Speakers and Workshops

John Foran teaches Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is a scholar-activist in the global climate justice movement, the center of the struggle for achieving social justice and radical social change in the 21st century. A lot of his work is published at www.resilience.org. He is an active member of Transition US, Democratic Socialists of America, System Change Not Climate Change, 350.org, the Green Party of California, Extinction Rebellion, and Symbiosis Revolution.

Eli Spevak, the Tiny Footprint Expo 2019 Keynote Speaker, has been developing affordable housing communities in Oregon for over 20 years, starting as a volunteer construction supervisor with Habitat for Humanity. In 2006, he launched Orange Splot, LLC to build new models of community-oriented, affordable, green housing development. Eli was awarded a Loeb Fellowship in Advanced Environmental Studies at the Harvard GSD, co-founded www.accessorydwellings.org, co-founded Portland for Everyone, and now serves on Portland's Planning and Sustainability Commission.

As Founder of NOAH Certified, Robin Butler brings over 40+ years of experience building homes. His experience working with permitting, inspectors and Planning and Zoning provides a deep body of knowledge for the building process. He founded NOAH Certified, a nation-wide inspection and certification service for tiny houses.

Heidi Harmon is the Mayor of San Luis Obispo. She's an experienced community organizer, climate change activist and public speaker with a track record of success impacting positive change through coalition building, policy advocacy and public education.

Daniel R. Fitzpatrick, Director of Government Relations and Advocacy for The American Tiny House Association, has made numerous presentations to municipalities throughout the State of California. Because of his over 40 years of local government and developer experience, he has been working with municipal governments to amend their planning and zoning codes to permit movable tiny houses as ADU's. He is also working with several California municipalities for demonstration infill tiny home projects.

Eric Veium graduated from Cal Poly with a degree in Industrial Engineering. Prior to graduating, Eric was actively involved in campus sustainability efforts through the Empower Poly Coalition, as President of Cal Poly Biodiesel, and as founding member of the Green Campus Program. Eric is currently an Energy and Sustainability Analyst at Cal Poly and Task Force Chair for the SLO Climate Coalition, assisting the City of San Luis Obispo in becoming carbon neutral by 2035.  

Anastasia Nicole has a BA in Psychology from UC Berkeley and is a certified by GBCI as a TRUE Advisor, helping businesses and institutions in their quest to reduce wasteful practices. Before the move to SLO, Anastasia worked as a Zero Waste consultant in the Bay Area for over 14 years. She also served with Sustainable Contra Costa (SCOCO) to promote the One Planet Living Principles, co-taught Pachamama Alliance's "Introduction to Drawdown," and co-founded the October Zero Waste Challenge. She is a passionate gardener, gleaner, Master Composter, and soil builder. She currently heads the Zero Waste Task Force of the SLO Climate Coalition.

Stacey Hunt spent her early years camping all over California and Oregon and playing at her family's beach house at Monterey Bay. She raised her children to appreciate wild nature and now enjoys life in beautiful Los Osos. Since co-founding Ecologistics in 2010, Stacey has dedicated much of her free time to bringing environmental enlightenment to others.

Jerry Rioux has been executive director of the San Luis Obispo County Housing Trust Fund (HTF) since 2003. The HTF's mission is to increase the supply of affordable housing throughout San Luis Obispo County. It provides financing and technical assistance for housing projects that include affordable units. Jerry has a long and broad career in the affordable housing and community development field. It began in 1972 as a research assistant for a Community Action Agency. Over his career, Jerry has worked for nonprofit corporations and for both state and local governments. He has also worked as a private consultant and real estate broker for affordable housing projects. Jerry earned a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Southern California. He has taught college courses in both real estate and urban planning.  

Joe Pollon has been building and remodeling homes since 1992. As a general contractor, he was often asked about guest houses that are more affordable than conventional construction but more livable and attractive than recreational vehicles. Tiny homes emerged as an economical option. Inspired to create beautifully decorated comfortable homes within the constraints of the tiny house maximum size, he and his wife started Central Coast Tiny Homes to offer their innovative, expanding tiny homes to the public.

Catie Michel graduated with a B.S. in Animal Science and minors in Wildlife Biology and Environmental Science. Catie interned with Ecologistics, the Morro Bay Estuary Program, and was a marine biology research assistant in Baja California. She is now on the education team at the Great Farallones Association in San Francisco working with family workshops, Oceans After School, and other programs.

Victoria Rose Carranza studied Environmental Management and Protection, Sustainable Environments and City & Regional Planning at Cal Poly. While a student, she founded the SLO Sierra Student Coalition, and served on the boards of California Student Sustainability Coalition and the Empower Poly Coalition. Victoria served as a Ranger Aid for SLO County Parks & Rec before finding her true calling as an Education Director with One Cool Earth, an organization that installs school gardens throughout the county and develops programs, services, and resources that foster a healthy and educated global community.