action and Sustainability are crucial elements of a clean & safe city. Sustainable Works provides businesses with the knowledge, tools, and resources to green their operations and achieve a green certification.

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Businesses Greened

Student Programs

Our Student Program creates peer-to-peer educational opportunities to expose students to important environmental issues and help them incorporate sustainable practices into their everyday lives.  Students also learn about careers in the emerging green economy and the paths they can take to pursue them.

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Students Educated

Events

Working with cities and communities, we co-create innovative, educational events to engage and inspire their residents, businesses, and students to make more sustainable decisions. These events include sustainable film series, student contests, and green prizes and awards for notable achievements in diverse categories from the arts to business and community at-large.

Current Events

Click on an event below for more info and to register

NextGen Climate Summit

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Past Event Highlights

An Inconvenient Sequel Film Screening and Q&A with Al Gore

Thank you for attending the Environmental Documentary Screening of An Inconvenient Sequel on January 6th! We had an amazing panel discussion with former Vice [...]

Check out more of our past events

More Events

Team

Staff

Co–Executive Director & Green Business Program Director

Susy Borlido
Co–Executive Director & Community Sustainability Program Director

Gina Garcia
Green Business Program Senior Account Executive

Tamsyn Hunnewell

Co–Executive Director & Green Business Program Director

Susy Borlido

Susy moved to Los Angeles in 2001 shortly after obtaining her BA in Environmental Studies and Resource Management from the University of Toronto. In addition to her Co-Executive Director role, Susy Borlido leads the Green Business Programs at Sustainable Works. She is also a GBCI TRUE Advisor, and California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) Certified Professional in Sustainable Resource Management who has helped over 700 companies green their bottom line.  She was a key player in the development, and launch of Santa Monica’s Green Business Program and the City of Santa Monica’s Green Business Certification Program. Today, Susy leads a team to assist businesses in several municipalities’ sustainability goals under the guidelines of the California Green Business Network.  In 2017, Susy spearheaded the Sustainable Works contract to develop and implement a Sustainable Business Certification Program for the City of Culver City. Prior to this, she managed many grants to engage Los Angeles businesses in LADWP’s green initiatives.  For over 17 years, Susy has been a member of the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Sustainable Business Council (SMSBC). She is a key player in co-producing the annual Chamber’s Sustainable Quality Awards (SQA) and chair’s the SQA subcommittee. Her Green Business Program leadership provides the SQA’s with several strong business winners each year. Susy received two Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce Chairman’s Awards for her hard work in business communities.

email::susy.borlido@sustainableworks.org

phone::310.458.8716; ext. 2

Co–Executive Director & Community Sustainability Program Director

Gina Garcia

Having moved from the East Coast to Santa Monica over 35 years ago, Gina considers herself a native. In addition to her current roles as Co-Executive Director, Community Sustainability Director and Buy Local SM Manager, she has worn many additional hats since she began her journey with Sustainable Works in 2007. Her first roles were as Outreach Volunteer and Workshop Instructor. In early 2009, she became the Coordinator of the Student Greening Program and supervised its expansion into the Los Angeles Community College District breaking participation records at Santa Monica College. In August 2010, Gina transferred to the Residential Greening Program as its Director, a position which allowed her to bring issues of sustainability to a broader segment of the Los Angeles Community. When the Residential Greening Program transitioned to the Community Sustainability Program in 2013, Gina began the coordination of city-wide community events, producing over 45 events to date. Gina became Co-Executive Director of Sustainable Works in July 2014, executing the mission and managing the overall operations and growth of the organization. As an Advisory Board Member of Climate Action Santa Monica (CASM), a local grassroots organization dedicated to empowering the community into action on climate change, Gina has the opportunity to connect with and learn from another local nonprofit. She draws inspiration from her family and strives to be a model for her two daughters. She holds a BA in Speech & Theater from Montclair State University and a certification in Horticulture from UCLA.

email:gina.garcia@sustainableworks.org

phone:310.458.8716; ext. 4

Green Business Program Senior Account Executive

Tamsyn Hunnewell

Tamsyn Hunnewell has over a decade of experience in environmental management and consulting with an emphasis on water, waste and energy systems. Tamsyn is a WELL and LEED Accredited Professional who has assisted on green and healthy building project teams.  She is also a GBCI TRUE Advisor and California Resource Recovery Association (CRRA) Certified Professional with expertise in zero waste and sustainable resource management.
Since her arrival to Southern California in 2006, she has been involved with Sustainable Works, starting out as a volunteer before her role with the Green Business Program. Since then, she has greened over 200 companies, successfully helping them integrate comprehensive sustainability strategies and policies, and fostering strong business community leaders. A graduate of Syracuse University with a degree in environmental engineering, Tamsyn worked for several years as an environmental engineer on billion dollar transportation-related projects in New York City. She has also consulted with local organizations such as, Tree People and California Climate Registry. Prior to Los Angeles, she lived in New Zealand where she assisted the work of several environmental
conservation non-profits, including the World Wildlife Foundation’s Climate Change Initiative.

email:tamsyn.hunnewell@sustainableworks.org

phone:310.458-8716; ext. 3

Green Business Program Account Executive

Ivannia Perez-Schlamm
Green Business Program Associate

Melissa Anderson
Student Program Director

Betsy Pajevski

Green Business Program Account Executive

Ivannia Perez-Schlamm

Originally from Chile, Ivannia is a bilingual English/Spanish professional who is on a mission to live a life that supports the natural environment and improves the lives of others. A believer that education is a strong pillar for change and personal improvement, Ivannia feels Sustainable Works’ mission is a perfect fit for her passion to make a difference in todays and tomorrow’s world.  Ivannia’s career spans from sales and customer service management to marketing and advertising. In addition to a Bachelor’s Degree in Food Engineering from the Catholic University of Valparaiso in Chile, Ivannia completed the Recycling and Resource Management (RRM) Certificate of Achievement Studies from Santa Monica College. She is a USGBC LEED Green Associate and certified TRUE Advisor from Green Business Certification, Inc and consistently keeps up to date with subjects related to the industry.
In 2020, Ivannia joined the Equity committee of the California Green Business Network and helps administer the Buy Local Santa Monica campaign. In addition, she supports the Santa Monica Chamber of Commerce’s annual Organization of Women Leaders (OWL) annual event.

Professional development:LEED Green Associate | Recycling and Resource Management Certificate of Achievement | TRUE Advisor

phone:310.458.8716 x3

email:ivannia.perez@sustainableworks.org

Green Business Program Associate

Melissa Anderson

Melissa is happy to rejoin the Sustainable Works team as a Green Business Program Associate. She was the Office Manager from 2005 – 2007 and since then has worked at a green living and materials retail store (Livingreen), as an assistant to a pioneering LEED architect/consultant (Verde Concepts) and has maintained a sustainable approach to her life, much of it learned during her initial time at Sustainable Works. In her new role, she looks forward to supporting the Green Business Program team in providing businesses with the knowledge, tools, and resources to green their business and obtain certification. She is also the Executive Assistant at nearby 18th Street Arts Center and holds degrees in English and Theatre from the University of Southern California. She is an artist, a mother to two boys, and a SoCal native by way of Jamaica. Her CliftonStrengths profile is Connectedness, Empathy, Input, Strategic, and Ideation.

email:melissa.anderson@sustainableworks.org

phone:310.458.8716

Student Program Director

Betsy Pajevski

Growing up in a small town in Massachusetts, Betsy’s parents instilled strong sustainability values of reducing, creative reusing, and recycling into her. She came to Los Angeles over thirty years ago as a puppet builder and successfully pursued a career in the film industry in post-production editorial television dramas. After starting a family, she returned to school to focus on sustainability.

While attending Santa Monica College, she earned five certifications including Sustainability Assistant, Sustainability Service Technician, Sustainability in Organic Aide, Recycling & Resource Management, and Environmental Studies. To round out this education, she received certifications with GBCI as a True Advisor, Kiss the Ground as a Soil Advocate, and Dr. Eline Ingham’s Soil Food Web as a Certified Lab Technician to analyze compost for biological life.

She enjoys the outdoors, dinner parties with friends, and puzzles. While at Santa Monica College, she participated in the Student Greening Program and enjoyed it so much that she became a workshop leader for three semesters before accepting the Student Greening Program Director position with Sustainable Works. She knows firsthand the value of this program and is excited to help students find this significance for themselves.

email:betsy@sustainableworks.org

phone:310.458.8716

Advisory Board

Board Chair

Vicki Liao
Board Member

Bonny Bentzin
Board Member

Nurit Katz
Board Member

Zadra Rose Ibañez
Board Chair

Vicki Liao

Vicki has 10 years of business development, sales and strategy experience in the media and entertainment industry. She is passionate about sustainability and an advocate for environmental education. She currently serves on the Greener World Board at Sony Pictures studio, which is responsible for planning initiatives to educate employees on sustainability and environmental issues. Additionally, as the co-head of Sony’s employee garden, she launched a learning program in partnership with Sony’s Daycare and Employee Resource Groups to teach sustainable gardening.

In her free time, Vicki enjoys gardening, biking around downtown LA and reading sci-fi books. She holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management and a BS in Business Administration from UC Berkeley. 

Board Member

Bonny Bentzin

Bonny is a key member of the leadership team for sustainability at UCLA, helping manage sustainability across the university and working to foster partnerships among academic, research, and operational departments to create a world class living laboratory for sustainability. Bonny began her career in higher education sustainability as the Assistant Director of the Office of Sustainability Initiatives and the Director of University Sustainability Practices at Arizona State University, where she was instrumental in designing the overarching sustainability vision and executing the campus sustainability strategy for the university. Her role as the founding Director of University Sustainability Practices included an expansive project portfolio spanning all area of operations for the University’s four campuses, as well as working on community engagement, organizational change management and the academic and research missions for the institution. She then served as the Director of Sustainability for GreenerU, a greater Boston area consulting firm focusing on the higher-ed sector in New England.

Prior to joining UCLA, Bonny was the Head of Sustainability and Project Integration for the Trust for Sustainable Development, working on Spirit Bay Developments, coordinating all sustainability aspects and planning key projects for a new town concept being developed in partnership with the Sc’ianew First Nation (Beecher Bay Band) near Victoria, British Columbia, Canada.

Board Member

Nurit Katz

UCLA’s first Chief Sustainability Officer, Nurit Katz is working to foster partnerships among academic, research, and operational departments to facilitate creating a world class living laboratory for sustainability at UCLA. As Executive Officer for UCLA Facilities Management, Nurit also provides strategy support to make the university more operationally efficient and coordinates with Emergency Management on resilience planning. Nurit is also an Instructor for UCLA Extension’s Sustainability Certificate Program. In 2017 she received the Dean’s Award from UCLA Extension for outstanding instruction and contributions to the UCLA Extension community and her class was featured as one of the top 10 classes in LA in the 2012 LA Weekly’s Best of LA.

Nurit holds an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management, a Masters in Public Policy from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, and a BA in Environmental Education from Humboldt State University. Nurit was honored as one of 100 Inspirational Alumni for the 75th Anniversary of UCLA Anderson, Public Policy alumna of the year in 2015, and recently she was recognized as one of the top 100 business trailblazers in the Women Worth Watching in Profiles in Diversity Journal.

Board Member

Zadra Rose Ibañez

Zadra Rose Ibañez began her career in the banking and pension industry before moving into non-profit administration. As Director of Operations for an educational non-profit, Ms. Ibañez has over a decade of experience in fundraising, operations, communication, and non-profit management and currently serves in an advisory capacity for several NPOs in California and New Mexico.
Zadra holds a B.A. in Anthropology from Colorado State University and a certification in Global Sustainability from UCLA. She remains a strong advocate for sustainable practices and is a member of USGBC.

Board Member

Jaclyn Allen
Board Member

Priya Bhikha
Board Member

Becky Martin
Board Member

Bonnie Nixon
Board Member

Jaclyn Allen

A passionate and purpose-driven leader, Jaclyn partners with businesses, brands, and communities to integrate environmental and social responsibility with their everyday work. Currently, Jaclyn serves as the Director of North America for Salterbaxter – a mission-driven, creative consultancy that specializes in sustainability. Previously, Jaclyn was the director of sustainability for a major fashion brand where she created the company’s first-ever, global sustainability program. Jaclyn has also worked in public affairs as a consultant with the California Department of Water Resources and built diverse coalitions for statewide ballot measures supporting environmental and clean energy initiatives. 
Jaclyn earned her MBA from the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business and a Bachelor of Arts with honors in International Relations from the University of California, Davis.

Board Member

Priya Bhikha

Priya Bhikha works as a fintech consultant for Capital Group and is based out of their LA office. She is also a Riordan Leadership Institute Fellow and is currently pursuing an eight-month nonprofit board training program with the goal of better serving her community. She recently graduated with an MBA from University of Southern California and served as President of the Graduate Women in Business association, a Marshall Leadership Fellow, and a Forté Foundation Fellow. Prior to business school, she received her undergraduate degree from the Gallatin School at NYU and began her career in California’s real estate industry. Beyond her professional life, Priya is an avid reader, scuba diver, roadtrip enthusiast, and lover of F1 racing – go Mercedes!

Board Member

Becky Martin

Becky is a Sustainability Manager at Toyota Motor North America leading projects in renewable energy, biodiversity and environmental justice. Prior to Toyota, she worked at Burt’s Bees, GameStop, Citigroup and several nonprofits in sustainability, international development, IT and finance. She has an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from UNC-Chapel Hill and an MBA and Masters of Science in Natural Resources and Environment from the University of Michigan. In her free time, she volunteers with the Santa Monica Bay Foundation helping to restore native habitats and maintain school gardens in underserved communities.

Board Member

Bonnie Nixon

As a relentless optimist and courageous catalyst for change, Bonnie has held many high-profile positions at the global forefront of a new low carbon, resource protected and just economy. Bonnie  has served as a corporate sustainability executive, owner of an environmental planning and communications consultancy, and university educator in the following  roles; Senior Partner with Environmental Resources Management (ERM), Director of Sustainability for Mattel Toys, Executive Director of Sustainability Consortium, Director of Global Sustainability for HP, Chairwomen of Sustainable Silicon Valley, Vice President of Circlepoint, Inc. and Director of PR for Boston Harbor Cleanup Project.  

Today Bonnie is a Sustainability Strategist and Human Rights Educator with BonnEco, Inc. and specializes in complex supply chains. Bonnie graduated from Penn State in Sociology and more recently obtained her Masters’ Degree in Learning Technologies and is pursuing a PhD in Global Leadership and Change, both at Pepperdine University. Ms. Nixon believes in the power of web-based collaboration and understands that blockchain technology, gamification, social media, online education using multi-media platforms, augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, robotics and visual animation can and will dramatically accelerate a more sustainable future for future generations.

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