JKA Group Associates

Thomas M. Baker

Tom is the lead planner for James Kent Associates in Pacific Rim projects. Tom brings his background of facilitation, long and short-range planning, public process, and management organization projects. He is former Town Manager of Basalt and neighboring town of Carbondale. He is current researching and writing on the heart and soul of planning in America.

Eric S. Casino

Eric has more than 30 years of experience as a social anthropologist. He is actively engaged in university lecturing, applied research, consulting with governments and corporations in the fields of education, project evaluation, culture-based marketing, social impact assessment, and cross-cultural management. His area of specialization is in Philippines and Southeast Asia.

Lesley Cusick

Lesley is an environmental, social, and land use impact analysis and communications professional with over 30 years of experience with federal and private sector projects. Lesley is the Community and Stakeholder Engagement lead for RSI EnTech, LLC and a Senior Associate for the Center for Social Ecology and Public Policy. Lesley has published numerous articles on Social Ecology in the International Right of Way Magazine, as well as prepared peer-reviewed technical papers on the concept of Social License to Operate. Through RSI she is the Managing Director of Leaders in Energy and Preservation (LEAP) an organization that brings together heritage preservation firms and industry partners to enable the development of energy resources in a manner that preserves heritage resources.

Eric Darsow

In 2009, Eric completed a 4 week summer field school presented by the Center for Social Ecology and Public Policy in collaboration with the Southern Oregon University Departments of Environmental Studies and Social Science, Policy, and Culture. In 2010, he joined the JKA team in Washington State to assess local concerns regarding future Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land management practices.

Luis Ibañez

Luis has worked on a variety of projects for JKA over the years and he brings a matchless style of relating with others that has helped our projects establish trust and positive relations so critical to success. His community fieldwork and research skills are highly valued and he is prized for his ability to elicit stories that offer great insights about why people do what they do. Fluent in both Spanish and English, he has worked on projects related to recreation, conservation, urban re-development and economic development.

James Kent

President and CEO of JKA Group

Jim is known for his innovations, accomplishments and international expertise in empowering partnerships between communities, corporations and governments. He is the founder, developer and theorist of work developed and implemented at the JKA Group.

Lyle Laverty

Former Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish Wildlife and Parks, Lyle was nominated as assistant Secretary of the Interior by President Bush and was confirmed by the United States Senate and sworn into office on October 30, 2007. In this capacity, he had policy responsibility for policies and programs associated with the development, conservation and utilization of fish, wildlife, and recreation, historical resources of the Nation.

Pat Lynch

Pat grew up in Mount Hood California where the abundance of outdoor activities and natural resources grew into a life time career with the U.S. Forest Service (USDA). After retiring from USFS, Pat became a consultant with JKA Group, bringing his expertise in natural resources and public policy to the team.

Trish Malone

Communications Director Pacific Rim

Trish Malone is a senior associate with expertise in successfully fostering citizen engagement toward creating sustainable change. Her background as a cultural anthropologist provides insight and sensitivity in connecting diverse groups of people and their place with their desire for culturally appropriate planning and implementation. Trish travels between her home and office in Sonoma County California to Hawaii where she oversees Pacific Rim projects. She has seen many levels of project work from project management, coordinator and liaison between citizen groups and formal agencies, community field research, and facilitation of community events and meetings.

Kevin Preister

Director of the Center for Social Ecology and Public Policy and Natural Borders

Kevin has been with the JKA Group for nearly 30 years and offers expertise in natural resource management, urban rural development, and social service delivery. Central to his experience has been the understanding of the natural systems within human communities are place-based, geographically-centered, and are responsible for caretaking, survival, and cultural beliefs, traditions, and practices.

John Ryan

His years of consulting experience has related to the opportunities and problems associated with economic growth. He has conducted scores of market feasibility studies and economic impact reports. The subjects have included housing projects, commercial and industrial parks, performing arts centers, hospitals, golf courses, airports, new towns and other commercial developments.

Bob Schultz

Bob Schultz, AICP has provided strategic planning, land use planning, and issue management services to public, private, and non-profit sector clients. He has written land use regulations for public sector clients, prepared applications and represented clients in land use entitlement processes, and has trained local officials in an issue management approach to land use decisions. His other areas of interest include sustainable development, green business development, and community-based economic development.

Gary Severson

Gary is the Executive Director of the Northwest Colorado Council of Governments, headquartered in Silverthorne, Colorado. Northwest Colorado Council of Governments serves 28 county and municipal governmental jurisdictions in the high mountain resort areas of the state.

Jerónimo Soliz

Jeronimo has a background in archaeology, with a focus on Southwest U.S. Native American cultures. He brings his expertise of Native cultures to projects across the Southwest and Hawaiian Islands.

Richard Stem

Rich is a highly respected professional US Forester with 28 years of resource management experience in government organizations. Rich brings his lifetime of experience in program management including engineering, biology, geology, archeology, construction, finance, administration and logistics, as well as developing external partnerships and conflict resolution.

Tiff Thompson

Since the year 2000, Tiff has been pursuing environmental justice. In her professional life, Tiff has developed over 8,000 megawatts of wind energy projects in state throughout the central and Western regions of the United States. She began her career in wind energy by relocating from Washington DC to a small town in South Dakota, and procuring over 350,000 acres for a multi-gigawatt wind farm over the course of one year.