Staff & Consultants

Sarah is a creative, energetic, and mission-driven leader who brings 25 years of experience in developing, funding, and implementing outdoor education and adventure programs that provide a deep connection to nature for people of all backgrounds and abilities.

Every organization has a story to tell. Laura Mylan has spent the past 25 years helping public, private and nonprofit organizations create and share narratives that define issues, deliver business objectives and advance causes. She brings a passion for the outdoors and youth development to her work and loves helping grassroots networks communicate effectively to bring social change.

With 15 years of non-profit experience, Gabe most recently worked as a Philanthropy Officer at The Wilderness Society and Senior Philanthropic Advisor at Seattle Foundation helping philanthropists and companies develop and execute their giving plans. Gabe spent his early years in Northern California exploring the Sierra and coastal forests. He graduated from CSU, Sacramento with a degree in history. On any given weekend, he can be found spending time climbing and hiking the beautiful wild lands in the Cascades and Sierra.

A proud product of south central Los Angeles, Juan D. Martinez is C&NN’s VP of Strategic Partnerships. His passion to empower individuals and youth led him to direct Sierra Club’s first environmental justice youth leadership academy in Los Angeles.

Paxton has over 20 years of experience connecting people of all ages to the natural world. Prior to joining C&NN she developed hands-on exhibits at living museums including the Bronx Zoo, the New York Aquarium, The New York Botanical Garden and the Maritime Aquarium. Paxton’s primary goal for all projects has been to create unique opportunities to engage with nature that leads to a lifelong love of the natural world.

Cathy is using the many skills she learned during her 25+ years as an IT professional, small business owner and PTO treasurer to bring order and efficiency to C&NN’s processes and systems. Detail is her middle name. She is based in Minneapolis, MN and enjoys summer camping trips with her family and friends.

Cheryl Charles, Ph.D., served as founding President and CEO of C&NN from April 2006 to July 2013. Cheryl is an innovator, entrepreneur, author, and educator who is among those instrumental in developing the worldwide movement to reconnect children and nature.

Avery Cleary is the co-founder of the San Francisco Bay Area Children in Nature Collaborative and leads C&NN’s initiative to connect, support and empower Grassroots Leaders. She currently guides the team of Grassroots Leaders and C&NN staff who are committed to creating avenues of access to the latest tools, resources and research on Network Leadership Principles and Strategies.

CJ Goulding trains, mentors and supports a national network of leaders who are creating equitable access to nature in their communities. His work stems from his previous experience as an outdoor trip leader, community crew leader, youth programs manager for the National Park Service, his Masters studies in Urban Environmental Education, and his overall passion for people, community, and leadership.

Cathy Jordan, PhD, LP, pediatric neuropsychologist by training, is an associate professor in the Division of General Pediatrics and Adolescent Health in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. She is also an Extension Specialist in the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality. Cathy was the Executive Director of the University of Minnesota Extension’s Children, Youth and Family Consortium from 2004 until July, 2014. Cathy earned her PhD in clinical psychology from Wayne State University in 1991.

Monica has turned a love of the outdoors into a career promoting nature exploration, environmental education, and stewardship. Through her sixteen years of nonprofit work, she has been involved in all stages of program implementation and development from spearheading youth education programs and community-service initiatives, strategic planning, fundraising, and organizing communications campaigns.

Jenette is Director of Content Strategy at C&NN. She brings over 17 years of experience to the role and was a health and environmental reporter and documentary film producer for PBS, ABC, CBS & National Geographic before shifting into nonprofit communications and content. Jenette is passionate about nature and the environment and sits on an Advisory Board for the Endangered Species Coalition.

Ruth Wilson, Ph.D. has over 30 years as a teacher and teacher educator and now devotes most of her time to writing and consulting on issues relating to young children and nature.  She wrote her first book on connecting children with nature (Fostering a Sense of Wonder during the Early Childhood Years) in 1993 and has since written several other books and numerous articles on this same topic.  Her most recent book, Learning is in Bloom, was published by Gryphon House in 2016.

Jaime is a strategic thinker, partnership builder, program developer, fundraiser and conservationist who is thrilled to help make green schoolyards the norm. She is the former Vice President of Community Engagement and Education at Openlands in Chicago, where she grew the organization’s school-based programs to include a substantial school garden and teacher training program for elementary and high school students, and launched its green schoolyard program, Space to Grow.