20-Year Anniversary Gala & Leadership Awards: Green California Summit

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The Gala and Awards started with an outstanding performance by the Delphi Academy of Los Angeles Choir.

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As we celebrate 20 years of Green Technology, we proudly recognize the individuals listed here for their longstanding dedication, collaboration, and commitment to advancing environmental progress throughout California. Their partnership, guidance, and continued support have contributed to Green Technology’s journey and strengthened our shared efforts toward a more sustainable future. We are honored to acknowledge their contributions and express our sincere appreciation for the lasting impact they have made.

Congratulations to this years 2026 Leadership Award Recipients!

Receiving a Green Technology Leadership Award is a prestigious recognition of individuals and organizations whose leadership, innovation, and commitment to sustainability are helping shape the future of California. Recipients represent those who go beyond meeting today’s challenges—they create solutions, advance new ideas, and set standards that inspire others to follow. Their work strengthens communities, transforms institutions, influences how California approaches sustainability, and creates lasting environmental, economic, and social impact. To receive a Green Technology Leadership Award is to be recognized among the leaders whose work is not simply making a difference—it is changing California and helping define a more sustainable future for generations to come.

We recognize the following categories throughout the State of California:

PIONEER
Heidi Sanborn

For more than three decades, Heidi Sanborn has helped reshape the way California thinks about waste, recycling and responsibility for the products we consume.

As a founder and longtime leader of the California Product Stewardship Council and founder and Executive Director of the National Stewardship Action Council, Sanborn has been a driving force behind Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) — the principle that manufacturers should share responsibility for products and packaging throughout their life cycle, rather than leaving taxpayers and local governments to manage them after disposal.

That concept has become a cornerstone of California’s evolving circular economy, influencing stewardship programs covering products ranging from paint and pharmaceuticals to mattresses, batteries, packaging and plastics. Sanborn also chaired California’s Statewide Commission on Recycling Markets and Curbside Recycling, which developed 34 unanimous recommendations for strengthening the state’s recycling system, with numerous recommendations subsequently reflected in California legislation. She was also involved in negotiations surrounding SB 54, California’s landmark packaging and plastic pollution law. Her sustainability leadership extends into clean energy as an elected member and former President of the SMUD Board of Directors, helping govern one of America’s most progressive publicly owned utilities. By changing not simply how California manages waste, but who takes responsibility for it, Heidi Sanborn has helped create a framework others continue to build upon.

STATE GOVERNMENT
Jesse Unruh State Office Building Renovation

California’s century-old Jesse Unruh State Office Building demonstrates that preserving the past and building a low-carbon future can be part of the same strategy. Led by the California Department of General Services (DGS), the renovation transformed the 175,715-square-foot historic state building into a high-performing, fully electric workplace while preserving the structure, enclosure and much of the historic fabric that earned it a place on the National Register of Historic Places. Reusing the existing structure and enclosure alone avoided an estimated 3,500 metric tons of CO2 before occupancy.

The transformation went far beyond preservation. DGS eliminated gas-powered building systems and district steam, transitioned the building to 100% electricity supplied through DGS’s long-term renewable energy resources, and reduced energy use to 33% better than the project baseline. Water-efficient fixtures save more than 380,000 gallons annually, while 96% of construction waste was diverted from landfill. The project ultimately achieved LEED v4 ID+C Platinum, exceeding its original Silver target. By combining historic preservation, adaptive reuse, electrification and high-performance design, the Jesse Unruh renovation provides a compelling model for California: some of the state’s greenest buildings of the future may be the ones it already owns.

SCHOOL DISTRICT
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District

At Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District (SMMUSD), sustainability isn’t simply an operational goal—it has become part of how students learn, participate and lead.

The district has built a comprehensive sustainability program spanning clean energy, conservation, transportation, food systems and climate education. Nine solar installations now provide 18% of districtwide electricity, while the district sources 100% clean electricity through the Clean Power Alliance. Since 2017-18, total solid waste generation has fallen nearly 17%, and districtwide water costs have declined 23%.

What distinguishes SMMUSD is the role students play in creating that change. Students helped build Santa Monica High School’s hydroponic and aquaponic growing systems, conduct campus waste audits, advance environmental education and advocate for sustainability beyond school grounds. The district has complemented that leadership with an Environmental Education Policy, Climate Literacy Resource Hub, regenerative agriculture and programs encouraging public and active transportation. More than 2,600 students have registered for Metro’s GoPass program. SMMUSD demonstrates a powerful model for K-12 sustainability: making the campus a living laboratory and students participate in building the sustainable communities they will inherit.

ENVIRONMENTAL CHAMPION
South Bay Cities Council of Governments

For more than two decades, the South Bay Environmental Services Center (SBESC) has demonstrated the power of communities working together to achieve environmental progress. Operated by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments, SBESC began in 2003 as a single energy-saving initiative and evolved into a one-stop sustainability resource serving nearly one million residents across 15 cities and surrounding communities. Its pioneering model pools expertise and
resources across jurisdictions, giving even the smallest cities access to programs addressing energy efficiency, water conservation, transportation, waste reduction, climate action and green business practices. The results demonstrate the power of that collaboration. Working with regional energy partners, SBCCOG has helped cities and schools save more than 15 million kilowatt-hours of electricity and nearly 100,000 therms of natural gas. Its outreach reaches thousands
of residents and businesses, while volunteers have contributed more than 20,000 hours advancing sustainability throughout the South Bay. Most importantly, SBESC brings sustainability directly to communities—helping local governments turn climate goals into projects and connecting businesses and residents with resources they can actually use.

By replacing fragmented efforts with shared expertise, partnerships and hands-on implementation, SBESC created a model for making local sustainability achievable at a regional scale—and ensuring that smaller and underserved communities can participate in California’s environmental progress.

TEACHER
Mallory Brighton
Sherman Oaks Charter School
Los Angeles Unified School District

At Sherman Oaks Elementary Charter, teacher and Climate Literacy Champion Mallory Brighton has shown that some of California’s most important environmental leaders can begin their journey in elementary school. Brighton has brought students, teachers, parents and administrators together to make sustainability part of everyday campus life. She helped establish a Greenification Team and monthly family Greenification Days, where students and families tend gardens, manage compost and care for their campus together.

Under her leadership, the school established a three-bay composting system incorporating breakfast fruit scraps, campus green waste and even coffee grounds collected through a local business partnership. The school has planted 11 new trees and a water-wise California native garden, revitalized recycling of paper and classroom materials, and created an Environmental Ambassadors after-school program that has engaged approximately 30 students. These efforts helped
Sherman Oaks Elementary Charter earn Gold-Level recognition in the California Green Ribbon Schools program. Brighton’s next goals include reducing campus energy use, conducting food-waste audits, introducing cafeteria waste sorting and establishing a food share table. By transforming sustainability from something students simply learn about into something they practice, measure and lead, Mallory Brighton is cultivating environmental stewardship that students can carry far beyond the schoolyard.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE
San Diego Community College District

San Diego Community College District (SDCCD) is advancing a new model for sustainable campuses—one in which clean energy and resilience work together to protect the educational mission. Vice Chancellor and Executive Operations Officer, Dr. Joel Peterson has championed a districtwide strategy that brings solar generation, fuel cells, battery storage, renewable-fueled linear generators and advanced controls together as coordinated campus microgrids. The goal is ambitious: reduce dependence on purchased electricity while enabling campuses to continue critical operations independently during grid outages and other disruptions. Miramar College is positioned as an early proving ground. Existing solar and fuel-cell generation already supply much of its electricity, while planned
generation, storage and microgrid controls are modeled to reduce purchased grid electricity by approximately 99% while providing the capacity to operate critical loads when disconnected from the grid.

The strategy can ultimately extend across SDCCD, protecting instruction, laboratories, workforce training and essential student services while supporting the district’s climate goals. By approaching energy as both an environmental resource and a mission-critical infrastructure system, Peterson is creating a potential model for community colleges across California—campuses that don’t simply consume cleaner energy but are prepared to remain resilient in a changing climate.

ENVIRONMENTAL LITERACY
Laurel Kruke
Energy and Sustainability Manager
Long Beach Unified School District

At Long Beach Unified School District, Energy and Sustainability Manager, Laurel Kruke is helping move sustainability beyond facilities and operations and into the educational experience of students and teachers. Kruke launched LBUSD’s first districtwide professional learning program dedicated to environmental literacy and sustainability, bringing teachers, administrators and district staff together to translate environmental challenges into opportunities for student learning and action. Educators gained practical resources and strategies while students became partners in developing campus projects addressing water conservation, gardening, beautification and other real-world sustainability challenges. Her work also recognizes that environmental progress must include equity. She spearheaded development of a public-facing tool that incorporates equity considerations into decisions about campus green-space investments,
helping direct resources where access to nature and environmental improvements can provide the greatest benefit. Now she is extending that pathway from environmental literacy to economic opportunity through development of a Green Careers resource, connecting students and families with sustainability-related careers, regional workforce needs and educational pathways. By connecting greener campuses, informed educators, student action and future careers, Laurel Kruke is helping create something larger than an environmental education program: a pathway for students to understand sustainability, experience it firsthand and ultimately see themselves as part of California’s environmental future.

CONSERVATION
Black Plastic Project
Sustainable San Mateo County
Youth Advisory Council

Through the Sustainable San Mateo County Youth Advisory Council, Students Mira Youssef & Hannah Young created the Black Plastic Project, a student-led campaign examining the environmental challenges associated with black plastic and advocating for more sustainable alternatives in school cafeterias. What began with research grew into a campaign reaching approximately 9,000 students across six high schools. Through presentations, surveys, community outreach
and meetings with school leaders, the students built support for change and collected more than 1,000 petition signatures.

Their advocacy is now translating awareness into action. According to the nomination, the initiative has prompted a process to eliminate approximately 49,000 single-use black plastic containers annually from school food service—a recurring reduction in waste created by students challenging an everyday practice they believed could be improved.

Youssef and Young hope to expand the model to neighboring communities, potentially eliminating hundreds of thousands of additional single-use items. Their achievement demonstrates an important principle of conservation: meaningful change can start by noticing one unnecessary source of waste—and having the
persistence to do something about it.

UNIVERSITY
Civil Engineering Capstone Design Program
Cal State University, Los Angeles

At California State University, Los Angeles, tomorrow’s engineers are learning sustainability by designing solutions to some of California’s most urgent challenges. Led by Senior Design Coordinator Rupa Purasinghe with faculty Howard Lum, John Shamma and Jason Song, the Civil Engineering Capstone Design Program transforms the traditional senior project into an exercise in sustainability, resilience and public service. In Fall 2025, multidisciplinary student teams
tackled the growing threat of wildfire by developing a preliminary design for a wildfire-response helipad and heli-hydrant facility for San Bernardino County. Students integrated structural, geotechnical, transportation, hydrology, water resources and environmental engineering while addressing renewable energy, stormwater management, erosion control, emergency access and environmental requirements. The result was more than a classroom assignment. Students produced engineering analyses, drawings, cost estimates and professional presentations while learning to balance environmental protection, public safety, constructability and economic feasibility—the competing demands they will encounter throughout their careers.

The program’s greatest contribution may ultimately be the engineers it sends into the world. By making sustainability and resilience fundamental engineering responsibilities rather than specialized subjects, Cal State LA is preparing a new generation of professionals to design infrastructure capable of protecting California’s communities and environment in a changing climate.

LOCAL GOVERNMENT
San Francisco International Airport

At San Francisco International Airport (SFO), sustainability has evolved from a collection of environmental initiatives into a framework for how one of America’s busiest airports is planned, built and operated. Through its Zero Energy, Zero Carbon, Zero Waste and Zero Water goals, SFO is demonstrating the influence local government can have over an extraordinarily complex transportation ecosystem. The airport has eliminated sales of single-use plastic water bottles, established sustainable foodware requirements and transitioned approximately 50% of its airside fleet to electric and alternative-fuel vehicles.

Its Harvey Milk Terminal 1 demonstrates how that ambition translates into infrastructure, achieving LEED Platinum, WELL Gold and Fitwel 3-Star certifications while integrating environmental performance with occupant health. SFO is also extending its influence beyond airport operations. Since establishing its Sustainable Aviation Fuel Working Group in 2018, the airport has convened airlines, fuel suppliers and government partners to help accelerate lower-carbon aviation fuels, with approximately 20 million gallons of SAF identified for delivery in 2025. SFO’s achievement is ultimately one of leverage: using public
infrastructure, policy, procurement and partnerships to move an entire marketplace.

In doing so, SFO demonstrates how local government can turn its own sustainability commitments into environmental change reaching far beyond its jurisdiction.

The importance of these awards lies in their ability to inspire and motivate individuals, organizations, and communities to adopt sustainable practices and technologies. By recognizing and honoring the efforts and achievements of sustainability leaders, the awards create role models and showcase success stories that can drive further progress. The awards also provide a platform for networking, collaboration, and knowledge sharing among stakeholders, fostering a sense of community and shared responsibility for environmental stewardship.

Congratulations to all 2026 award recipients!!

Thank you to our Sustainability Champions for your continued support!