Senior Leadership
Chief Executive Officer
Wendy Butts
A 22-year veteran of the LA Conservation Corps, Wendy Butts has been leading the organization as CEO since July 2014.
Wendy’s interest in the environment and its impact on communities started in 1994 when she worked as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Ecuador. She planned community recycling projects, created an environmental club and educated middle school students in conservation-related studies in a rural coastal town. She began her career at the LA Conservation Corps in 1998 working directly with Corpsmembers and training them in natural and urban environmental studies. She moved from program delivery into Administration and served as Development Director and Contract Compliance Officer before leaving the Corps at the end of 2010 to serve as Corporate Compliance Officer at QueensCare/QueensCare Family Clinics, which together provide accessible healthcare to thousands of un- and under-insured individuals and families in Los Angeles County each year. At QueensCare, she developed a new compliance program, conducted internal audits and developed written standards and procedures.
In July 2013, Wendy returned to co-lead the LA Conservation Corps as Managing Director, responsible for the organization’s administration, operations, and achievement of financial objectives. After a year in that role, the Corps’ Board appointed Wendy as the CEO. Under Wendy’s leadership, the LA Conservation Corps has streamlined financial management and other administrative processes and implemented the Corps’ Green Career Pathways Program which provides Corpsmembers with the skills, training and experience that will ensure their success in green jobs after the Corps.
“The LA Conservation Corps has a rich history of improving the urban environment and the lives of Corpsmembers,” said Wendy. “I am honored to serve as CEO and look forward to working with the Board, staff and our partners as we make LA a better place to live for everyone.”
Wendy holds a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Northern Arizona University and an MBA in International Finance from Loyola Marymount University and enjoys running, camping and hiking with her husband and two children.
Chief Financial Officer
Lloyd Wright
After two decades of finance experience in the corporate sector, Lloyd joined the Corps team in 2015 with the goal of bringing the resources and best practices of thriving for-profit companies to a growing social enterprise. He has brought his extensive experience developing and implementing procedures to improve financial control, cash flow management, and business forecasting processes into the Corps, and those results speak for themselves on the Corps’ balance sheet. Lloyd focuses on bringing data driven advancements to the work of finance, accounting, and strategic planning. He has been energized to see the Corps and the non-profit sector succeed by leveraging time-proven best practices to address and meet the needs of underserved individuals and communities.
Lloyd holds an M.B.A. from the University of Southern California with a focus on Finance and Strategy and a bachelor’s degree from Cal State University, Fullerton. During his time with companies like Bank of America, Anthem, Allstate, and Deloitte Corporate Finance, LLC., Lloyd was drawn to give back by volunteering as a Pro-Bono Finance Consultant with the Taproot Foundation where he was introduced to the Corps.
Today, Lloyd is inspired by the optimism and passionate commitment of the Corpsmembers and of the staff that serve them every day. Having grown up in Los Angeles, he has strong ties to the community and is inspired by the development of new technologies that can continue to improve the quality of life in the city. He is also inspired by his two children who have inherited his passion for soccer.
Deputy Director
Bo Savage
Like many of our senior leaders, Bo has been with the Corps for many years during which his commitment to providing equity and opportunity to young people and improved quality of life to every neighborhood of Los Angeles has seen the organization grow and evolve in exciting ways. He began his career here in 1988 as a summer Team Leader in the Clean & Green Program. He began full time in 1992 as a Clean & Green crew supervisor and steadily progressed. In 2015, he was named Deputy Director of Operations. In this role he is responsible for overseeing a staff of approximately 80 program staff at six sites throughout greater Los Angeles who implement the LA Corps’ Young Adult and Clean & Green programs. His primary responsibility within the organization is to develop and oversee the nearly 100 contracts that the Corps undertakes on an annual basis in order to employ over 500 Corpsmembers. These urban forestry, habitat restoration, and other conservation-related contracts total in excess of $17 million annually.
During his time at the Corps, Bo has been proud to answer the call to serve during times of crisis like the 1994 Northridge earthquake and the 2020 onset of the COVID pandemic. He has also been inspired by the strength, ingenuity, and commitment of Corpsmembers and staff members in tackling environmental and community benefit projects of all size. Some of his favorite projects that the Corps has completed include the Wiseburn Walking Path, the Descanso Gardens Oak Woodlands restoration, the Compton Creek Natural Park, and the Sycamore Canyon Trail in Claremont.
Bo is active in the national Corps movement and with other community benefit organizations including YouthBuild. Bo earned his BA from Cal State Long Beach. Prior to coming out to California, he was a collegiate swimmer who passed down his passion to his two children.
Chief Administrative Officer
Tamara Muzac-Bravo, Ph.D.
Tamara serves as the Chief Administrative Officer for the Los Angeles Conservation Corps. Her primary areas of responsibility include, human resources, payroll, information technology, Corpsmember recruitment, and administration. Prior to her role as Chief Administrative Officer, Tamara served as the Director of Administration and Director of Fiscal Operations at the Corps.
Tamara has been working in the non-profit sector for 20 years in service to youth. She has a wide range of administrative, personnel, finance, and operations skills. She has a diverse nonprofit background and has worked in both direct service and advocacy with organizations like The Children’s Partnership, A Place Called Home, The Salvation Army, and Boys and Girls Clubs.
Her primary responsibilities as Chief Administrative Officer are to provide a strategic approach to human resources, assess and improve the technological infrastructure of the organization, develop and implement systems for workflow efficiency, and enhance administrative operations across the Corps.
Tamara holds a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Loyola Marymount University, and a master’s degree and Doctorate in Business Administration from Jones International University.
Chief Programs Officer
Pablo Garcia-Hernandez
Pablo’s first experience in youth development was in the late 90’s. He as an arts educator with an organization called the HeArt Project, and his first assignment was working with the Clean & Green crew based out of Carver Middle School. After over 20 years of leadership in the youth development field, he has returned to Los Angeles Conservation Corps in the capacity of Chief Programs Officer.
Pablo holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology, and a master’s degree in education – curriculum and instruction. Throughout the 90’s, he worked in the AIDS service field running food drives for APLA’s Necessities of Life Program, training emotional support volunteers at LA Shanti, and managing Out of the Closet Thrift Store in Atwater Village for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. After a switch to youth development programs in 1998 he was a program manager for the Youth Policy Institute, the Operations Director for Woodcraft Rangers, Executive Director of Youth Speak!, and the Grants and Funding Program Manager for Los Angeles Unified School District’s Beyond the Bell Branch.
He is a member of the California After School Network’s Leadership Board, as well as a founding board member of the local LGTBQ+ youth organization Rainbow Labs. Pablo has also participated in number of state-level strategic planning committees for the Expanded Learning Division of the California Department of Education, specifically in the areas of continuous quality improvement and standards for quality expanded learning programs. He lives in Sylmar with his husband, two teenaged sons, two labradors, a cat, and an albino corn snake named Rosie.
Senior Program Director, Conservation Programs
Alex Lopez
Alex began his tenure as a Corpsmember in 1991. Progressive promotions led to his current position where he oversees 12 conservation staff members at the Corps’ East Los Angeles site. Led by his dedicated team, over 70 young adult Corpsmembers at any given time work on various environmental projects, including: building community gardens, constructing parks, planting trees and native vegetation, habitat restoration, and other conservation-related projects.
Alex is an effective and accomplished educator/facilitator well known for his high standards and values in program leadership. He is a persuasive advocate for young people, who are strongly affected by both his passion and commitment because he relates directly to their backgrounds. He possesses strong skills in leadership, counseling, intervention, and has a wealth of experience in overseeing community service projects. Along with his service to the Corps, he has served on the board of the San Gabriel Valley Conservation Corps and is a member of the California YouthBuild Coalition and Los Angeles YouthBuild collaborative. He has an associate degree in Liberal Arts and is working toward a bachelor’s degree in Sociology at California State University Los Angeles.
Senior Program Director, Conservation Programs
Robert Skillman
Robert began working at the Corps in 1999 as a Team Leader with the Clean & Green program. Like other Directors at the Corps his skill and dedication to the mission and the young people of Los Angeles has led him to over two decades of growth and advancement into the Corps’ senior leadership. Today, Robert oversees operations at the Corps’ South LA Site which manages our beverage container recycling, used tire recycling, graffiti abatement work with the City of Los Angeles, and unique wilderness habitat restoration projects in partnership with organizations like US Fish & Wildlife, Angeles National Forest, Catalina Island Conservancy, and others. Robert also serves as a key liaison with the staff at Saito High School which is housed at our South LA Site and offers Corpsmembers the opportunity to finish their high school diploma.
Senior Program Director, After School Program
Da’Lana Walker
Da’Lana started her service at the Corps in 1994 as an AmeriCorps Member with what was then known as our Building Up Los Angeles program. Just a few years prior, in response to the 1992 Los Angeles civil unrest, 60 community-based organizations, faith-based non program organizations and educational institutions convened to develop strategies for better servicing youth and families. The outcome was the founding of Building Up Los Angeles. It was the largest AmeriCorps Program in Los Angeles at the time, utilizing over 125 AmeriCorps Members to address critical education, social service, public safety, and environmental needs at the local level. Da’Lana worked in many AmeriCorps capacities from AmeriCorps Member to Program Manager until 1999. Education being one of the initiatives, in 1999, Da’Lana had the opportunity to work with some of the first state funded after school programs in Los Angeles. Today, she is the Sr. Director of our renowned After School Program, which operates on a $3 million budget, and is responsible for the expanded learning services delivered to over 3,000 elementary and middle school students at 21 sites.
On the local-level, Da’Lana is a member of the LA Afterschool Providers Group and the Los Angeles County of Education (LACOE) Workplan Advisory Group. On the State level, she’s an Advocacy Representative of the California After School Advocacy Alliance that speaks to Appointed and Elected representatives of California on the importance of expanded learning opportunities. A native of Los Angeles, Da’Lana is a mother of 2 sons and holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix.
Da’Lana is also an Alumni of the African American Board Leadership Institute, which helps place professionals of color on for profit, nonprofit, and private organization boards, and the Center for Nonprofit Management’s 2019 Next Leaders Development Program.
Program Director
Carlos Campero
Carlos Campero is the Director of Conservation Programs at the Corps site located at Compton Creek Natural Park. Carlos began his career at the Corps over 30 years ago as a part time Youth Leader and then came on board full time a few years later. He likes to say that he grew up with the Corps as he rose through the ranks to become a Crew Supervisor, Coordinator, Manager, Sr. Manager and now Director.
Carlos grew up in the same neighborhood that many current Corpsmembers come from, and that lived experience helps him relate and motivate his colleagues and the participants. Carlos is a Certified Arborist, with 25 years’ experience in the tree industry. Carlos is also a member of the California Urban Forestry Advisory Committee which reports to Cal Fire, CAL FIRE oversees enforcement of California’s forest practice regulations. Carlos is also a graduate of the Municipal Forestry Institute. MFI is a high-level training opportunity educating professionals in the leadership and managerial aspects of urban forestry. This week-long intensive educational program delivers a challenging opportunity to grow a more successful community tree program. He has a passion for training more young people of color for careers in arboriculture.
Carlos is also a member of Norwalk Assembly of God Church, where he serves on the board, as a Deacon and lay preacher. A proud family man, Carlos has volunteered as a youth pastor, football, & soccer coach, and is also the treasurer for the Santa Fe High School Football Boosters.
Program Director
Karla Ramos
Karla has been with the Corps since 2007 and has grown within her many roles to become the Program Director to our two San Fernando Valley sites. Before joining as a staff member, she was a Clean & Green participant in the late 1990’s, which sparked her interest in environmental work. She became a real estate agent shortly after college serving the community where she grew up – Northeast San Fernando Valley – for a few years. Prior to the market crash of 2008, she had a change of heart and realized she wanted to do more in her community, particularly helping to mentor young adults. She began as a Program Associate at our Griffith Park satellite office and progressed through different roles at our South LA site where she managed a multitude of projects including our CalRecycle grants and other community beautification projects. In 2017, the Corps opened up a site in Tujunga to serve youth from the Northeast San Fernando Valley and Karla took on management of this new endeavor. A year later, our site in Reseda opened its doors. Both sites have thrived under her direction. She is responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing contracts ranging from food waste and mattress diversion rescue projects, fire fuel reduction and sidewalk clean-up, to growing our tree canopies in the Valley and nearby forests.
Karla enjoys spending time with her family and doing outdoor activities and has developed a real interest in flora and fauna. She is driven to serve others and see our Corpsmembers transform during their time at the Corps. She holds a BA from UC Santa Barbara.
Compliance Officer & General Counsel
Becki Ueno
Becki was hired as the Compliance Director in 2022. She oversees the compliance department including the Corps’ many contracts and grants, manages internal and external audits, and ensures compliance with ethics policies and practices.
Becki comes to the Corps after practicing law for 14 years. She is the founder and former CEO of Sustainable Law Group, a Certified B Corp law firm, where she served many nonprofit and social enterprise clients on a wide range of litigation and transactional matters.
Becki has a lifelong passion for protecting the environment and social justice. Over the past 26 years, she has worn many hats in the nonprofit sector: as a volunteer, fundraiser, campaign organizer, and board director. Now, she is thrilled to be working with the Corps, bringing together her passion for environmentalism and social justice and the skills she honed as a lawyer and advocate.
Becki holds a BA from the University of Colorado in Environmental Studies, and a JD from the University of Oregon School of Law in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. In her free time, she serves as the den leader for her children’s scout pack, and is a board member of Project O, a nonprofit that works with local municipalities on ocean protection.