Executive Committee Election Results Announcement for the
October 2020-September 2021 Term
The California GIS Council is pleased to announce the uncontested slate for the new term of the Executive Committee. Nominations were received and accepted for the following stakeholder constituencies as identified in its charter:
City Government: John Schweisinger
County Government: Tim Pudoff
Education: Mōno Simeone
Federal Government: Carol Ostergren
Nonprofit: Stephanie Halpin
Private Industry: Jacob Mark
Professional Associations: An-Min Wu
Regional Council/Collaborative: Steve Steinberg
State Government: Nathaniel (Nate) Roth
Tribal Government: Donna Miranda Begay
Utilities: Kimberly LaBella
State Geographic Information Officer: Isaac Cabrera
The Council was chartered in 2015 by a group of GIS professionals from around the state who saw a need for a forum to enable the California geospatial community to work together to develop, maintain and share accurate, consistent place-based information that is accessible to the general public and the agencies and organizations that serve them. Membership in the Council is open to anyone in the California geospatial community. The Council strives to act as an advisory body to members of its constituencies, the State Geographic Information Officer (GIO), and agencies and groups that develop and implement geospatial initiatives, policies, and standards, by providing recommendations, best practices, and expertise. Council member meetings are held virtually on the second Thursday of March, June, September, and December.
Chair: Jane Schafer-Kramer is a Geographic Data Specialist with the California Department of Water Resources, serving as the Technical Lead for the National Hydrography Dataset Stewardship Program.
Vice Chair: Ashlee Llewellyn is a Senior Program Coordinator for the County of Marin’s Department of Public Works. She has her GISP and is Incident Command System Management Level certified.
Executive Committee Member Introductions
City Government: John Schweisinger
Web GIS Specialist for the City of Los Angeles, Bureau of Engineering’s GIS and Mapping Division. The GIS and Mapping division is responsible for reviewing, identifying, and implementing the construction of public infrastructures such as street, storm drain, and sewer facilities in conjunction with City land development entitlement applications such as Subdivision Maps and City Planning Case applications. John’s main role is assisting the Technology and Application Section with developing Web GIS and Mobile Apps for BOE permit applications. He also provides support and training to the EOC, it is the focal point for coordination of the City’s emergency planning, training, response, and recovery efforts.
County Government: Tim Pudoff
GIS Manager for Sonoma County’s Enterprise GIS. Has an M.A. (Geography, SDSU) and over 30 years of GIS experience in government, education, and the private sector. Tim leads a small team of talented geospatial professionals to provide Cloud-based and on premises GIS services to over 25 departments and agencies. Additionally, he chairs the County GIS Technical Advisory Committee (GIS TAC), which helps set goals and objectives for the organization and encourages agencies to adopt GIS workflows in County business processes. Over the past few years Sonoma County has endured several severe wildfires and floods and Tim’s team has been instrumental in developing the County’s public-facing GIS apps for emergency response, re-entry and recovery. Tim is an active member of CCISDA and URISA, and teaches GIS and geography at Santa Rosa Junior College.
Education: Mōno Simeone
GIS Manager for UC San Francisco. Mōno’s role is to assist the campus administration to leverage geospatial technology within their business systems. He manages the enterprise GIS, campus maps, and other geospatial related technologies, serves as the GIS/Intelligence Unit Lead for the UCSF EOC, and also administers the Geospatial@UCSF initiative which provides a community for UCSF researchers, students, and staff to share, learn, and connect on geospatial topics. Mōno is a founding member and Co-Chair of the UC GIS Leadership Committee, Co-Chair of the UCOP EMC Subcommittee for GIS for Emergency Management, also served 5 years as the URISA BayGeo Chapter President, and is the former Director for the GIS Education Center at City College of San Francisco.
Federal Government: Carol Ostergren
Liaison for CA and NV USGS’s National Geospatial Program. Primarily responsible for coordinating federal partnerships for the acquisition of lidar, the maintenance of framework data layers that support national databases, and the stewardship and use of the National Hydrography Dataset. Carol has been involved with framework data coordination since early days of the council, through its numerous iterations, and is proud of the great progress we continue to make for the CA community.
Nonprofit: Stephanie Halpin
GIS Manager for the CA Earthquake Authority, based in Sacramento. Stephanie is responsible for GIS Enterprise and mapping for CA’s not-for-profit, publicly managed, privately funded insurance company. Her role involves management of the organization’s GIS system and providing relevant analysis and visualization tools to assist research and decision making to both CEA and CA Residential Mitigation Program, a joint powers authority created by CEA and CalOES to offer funds to homeowners to mitigate vulnerable homes against earthquake damage. She is a URISA and CGIA member and looks forward to participating in the achievement of the council’s goals.
Private Industry: Jacob Mark
Geospatial Specialist for Woolpert, based in Los Angeles. Jacob previously worked for Indiana’s Department of Natural Resources, in the Division of Water. While working for the State of Indiana, he participated in several projects with the Geographic Information Office, cultivating great enthusiasm for geospatial governance and policy along the way. He looks forward to participating in the Charter Review/Strategic Plan Workgroup and contributing overall to the growth and advancement of this body and the GIS community it represents.
Professional Associations: An-Min Wu, Ph.D
Lecturer of Spatial Sciences at the University of Southern California. As a GIS educator and researcher with environmental science training, Dr. An-Min Wu teaches advanced GIST courses with a focus on spatial data analytics and spatial databases and advises both undergraduate and graduate students using GIS to understand human-environmental interactions and their implications of environmental health and justice. An-Min is an active member of CGIA; she has served as CGIA Board Director (2017-2018), Vice Chair (2018-2019) and Chair (2019-2020), and has led the CGIA effort to advocate state GIS leadership and coordination. She looks forward to continuing to support the GIS community at-large in CA.
Regional Council/Collaborative: Steve Steinberg, GISP, Ph.D
GIO for Los Angeles County. In collaboration with a team of highly skilled GIS professionals, Dr. Steinberg guides the geospatial strategy for more than 10 million residents and 100,000 county employees across 37 departments. He serves as the Program Director for the LARIAC Program; since being established in 2005 LARIAC has had participation from over 30 County departments, 40 municipalities, 16 Local, State, and Federal Agencies and 7 institutions of higher education. He is actively involved in geospatial leadership positions and professional organizations including the Board of Directors for URISA, CGIA, and the CA GIS Council.
State Government: Nathaniel (Nate) Roth, GISP, Ph.D
Chief Science & Data Advisor, including serving as the Geographic Information Officer for the California Department of Conservation, based in Sacramento. Dr. Roth is responsible for data policy and practice, including geospatial data, for the Department and for encouraging outreach and collaboration with other agencies as well as the general public. He has been active with the CA GIS Council since its reformation in 2014 in a variety of roles ranging from work group leads (Elevation, State Plane Coordinate System 2022, and Digital Land Records Inventory, and serving as Chair and Vice Chair. Nate enjoys helping folks get connected to data sources and seeing the remarkable things that we can accomplish when we work together to share data and actively engage to seek solutions to our common challenges.
Tribal Government: Donna Miranda Begay
Tubatulabal Tribal Researcher, Tubatulabal Tribe
Over 30 years’ experience working with Tribal, Federal, State and Local governments. Worked for Natural Resources Agency’s Department of Water Resources – Fiscal Division and California Conservation Corps – Chief Information Officer. Currently, employed at the California Environmental Protection Agency, State Water Resources Control Board in the Division of Technology.
Utilities: Kimberly LaBella
Certified Property Tax Appraiser and Utility Land Specialist based in Sacramento and Lake Tahoe. Kimberly is retired from the California State Board of Equalization and is a California Golden Seal Award Recipient. She has developed statewide policies relating to the appraisal and assessment of utility land within CA State Government, evaluated county assessor’s compliance with property tax laws and recommended procedures, attended appraisal training classes, and provided technical advice to city planning commissions and taxpayers. She is a member of the CA Association of Code Enforcement Officers and volunteers with a local food bank.
State Geographic Information Officer: Isaac Cabrera, GISP
Isaac served as the California GIS Council Chair at the time he was hired by the California Department of Technology to be the State Geographic Information Officer and Manager of Data and Geospatial Services. His term with the Council ended in June and he continues to be active with the Council and the California GIS community of practice. The Council charter reserves a set on the Executive Committee for the State GIO. Isaac most recently served as Geographic Information System Administrator for Contra Costa County, and prior to that served in GIS coordination and management positions with the Counties of Merced and Madera.