Sierra Club Staff

Cesia Kearns

Cesia is a Representative for the Sierra Club's National Beyond Coal Campaign, directing the Club's regional campaign to prevent coal exports spanning from the Powder River Basin in Montana and Wyoming, to Oregon, Washington, and Alaska. She works with our regional and national team of staff, volunteer leaders, and our partners here and abroad to address this new frontier of the US transition from coal to clean energy.

Cesia grew up in an Air Force family discovering the country and the world. She graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato in 2004 with a B.F.A. in Sculpture and a B.S. in a multidisciplinary degree in Ethnic Studies, Anthropology, and Theatre Design. She learned the transformational power of community organizing as a state youth coordinator with Amnesty International, and during a fellowship with the Kessel Peace Institute.

Her love for environmental activism is rooted in a spiritual connection to the resources that sustain and inspire us, and the deep belief that the protection of human rights and our environment are critically interdependent. Cesia started with the Sierra Club in Minnesota on the 2004 Environmental Voter Education Campaign. She spent the next five years organizing to advance regional clean energy solutions focused on ending the "Midwest Coal Rush", including victories such as a state mercury emissions reduction standard, renewable electricity standard, global warming solutions goals, and stopping the expansion of the Big Stone II coal plant.

She came to Oregon in 2009 to help launch the Coal Free Northwest campaign, resulting in the successful retirement of Oregon's last coal-fired power plant, operated by Portland General Electric. Cesia considers it an honor to be working on this visionary journey to transform the U.S. into a world leader in creating a clean, coal-free, renewable energy economy at home and abroad. When she's not campaigning, Cesia loves exploring the outdoors, traveling abroad, tending to her stack of unread books, and reveling in the arts.

Contact Cesia at:
(503) 238-0442 x306
cesia.kearns@sierraclub.org

AJ Marks

A.J. is a transplant from the east coast who came to Oregon back in 2001. He was raised in a small factory town south of Boston and grew up seeing firsthand the detrimental effects of industrial pollution on a community.

A.J. originally studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts and spent several years working in the oil industry. Unable to reconcile his experiences growing up with working in a polluting industry, A.J. decided to dedicate his efforts to protecting others from similar industrial damage. These efforts have now taken A.J. through nine states working on issues ranging from pesticide usage in Massachusetts to clean air in California.

A.J. joins the chapter staff after 2 years as the volunteer treasurer and brings experience in program work, non-profit management, and fundraising. He is also completing a degree in accounting at Portland State University. In his spare time A.J. enjoys cooking, baking and outings with his wife and young son.

Contact A.J. at:
(503) 238-0442 x300
aj.marks@sierraclub.org

Brian Pasko

Brian has a long history with the Sierra Club – both as a volunteer and member of the staff. He re-joined the Sierra Club's staff as the Oregon Chapter's first Director in 2008.

Prior to returning to Portland, he served as the Policy Director for the Friend of the Boundary Waters Wilderness. He also served as the Sierra Club's lobbyist in Minnesota, where he was a principal negotiator in the passage of nation-leading laws related to mercury, renewable energy, and global warming. Prior to becoming a lobbyist, Brian practiced law and, among other subjects, litigated federal Clean Air and Clean Water Act cases on behalf of private citizens and non-profit organizations.

Brian earned his bachelor's degree in 1999 from Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin, where he graduated magna cum laude and was a triple major in environmental policy, environmental studies, and biology. While at Northland, Brian was awarded a coveted Morris K Udall scholarship for his achievement and commitments in environmental policy.

In 2002, Brian earned his juris doctorate from the Northwestern School of Law of Lewis and Clark College, along with a certificate in environmental and natural resources law. During law school, Brian served as an associate editor of the Law Review and published research relating to national forest policy and the development of national forest management plans.

Brian is an amateur photographer, avid hiker and backpacker, and an experienced Wilderness canoeist. He, his wife, and their dog explore Oregon's wilderness as often as they have the chance. You can always view photos of their recent adventures at: brianpasko.com

Contact Brian at:
(503) 238-0442 x301
brian.pasko@sierraclub.org

Chris Smith

Chris works as the Conservation Program Coordinator for the Oregon Chapter's state forest conservation effort. Focusing on the Tillamook and Clatsop forests on Oregon's north coast, the campaign's focus is on protecting clean drinking water, salmon and steelhead populations, wildlife habitat, and favorite recreation spots.

These forests, which have historically faced significant pressure from the timber industry and have been victim to human-induced fires, are in the process of recovery and their balanced management is crucial to the north coast's legacy of natural resources and natural beauty.

Growing up in the high desert of New Mexico, Chris moved to Oregon in 2005 for a radically different landscape. He received his B.A. in Religious Studies from Lewis & Clark College in 2009 and ironically moved to Greece to find work. After returning from Greece, Chris organized for the Club's voter turnout campaign in 2010 before working as a cook at Outdoor School and as an artist's assistant building a giant tree chandelier. In 2011, He moved to Chicago to enroll in the Divinity School at the University of Chicago. The draw of working on a collaborative campaign, along with the outdoors opportunities that Oregon offers, brought Chris back to Portland in 2012.

Along with environmentalism, Chris is interested in the academic study of religion, literature from a variety of sociocultural contexts, grating music, embarrassing fishing tactics, low-level rec league sports, friends, and the outdoors.

Contact Chris at:
(503) 238-0442 x307
chris.smith@sierraclub.org

Laura Stevens

Laura is grateful and honored for the chance to move ourselves Beyond Coal—the issue she is most passionate about—in her favorite corner of the world—the Pacific Northwest.

Laura hails from the Maplewood neighborhood of Portland, where her solid upbringing cultivated her fondness for conifers, bike lanes, and used bookstores. She graduated from DePauw University in 2007 where she spent most of her time organizing for LEED "green" buildings and local food on campus, but also managed to get a B.A. in Biology and Spanish.

After graduating from college Laura spent four years organizing for a range of groups. With the Ecumenical Commission for Human Rights, in Ecuador, she supported subsistence farmers in their decades-long resistance against transnational copper mining companies. With the United Food and Commercial Workers Union, in Iowa, she helped unionize workers at some of our nation's largest meatpacking plants. With Toxics Action Center, in Maine, she worked to bring together dozens of communities fighting pollution threats in their backyards for a statewide legislative initiative. And with the Fund for the Public Interested she managed a summer canvass operation for Environment New Hampshire.

Laura's proudest organizing accomplishment to date occurred during her year with Green Corps, the Field School for Environmental Organizing. During that year Laura launched and led the Sierra Club Campuses Beyond Coal Campaign at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Eight months later they won the campaign, getting a commitment from the Chancellor to switch the campus coal-fired power plant over to cleaner energy.

During her spare time, Laura loves to jog at Washington Park, hit up Powell's for a new book on homesteading, and go thrift-store shopping with her sister on Hawthorne.

Contact Laura at:
(503) 238-0442 x305
laura.stevens@sierraclub.org