Jim Peterson

Jim Peterson, '80

Outstanding Alumnus

Jim has dedicated his entire professional career toward matters of the environment, understanding and appreciating its value and the importance of having the tools and resources to effectively achieve one’s personal and professional goals in this field. Most recently, Jim held the position of Air Resources Engineer with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for 16 years, where among numerous oversight responsibilities, he was an alcohol fuel expert, managed emissions studies, and developed motor vehicle fuel regulations, including the Low Carbon Fuel Standard. In 2009, Jim was a member of CARB’s GHG – Low Carbon Fuel Standard team, which was awarded CARB’s Silver Superior Accomplishment Award.

David Fortson

David Fortson, '97

Outstanding Alumnus

David Fortson is LOACOM Social Purpose Corporation’s co-founder and Chief Executive Officer. Believing business is one of the most powerful tools for making a better world, and seeing tremendous opportunities to expand the power and influence of the nonprofit sector, David founded LoaTree and later co-founded LOACOM Social Purpose Corporation in hopes of mashing up the best assets of the private and nonprofit sectors. David’s areas of interest and focus include business development, digital ecosystem development, blockchain for a better world, and movement strategy. David is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara with degrees in both Ecology and Environmental Studies.

Eric Cardenas

Eric Cardenas, '98

Outstanding Alumnus

Eric Cárdenas is LOACOM Social Purpose Corporation’s co-founder and Chief Operations Officer. After spending years working in both the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors, Eric joined long time friend and confidant David Fortson as part of the LOA team in 2011, becoming COO and partner to LoaTree, Inc. Eric’s areas of interest and special focus include food and agriculture, philanthropy for social change, campaigns/movement building, and facilitation. He is a graduate of UC Santa Barbara with degrees in Political Science and Environmental Studies.

Graves

Greg Graves

Community Service Award Recipient

After completing his doctoral degree in public and environmental history in the late 1980s, Greg Graves worked as an environmental consultant for a private research company, and as a contract historian in the federal government. He began teaching at UCSB in the Environmental Studies and History departments in the mid-1990s. His courses include American and Global Environmental history, environmental ethics, California History, cultural history, the history of the American West, and water policy in the American West. The subjects of his published works include federal forestry and water resources policy, environmental land use planning, and several district and division histories of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He retired from teaching in 2019, but continued instruction in recall until mid-2021.