ERIK AHLSTROM, Founder
Erik is the founder of Plogging and we have partnered with him for promoting the Plogging concept globally. Read more about Erik and videos about Plogging.
We are an all-volunteer organization dedicated to bring together individuals and organizations that will encourage a clean outdoors. We’re growing because of giving individuals that recognize the positive aspects of our mission. Below you’ll find more about our organization and people.
Consider joining us and sharing your expertise, passion and skills!
Board of Directors
STEVE JEWETT
Founder/President
Steve is a serial entrepreneur who has started four successful companies in business supplies. He invented two products that enjoy widespread use. He also held a leadership position in a large business. Steve grew up in flat Kansas City and moved to Colorado after catching the ski bug. One thing led to another and he started climbing fourteeners.
Steve has climbed all the fourteeners in Colorado and most in California. He has summited on Denali though it took two attempts and also Aconcagua in South America. Steve has also summited peaks all over the Western United States and in Europe, having been over 13,000 feet more than a thousand times. In addition to climbing, Steve has helped many people in the wilderness through mountain rescue. He has led rescue efforts as a mission coordinator in Eagle County, Colorado and served as the equipment officer for many years. He has been helping out in the backcountry for many years and considers the effort to keep the trails clean his “pay it forward.”
BILL WILLOUGHBY
Founder/Treasurer
Bill has over 30 years’ experience in international business development and has senior industry experience in positions that include digital technology, telecommunications, e-cycling, industrial manufacturing, and software publishing. Bill is a third generation native of San Francisco, California. While working in the telecommunications industry, he lived and traveled extensively throughout the United States, Europe, and Asia.
While working and living in remote parts of Alaska, he has hiked on trails and has crossed country that few others have traveled. He has also hiked the fabled “Silk Road” in Southern Thailand to the border of Myanmar. His love for hiking and going places started at a young age while he was living in Missoula and Helena, Montana where he would take long treks into the backcountry. Being taught at this age to conserve the wilderness for others to enjoy has led to his concern for keeping all trails free of litter.
ANNETTE POLIWKA
Director
Annette is passionate about nature, which is why she’s dedicated her life to environmental protection and spends most of her free time in nature. She has over ten years of professional experience in the environmental sector: at the city level in San Francisco, and at the federal level in Washington DC and New York. Some key projects and areas include: Zero Waste public policy, water efficiency, addressing and reducing electronic waste, creating a sustainability plan for the Caribbean and leading EPA’s Trash Free Waters efforts. Her mission has been to make sure all people regardless of race, color, national origin or income have fair treatment and meaningful involvement with development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
She studied Mass Media Communications, Spanish at Fairfield University, International Business Management at Georgetown University, Sustainable Fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, and received her M.S. in Environmental Management.
Though Annette grew up in downtown Chicago, she fell in love with nature as a kid through a Ukrainian Scouting organization, in which she reached the equivalent of Eagle Scout. Nowadays, she makes forays into the wild every chance she gets. Most recently, Annette has been kayaking and snorkeling in Belize, and backcountry skiing and winter camping in Wyoming. Annette has also climbed Mt. Rainier and Mt. Shasta as a fundraiser to get inner city youth outdoors.
ROGER POOR
Director
Roger is an outdoor industry veteran well known by key outdoor leaders both nationally and internationally. Widely respected for his creative thinking, integrity, and commitment to win/win partnerships. He is passionate about promoting and defending the outdoors be defining and enrolling community vision.
Roger found his passion for the outdoors while still in elementary school and has been fortunate to find a career that supported it worldwide at both corporate and nonprofit venues dedicated to delivering a positive and life changing natural experience to others. He actively participates in hiking, snowshoeing, whitewater paddling, sea kayaking, fly fishing, is a Wilderness First Responder, coaches youth, and accumulates garages full of outdoor equipment and clothing. Roger’s expertise will be invaluable in working to establish new industry partnerships to strengthen Clean Trails’ relations with environmental organizations.
Roger currently takes on outsourced branding projects, story telling, teaching, writing, and in-depth nap research.
JENNIFER TABANICO
Director
Jennifer Tabanico is President and owner of Action Research, a firm that specializes in changing behavior for the public good by applying marketing and social science research to outreach programs that promote clean, healthy, and sustainable communities. Jennifer has a Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology and more than a decade of experience developing community-based social marketing programs for public and private agencies. She is especially passionate about using her keen understanding of human behavior and talents in program development to improve the environment.
Jennifer loves getting out into nature, whether she’s camping, hiking, kayaking, or just sitting on a lone rock in the wilderness. Throughout her childhood, she spent summers camping with her family and friends in northern Arizona, where she first fell in love with natural world. These camping trips are among her fondest childhood memories. Jennifer has been living in the San Diego area since 1997, and now with a child of her own, she is even more inspired to get out into nature. Jennifer and her son enjoy tent camping, hiking, geocaching, and exploring together. They are considered “regulars” at local beach and river clean ups, where they have been volunteering since her son was just three years old. Jennifer is excited to be involved with Clean Trails, National CleanUp Day and World CleanUp Day to help motivate people to keep their local trails clean and healthy so those areas can continue to inspire a love of the outdoors for generations to come.
MIKE WALLEY
Director
For more than three decades Mike has been passionate about the outdoors, especially rock, ice, and mountain climbing. He has climbed all 54 of Colorado’s fourteeners, topped out on Mount Rainer, summited the Grand Teton multiple times, and completed other impressive climbs in the Tetons, Wind Rivers, and Yosemite Valley.
Mike’s love of the outdoors started early. He grew up camping, hiking, biking, hunting, and fishing in beautiful Minnesota. In the 1980’s while in college in South Carolina, he joined the USC Mountaineering and Whitewater Club and discovered his passion for climbing.
Various jobs and volunteer opportunities in the outdoor industry, including Marmot, North Face, REI, and Student Conservation Association (SCA), enabled him to work and play in all the best places from Acadia in Maine to Squamish, BC. Mike has an interesting connection to Clean Trails. He summited his first glaciated peak –Mt. Baker in the North Cascades –with Clean Trails co-founder Steve Jewett. Mike remembers Steve giving away the last of their water and some cheese to people on their way down.....
When he’s not adventuring, Mike works as a Regional Sales Representative for an international water meter company in Boulder, Colorado. He’s also a dedicated husband and father to two amazing teenage daughters.
Management
ANNETTE POLIWKA
Corporate Social Responsibility Director
Annette is passionate about nature, which is why she’s dedicated her life to environmental protection and spends most of her free time in nature. She has over ten years of professional experience in the environmental sector: at the city level in San Francisco, and at the federal level in Washington DC and New York. Some key projects and areas include: Zero Waste public policy, water efficiency, addressing and reducing electronic waste, creating a sustainability plan for the Caribbean and leading EPA’s Trash Free Waters efforts. Her mission has been to make sure all people regardless of race, color, national origin or income have fair treatment and meaningful involvement with development, implementation, and enforcement of environmental laws, regulations, and policies.
She studied Mass Media Communications, Spanish at Fairfield University, International Business Management at Georgetown University, Sustainable Fashion at the Fashion Institute of Technology in NYC, and received her M.S. in Environmental Management.
Though Annette grew up in downtown Chicago, she fell in love with nature as a kid through a Ukrainian Scouting organization, in which she reached the equivalent of Eagle Scout. Nowadays, she makes forays into the wild every chance she gets. Most recently, Annette has been kayaking and snorkeling in Belize, and backcountry skiing and winter camping in Wyoming. Annette has also climbed Mt. Rainier and Mt. Shasta as a fundraiser to get inner city youth outdoors.
sarah mytych
Operations Manager
Sarah is a recently transplanted Denver resident from the Midwest, where she grew up with a heavy appreciation for the outdoors. She began freelancing full time upon moving to Colorado to maximize opportunities to camp, hike, ski, and generally explore this great state and surrounding region. The last four years have shown her the importance of conservation, environmental outreach and the wonders that our amazing landscapes can provide. Her eye for design and bubbling personality have been great assets in her work as the National Clean Up Day Operations Manager.
TIMOTHY GRIGGS
Website Designer
Timothy is a film producer, marketer, and web designer. He began his career in television working for CBS marketing on the critically acclaimed drama Numb3rs. He went on to work with Samuel Goldwyn Films to head up their social media marketing department building their brand strategy online and beyond. As a freelance consultant he has worked with a wide range of clients creating cutting edge marketing content for eBay, Hewlett-Packard, Black Enterprise, UCLA, TED, American Institute of Architects, UCI Medical Center, KTGY Architecture, and United Design Associates.
TIM BROWN
Website/Blog Editor
Armed with clever wit and savvy wordplay, Tim is determined to affect a positive change in our community. Digital Marketer by day, Ye Olde Wordsmythe grew up in Pennsylvania along the Appalachian Trail and now lives in San Diego with his wife and son. Free time is spent outdoors on the Southern California trails, tent camping with the family, playing wood-bat base ball, or paddleboarding on the bay. We all have an opportunity to positively impact those with whom we connect and, in turn, the people that connect with them. The Butterfly Effect is real; start changing the world!
Alex Wehrle
Marketing Manager
Alex is a passionate Leave No Trace advocate and a member of the Granite Gear Goundskeeper program.
lea garsh
Marketing Manager
Well-versed marketing manager with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and publishing industry. Skilled in content writing, search engine optimization (SEO), and web development.
Lindsey williams
Program Coordinator
Lindsey is a communications professional with experience working with executives on strategic initiatives and corporate social responsibility through philanthropy and community engagement. The combination of her undergraduate degree in journalism and masters in public health allows her robust writing and editing skills to find a home, creating strong, easy-to-understand content. For Lindsey’s Master’s Practicum, she created a number of tools for National CleanUp Day’s first national event. Our thanks to Lindsey for her dedication and continued efforts.
Meg Carney
Editor CleanUp News
Outdoor recreation and activism have always been a part of Meg’s life. As a child, she and her family spent countless summer days camping and road-tripping around the United States. If she wasn’t on an adventure in the nearby woods, you’d find her designing and printing off informational pamphlets to hand out in her community to “save the rainforest” or “adopt don’t shop.” This early exposure to travel and her parent’s support of her outspoken nature only piqued her curiosity and drive for change as she grew older.
Jumping to 2020, Meg is well versed in outdoor activities like backpacking, rock climbing, trail running, and biking. If she isn’t playing around in the dirt, you’ll find her reading, writing, or enjoying a conversation with friends. The combined passion for words and the environment has brought her to lead a nomadic lifestyle in pursuit of a career in environmental advocacy and activism.
Meg teamed up with National CleanUp Day in the early Spring of 2020 to help launch the CleanUp News. With a formal education in writing and a background working in the outdoor industry, Meg found the CleanUp News to be a place that fits her passions. Although being an editor for a news publication is a new experience, she is looking forward to the launch and all of the learning to be had along the way. She has enjoyed working with such a knowledgeable team of environmentalists and outdoor enthusiasts and is excited to see where this road will lead. Learn more about Meg at her website or connect on LinkedIn.
Austin Downs
PROJECT MANAGER, NATIONAL CLEANUP DAY
Austin serves as National CleanUp Day's project manager for World Cleanup Day 2020. From designing ArcGIS maps to volunteer outreach, Austin strives to make an engaging and rewarding cleanup event for all who participate. Previously, Austin was the Global Cleanup Coordinator at Earth Day Network where he organized cleanups across six continents. He holds a Bachelor in Politics with a Minor in Education from UC Santa Cruz and a Master’s in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Chetna Batra
PROJECT MANAGER, ADVERTISING
Chetna serves as our Google Ads Specialist and SEO expert. She is an enthusiast who loves to contribute to her community as a whole. She is an avid volunteer for keeping the outdoors clean and Globe trotter with a passion to learn about cultures and explore nature during travels. She feels that nature needs to be preserved in its pristine form and so actively volunteers and spreads awareness about ways in which we can make our Home Planet a better place to live in.
Following the same spirit, Chetna became an expert with Google Ads marketing, specializing in the Google Ad Grants program toward Google for Nonprofits. With each noble cause to spread awareness about, she has meticulously taken care of all the necessary compliance monitors to ensure no disruptions are made while we onboard new people to cleaning the outdoors!
Professionally, she is a Senior Analyst who works towards preventing fraud with American Express.
Chetna believes that when each person starts looking at the outdoors as a part of their home, they will ensure they keep it clean too. Each effort starts with an individual and when each person picks one piece of litter, it is over 7.8 billion pieces of trash taken away from out outdoors straight away! Chetna's LinkedIn Page
advisory Council
The council is the heart of our organization; where people with specific expertise in program development, fundraising, legal, marketing, financial, and other areas are rolling up their sleeves and helping us get our national clean trails movement organized and implemented. Council members are an integral component of our leadership team; they chair our committees and the council serves as a recruitment point for our board of directors. The council advises the organization on issues regarding policy and program development, as well as overall strategic direction. It also serves to build our nationwide connections, while interfacing with the regional partnership committees, trail clubs, the CT staff, agency partners, and the board of directors.
Jim MOSS, J.D.
Attorney/Legal
Jim is a speaker, risk management consultant, and attorney licensed to practice law in Colorado and Ohio, as well as the Colorado Federal Courts and the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. He is the author or co-author of six books, including: The Lawyer’s Adviser; Outdoor Recreation, Travel, and Hospitality Forms; Outdoor Recreation Insurance and Law; co-author of Legal Liability and Risk Management in Adventure Tourism. He is a contributing author of the Boy Scouts Field Book and has also authored a new textbook coming out this fall, Outdoor Recreation Risk Management, Insurance and Law.
Jim consults with service oriented industries to decrease their risk of being sued, and says, “I have dealt with six fatalities that resulted in no litigation and no claims paid. I have been published in dozens of magazines, journals and newsletters and been quoted in the Wall Street Journal, the Denver Post, and the Rocky Mountain News. I have made presentations to Colorado attorneys, the Boy Scouts of America, and the International Conference on Outdoor Recreation, the Wilderness Education Association, and federal land management agencies.”
Jim’s clients range from manufacturers and importers to independent representatives and retailers, as well as, federal concessionaires. He represents a variety of industry organizations and companies, including over 100 college and university programs across the US and Mexico. He is an adjunct professor for Colorado Mountain College where he teaches Risk Management for Ski Area Operations and is the author of the online curriculum for that program.
KATIE MALONE
Marketing/Director Emeritus
Katie Malone is a highly creative and multifaceted Artist and Business Woman with a background in Graphic Design and a passion for Social Media, Digital and Traditional Marketing and Public Relations. She has exceptional interpersonal skills and a go-getter attitude with well developed written and verbal communication abilities. As an East Coast transplant I’m eager to grow my network, and take on new challenges to expand my knowledge and make a positive impact.
Steven reinhold
#TrashTagChallenge
Steven Reinhold is the original creator of the hashtag #trashtag which encourages people to post pictures picking up trash in the environment. We have partnered with Steven and Earth Day to help promote thousands of individual cleanup events globally.
Erik ahlström
Plogging
Erik Ahlström is the founder of the Plogging / Plogga movement. Plogging is picking up litter or trash. It’s active and started as a combination of jogging with picking up litter (Swedish: plocka upp) as an organized activity in Sweden in 2016 and spread globally in 2018, following increased concern about plastic pollution. As a workout, it provides variation in body movements by adding bending, squatting and stretching to the main action of running, hiking, or walking.
WIN COWGER
Environmental Pollution Researcher
Win is a PhD student and NSF graduate research fellow at the University of California Riverside. He studies the sources, transport, and fate of plastic pollution in the environment. His science focuses on identifying solutions to plastic pollution and assessing their effectiveness. As an applied scientists, Win works with nonprofit groups like Clean Trails, Let’s Do It World, National CleanUp Day and 5 Gyres, Government agencies like SCCWRP and the Ocean Protection Council, and academics to implement science in practice.
AMANDA WALLANDER ROBERTS
Program Development
With a background in helping non-profits, Amanda brings her knowledge of program development and evaluation to support the Clean Trails mission. She just moved to Colorado to further cultivate her appreciation for the outdoors through hiking and skiing, and thinks a litter-free environment is crucial for respecting and maintaining natural spaces. Amanda is a social sector consultant specializing in organizational development and evaluation. Her personal and professional goals revolve around helping non-profits and socially-minded organizations reach their full potential in achieving their mission.
JOE FORISH
New York, NY - Strategy & Fundraising
Joe grew up in the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania and developed an appreciation for the outdoors at a very young age. He has spent countless hours skiing, hiking, and camping. Always an advocate of keeping trails clean, he’s picked up countless pieces of litter on his many hikes across the globe. Joe’s personal mission is to raise awareness among his fellow hikers not to litter and also to help fellow hikers understand the benefits of picking up litter when they come across it.
While still an avid hiker and skier, he picked up surfing a few years ago and catches a wave whenever possible. He resides in Manhattan and enjoys getting outdoors at every chance he gets. Joe is an equity analyst that focuses on public equity investing. Prior to this, Joe worked as an investor in privately held companies for several years. He holds a B.S. in Finance and International Business from Pennsylvania State University and is a CFA charterholder. Joe’s goal for Clean Trails is to focus on strategies that grow the organization through external financial resources.
GINA ZANUTTO
Social Media
Young media professional with experience in journalism, marketing, printing, and public relations. Background in mass communication, project management, qualitative research, and event planning. Ambitious, organized and intelligent with rich international history.
Originally from Chicago, IL; Bachelor’s Degree from Manship School at Louisiana State University; Master’s Degree from the University of Tampere, Finland; Thesis research at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto, Canada; currently working and residing in Denver, CO.
ASHLEY HENYAN
Newsletter
Ashley Henyan is a writer, author and editor and enjoys volunteering as the newsletter editor for Clean Trails Inc. Originally form Corning, New York, and now a resident of Los Angeles, California, Ashley is earning an M.A. in English and Creative Writing with a concentration in Screenwriting from Southern New Hampshire University’s College of Online and Continuing Education. In 1998 she accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Maryland, College Park, and in 2002 graduated with a B.A. in Government and Politics. As an athlete, she was awarded multiple All-American honors and in 2004 was inducted into the Corning Painted – Post Sports Hall of Fame. In addition to her studies, Ashley is a writer for The Borgen Project and Borgen Magazine, and also works on the communications and marketing team at the American Red Cross. In her free time, she enjoys blogging and volunteering at the VA hospital. In addition to being a member of NAIWE, Ashley is actively involved with Red Cross Next Gen and the National Society of Leadership and Success. Her first published work of fiction is “Channel Surfing,”
TARA DE VITO
New York, NY - Strategy & Fundraising
Never one to sit still, native New Yorker, Tara DeVito is dedicated to the Clean Trails effort. A former college athlete, Tara is a team player with the determination to succeed. Her love and appreciation for the outdoors dates back to her childhood. Over the years she has covered much of the Adirondacks and the AT. She is well aware of the litter problem on our trails and is eager to get involved with the community to inspire change. Tara graduated from Bates College in 2005 and works in Finance in Manhattan. She lives in Gramercy with her dog Millie, though they’re both country girls at heart.
According to Earl Nightingale, “Our environment, the world in which we live and work, is a mirror of our attitudes and expectations.”
If I see litter, I pick it up. I’m not above that. I have always subscribed to the mentality that no task is too small and no job is too big. Cleaning up our trails is certainly no small task, but it is also not a futile endeavor. When I witness an act of litter, it typically stems from negligence. People need to be more mindful of their actions and surroundings.
LARA MCLAUGHLIN
Website
Lara is a tech-savvy artist who enjoys working on freelance web and visual design projects. She grew up on the East Coast; thanks to her father, she was exposed to nature and the wilderness at a young age. One of the less glamorous parts of this love of nature was her chore list, which included picking up trash by the side of roads. While Lara’s young self found this to be total drudgery, she has grown up to understand the importance of the acts. To this day, she can be seen picking up refuse others have left behind. She is a firm believer of the “Leave No Trace” outdoor ethic.
When not working, Lara can be found doing many of her favorite things, including: reading, taking her two crazy Australian Shepherds for adventures, and hanging out with her best friend and husband, Don. As a returned Peace Corps volunteer, it is not surprising that Lara brings passion to anything she does and Clean Trails is lucky to have her help.
RobB Hampton
Public Lands & Policy
Robb Hampton has a long history of connecting various groups with public lands and the outdoors. Most recently, Robb made these connections serving as Vice President of Partnerships - East Region for Student Conservation Association. Prior to this work Robb owned a consulting practice, Seneca Ridge Consulting. Clients included American Park Network, a ‘park-centric’ media company and American Recreation Coalition where Robb oversaw Great Outdoors Month and Capital Campouts.
For 15 years, Robb acted as Director of the Public Lands Program within the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF). During his tenure at NEEF, Robb grew National Public Lands Day to the largest single day volunteer event for public lands in the country. Robb quadrupled the number of participating sites and volunteers, developed several new partnerships, and instituted the Public Lands Tour with longtime corporate sponsor, Toyota. He also fundraised and developed a year long Public Lands Program which focused on building capacity for friends groups of public lands.
Robb earned a Bachelors of Science from Arizona State University. In Arizona, Robb worked as a counselor for Phoenix teens and as a teacher on Gila River Indian Reservation. Robb later worked as a Legislative Assistant/Specialist for the National Park Service Office of Legislative and Congressional Affairs.
Robb is a USA Cycling Category 2 cyclist and a USA Cycling Level 2 certified coach. He picks up trash during bike rides and fishing excursions. He current passion is giving away bikes to underserved families with a personal mission of making sure every kid has a bike to ride. He lives in Darnestown, Maryland with his wife and two daughters.
BEN TAYLOR
Digital Strategy
Ben first discovered his love of nature growing up in the Adirondacks where he spent all of his summers swimming in mountain lakes and working at a local Boy Scout Camp. He managed to achieve Eagle rank and complete a few sections of the Appalachian Trail prior to moving to Minnesota to attend college in a “part of the country I would otherwise never get to know.” He still calls Minnesota home base and loves the opportunities it offers to explore the North Shore of Lake Superior.
His absolute two favorite trips include a week-long backpacking trip in North Cascades National Park and a trip to the Arctic Circle last winter. In lieu of such big trips, this year, he has promised to try winter camping in the Boundary Waters Wilderness Area.