Alex McIntyre

Alex McIntyre has served as the City Manager of the City of Ventura since November 2018. Prior to his position at Ventura, McIntyre served as the City Manager of Menlo Park from 2012-2018.  He served as the City Manager of Lake Oswego in Oregon from 2008-2012.  He also served as the Chief Assistant County Administrator with the County of Marin from 2006-2008, and before that was Town manager of Tiburon from 2000-2006.  He also served as Town Manager of Portola Valley from 1997-2000.  Alex holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California and a bachelor's degree in Political Science from the University of California, Irvine.

Alexander Nguyen

Oxnard City Manager

Nguyen was appointed City manager in July 2018. He came to Oxnard with 20 years of municipal experience from the California cities of Oakland, Alameda, and Riverside. In Oakland, he served two years as Chief of Staff for a City Council office and 11 years as Chief of Staff for the elected City Attorney, where he was also co-creator and Executive Director of the Neighborhood Law Corps. The program won local, state, and national awards for government innovation, and continues to operate today.

In Alameda, Nguyen served as Assistant City Manager and led the turnaround of the Public Works department, which became only the second of its size in the Bay Area to gain professional accreditation. He also led the effort to build the city’s first dedicated Emergency Operations Center, along with a new fire station.

In Riverside, also as Assistant City Manager, Nguyen led the effort to fund and design a new Main Library and City Archive in the downtown. He also led the city’s Office of Homeless Solutions, which developed Riverside’s homeless policy and Housing First Plan, implemented in March 2018. His portfolio in Riverside also included Police, Fire, Parks, Museum, and Citizens Police Review Commission.

Nguyen began his professional career in social work, and is committed to volunteering. He served on the Board of Directors of Oakland’s Family Violence Law Center for 10 years, with four years as president. He recently served as Secretary of the Board for Thrive Networks, an international non-governmental organization that works to improve the health and well-being of underserved communities in Asia through evidence-based programs in the areas of water, sanitation, hygiene, and education. Thrive Networks’ programs have impacted over 1 million people living in poverty over the last 30 years.

Andrew Powers

Andrew Powers, a North Carolina native, has over 18 years of local government experience in cities spanning the East and West coasts. He currently serves as City Manager for the City of Thousand Oaks. As City Manager, Andrew is responsible for overseeing municipal operations servicing 130,000 residents with over 500 employees and an annual budget in excess of $150 million.

Prior to joining Thousand Oaks, Andrew’s experience included communications & media relations, web development, and community partnerships at the City of Ventura and leading marketing and corporate relations for the Parks & Recreation Department in Raleigh, North Carolina.

Andrew holds a BS degree from North Carolina State University and a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration from California Lutheran University. On a personal note, Andrew and his wife Ashley spend much of their free time with their toddler daughter, and also enjoy surfing, hiking, and exploring the globe.

Greg Ramirez

Mr. Ramirez was appointed City Manager for the City of Agoura Hills in February 2004, previously serving as that City’s Assistant City Manager. He had over four years of municipal government experience in several California cities before coming to the City of Agoura Hills.

Mr. Ramirez earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics from California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo in 1991, and a Masters degree in Economics from California State University, East Bay in 1995.

Mr. Ramirez has served on the Board of Trustees for the Conejo/Las Virgenes Future Foundation, and on the Los Robles Regional Hospital & Medical Center Board of Trustees. He has served as Chair of the Board of Trustees for Senior Concerns in Thousand Oaks, California. Previously, he was also involved with municipal advocacy at the League of California Cities, and is a member of the City Manager Executive Committee for the League of California Cities. Greg is also on a special Ad Hoc Committee of City Managers in Los Angeles County evaluating opportunities to improve contract services by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

Mr. Ramirez is married with three children; has coached a variety of youth sports; volunteers with various charitable organizations; is PTO President of his children’s school, St. Paschal Baylon; and enjoys being active in his community.

Dena Jenson (Moderator)

Dena Jenson has the great honor of serving as the Director of the Center for Nonprofit Leadership (CNL) at California Lutheran University. Once an initiative of the Ventura County Community Foundation, where it was founded in 1991, the Center for Nonprofit Leadership provides leadership development, training, technical assistance, and access to resources that reflect its name, strengthening the leadership of nonprofit organization serving the region.

With nearly 25 years of combined executive and nonprofit management experience, Dena frequently serves as a speaker and trainer on leadership development, organizational capacity, board governance and nonprofit business development. She believes deeply in the power of philanthropy and the nonprofit sector’s role in creating a just society. From small efforts taking shape around a kitchen table to our community’s most recognized charitable organizations, Dena is committed to the Center’s mission of “helping nonprofit leaders do better at doing good”.

Dena has a Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Southern California and a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science with a minor in Women’s Studies from California State University, Long Beach.

Dena currently serves on the boards of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Santa Barbara & Ventura Counties Chapter and the Townies Podcast, Inc. She is a former board member of the California Association of Nonprofits (CalNonprofits). A life-long learner, Dena completed Courage to Lead, a yearlong leadership development program for experienced executives. In 2018, she was selected Nonprofit Leader of the Year by the Ventura County Leadership Academy and was recognized as Community Advocate of the Year by the National Association of Women Business Owners, Ventura County Chapter.

She lives in Ventura with her husband Jim and a tuxedo cat who runs the show.

Joseph Collins

A veteran in the fields of education, arts and youth development, Joseph has spent most of his career creating opportunities for communities to express themselves and improve their lives by building safe and nurturing arts-rich environments in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Most recently as the President and CEO of Inner-City Arts where he was responsible for laying the foundation for the organization’s next chapter; developing its strategic vision, refreshing the social media presence, designing and implementing new and innovative program delivery models, creating a staff development and training program and introducing the organization to a new audience of partners, funders and supporters. A native New Yorker, Joseph relocated to LA with his family to lead the Kanye
West Foundation after the untimely death of his mother and its founder, Dr. Donda West. As CEO he led the implementation of Loop Dreams™, a year-round music and education program that exposed youth from the inner city to the arts. Alongside Mr. West, he executive produced the nationally televised stay in school concert series S.H.O.W (Students Helping Our World) bringing national awareness to the staggering drop out rate among High School students in the United States.

Joseph spent his early career working for two of the premiere non-profit agencies in New York City, The Door – A Center of Alternatives and University Settlement House. Serving over 12,000 youth annually, The Door grew under Joseph’s leadership – he built the visual and performing arts programs, launched a national career awareness model for out of school youth, and let the partnerships of several NYC school initiatives. He also created and produced Roots! An intergenerational hip hop culture celebration, a yearlong arts and education initiative; he formed a rigorous college prep program and managed a multi-year summer residential community service project. Joseph holds a BS and an MA from New York University and a Non-Profit Executive Management certificate from Columbia School of Business. He is a young benefactor with VH1 Save the Music, on the nominating committee for the NAACP Image awards, a board member with My Future Matters, an advisor to MusicianCorps, H2ED the Hip Hop Education Summit and B-Healthy (Building Healthy Eating and Lifestyles to Help Youth).

Amy Steinfeld

Amy Steinfeld serves as office managing partner of the Santa Barbara office. Her unique practice focuses on the intersection of land use and water law. Amy has more than a decade of experience in the permitting and development of controversial projects throughout the state.

She regularly advises water districts, regulated utilities, cities, developers, and agricultural interests, including nut and cannabis growers, in all aspects of water law. Her matters include water rights permitting and due diligence, complex groundwater adjudications, water transfers, urban water management planning, water supply/demand evaluations, infrastructure development, and all other matters associated with the use, conveyance, development and management of surface water and groundwater supplies.

Amy is also skilled in all facets of land development, from the preparation of environmental documents to the defense and settlement of complicated multi-party CEQA lawsuits, and ultimately to the implementation of fully permitted projects. Amy is recognized for her specialized experience in Colorado River Issues, Endangered Species Act compliance, and cannabis law. Amy’s broad understanding of environmental issues, her practical approach to the law, and her ability to work closely with local governments allow her to efficiently move projects forward and reduce permitting delays. Amy writes and speaks regularly on water and land use issues.

Amy is co-founder and co-chair of the California H2O Women Conference, which provides a formal opportunity for top women in the water industry to collaborate, coordinate, educate and support each other with the goal of empowering women to change the way we manage California’s and the world’s most important resource.

Before going into law, Amy served as the environmental director and an environmental consultant and analyst for the California Safety Compliance Corporation. She traveled to 37 countries to conduct social and environmental audits of factories for large manufacturing companies, and developed an environmental audit tool. When not at the office, Amy enjoys spending time with her son and taking photographs.

Harold Edwards

President & CEO

Mr. Edwards has served as a director of the company since 2009. Mr. Edwards has been the president and chief executive officer of the company since November 2004. Previously, Mr. Edwards was the president of Puritan Medical Products, a division of Airgas Inc. Prior to that, Mr. Edwards held management positions with Fisher Scientific International, Inc., Cargill, Inc., Agribrands International and the Ralston Purina Company. Mr. Edwards is currently a member of the board of directors of Compass Group Diversified Holdings LLC, a NASDAQ listed company and Calavo Growers, Inc., also a NASDAQ listed company. Mr. Edwards is a graduate of Lewis and Clark College and The American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird) where he earned a Masters of Business Administration.

Drew West

Drew West is the General Manager of Global Services, overseeing Global Support, Business Intelligence, and Data Capture for The Trade Desk.

Since joining The Trade Desk in 2014, Drew has built The Trade Desk’s Global Support and Business Intelligence delivery capability to include follow-the-sun coverage from offices in New York, London, Sydney and our headquarters in Ventura, California. Most recently, Drew has taken on The Trade Desk's Data Capture team to expand The Trade Desk’s capabilities in providing quality, actionable data that enhances the success of our clients.

Drew lives in Ojai, California and is an avid supporter of community service initiatives related to education, shelter and housing, food and nutrition, and at-risk senior and child assistance programs.