Board of Directors

Chair

Mark and Maria Triska have lived at Triska Crane Ridge Vineyards since 2004. They grow wine grapes for Darcie Kent Vineyards and have a 4-acre truffle orchard. Caddis Winery also is located in their wine shop there.

They are members Mark is past President of the Livermore Chamber of Commerce; members of the Livermore Valley Wine Community (Mark is past President of the Livermore Valley Winegrowers Association); and Mark currently serves on the Livermore Valley Arts board.

Mark and Maria love living in the Tri-Valley region and have made Livermore their home for the past 40 years.

Vice-Chair

Scott Akin joined the Board of Directors in January 2019 as the representative of the City of Livermore.

Scott is a life-long resident of the Bay Area who retired in 2022 after a 35-year career in local government and resource management. During his career, Scott led numerous fisheries and aquatic habitat restoration projects and worked to preserve endangered species habitat in both the Mount Hamilton and Santa Cruz Mountain ranges.

Scott is an avid hiker, kayaker and backpacker and when he isn’t out enjoying nature’s beauty, he can be found in his garden or cooking for his family and friends.

“During my career, it became clear to me that preserving land through purchase or conservation easements is almost always preferable to restoring land once it’s been degraded. I’m so proud of the work that TVC has done to preserve agriculture and open spaces in the Tri-Valley area.”

Treasurer

Jennifer Yeamans joined the Board of Directors as the Appointee of Alameda County in 2019 and currently serves as Treasurer. She manages grants and other projects for the Livermore Amador Valley Transit Authority (LAVTA), the Tri-Valley’s public transit provider. Previously she worked for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission on long-range regional planning projects, including development of the region’s first coordinated transportation and land-use blueprint, Plan Bay Area.

Jennifer holds a master’s degree in urban and regional planning from the University of California, Berkeley, and is a member of the American Institute of Certified Planners. She lives in Livermore with her husband and their two children.

Secretary

Cynthia Ross joined the Tri-Valley Conservancy Board of Directors in January of 2020 but has been supporting TVC for many years. She has also been active in the Livermore wine region for over 20 years. She has a passion for preserving lands and supporting the area’s viticultural and agricultural communities. She enjoys nature walks and loves visiting the great wineries and restaurants in the Livermore area. Cynthia lived in Livermore for 40+ years before moving to Brentwood a few years ago. She is still very involved in the Livermore community, currently serving on two other Boards of Directors - Las Positas College Foundation and the Wine Quality Alliance - in addition to TVC.

Lou Astbury is a retired executive with 30+ years in agribusiness for multi-billion-dollar companies. As an advocate for agriculture, Lou served as Co-Chair of the Western Plant Health Association. He also served on the boards of other Ag based trade associations including as a founding trustee of a foundation providing grants for school garden programs.

After moving his family to Pleasanton 20+ years ago, Lou developed an appreciation for the beautiful hills and open space. He was active in the successful “Save Pleasanton Hills” initiative protecting scenic ridgelines.

A UC Master Gardener volunteer, he has also served on the Bond Oversight Committee for Pleasanton schools. Lou’s hobbies include racket sports and home brewing with his family.

Best began his career working in the field of environmental remediation as subcontractor for the Department of Energy and Department of Defense before moving to the residential construction business in 1997 with Shea Homes and has been with Shea for over 25 years.

Through decades working in land, Mr. Best believes that all communities should be well rounded with the right proportion of land for housing, jobs, parks, schools, and agriculture. When all these land uses are intelligently integrated it results in a highly desirable place to live, and a thriving sustainable community.

Best has lived in Livermore, CA for the past 20 years.

Gina came to the Tri-Valley 37 years ago and has lived in Livermore since 2001. The community’s appreciation for science and the arts, and its commitment to preserving open space and our unique agricultural assets are what drew her to making her home in Livermore.

Gina was a member of the Livermore City Council in 2021 serving as Vice Mayor in 2022. Previously, she served for six years on the Planning Commission and was a member of a wide range of local and regional committees and advisory groups. The breadth of her experience across many areas involving land use, asset and resource management, and climate action will inform her work as a member of the TVC Board.

Gina loves to travel, and hike and is an avid photographer and gardener.

Jim Folta retired from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 2021 after 32 years of service. He managed optics processing for the National Ignition Facility laser system. His teams developed technologies for large (40 cm), high-quality, damage-resistant laser optics including innovative methods to repair laser-damaged optics. Production of high fluence laser optics was critical to enable achieving fusion ignition in 2022. Previously, Jim was Deputy Program Leader at LLNL for the Extreme Ultraviolet Lithography program in which he lead the multilayer coating group for optics and masks. He has worked extensively in microfabrication, thin film deposition and etching, and micro-electro-mechanical systems. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

He is active in the Tri-Valley Conservancy, the Livermore Valley Performing Arts Center, and other charitable organizations.

Jim enjoys adventure travel, fitness, hiking, cooking and enjoying local restaurants, wineries, and live performances.

After graduating from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the highly acclaimed Coloradan, National Champion of the General Motors Intercollegiate Marketing Challenge, and an active environmentalist, David worked for 30+ years in corporate America for P&G, Gallo and The Wine Group before retiring to help his family start-up a small estate winery and boutique dispensary in Livermore.

David is past Chairman of the Tri-Valley Conservancy, California Wine Institute and Livermore Valley Chamber of Commerce. Since retirement, David has advised multiple private equity firms on various strategic initiatives in the wine space.

Tammy Reus joined the TVC Board of Directors in 2019 as the appointee of Friends of Open Space and Vineyards. She has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from San Jose State, and a law degree from UC Davis. Early in her career, Tammy worked as an attorney for the Sacramento County Superior Court evaluating a number of environmental cases. This kindled her interest in land-use law and environmental protection. Most recently, she was a senior legal analyst at the Office of the State Public Defender.

Now retired, Tammy volunteers with several grassroots political groups. She believes Livermore’s wine country and open areas are precious resources which must be protected. In her spare time, Tammy loves to visit local wineries and Livermore’s many walkable open spaces. She lives in Livermore with her husband Jim, dog Lad, and cats Jiji and Kiki.

Sblend Sblendorio is a shareholder at Hoge Fenton, a multi-service law firm in Northern California. Sblend's practice is solely focused on real estate, business, and financial problems. He advises customers around the country on real estate, land use, commercial agreements, bankruptcy, and insolvency.

Sblend has resided in the Tri-Valley for 35 years and hikes local trails weekly with his wife, Beth. They own Sblendorio Estate & Vineyard in the Livermore Valley.