Our Team

Martin Bourque is a renowned environmental expert who has led the Berkeley Ecology Center since 2000. Under Martin’s leadership, the Ecology Center operates the nation’s first and longest-running curbside recycling program and pioneers zero waste policy solutions at the local level, which have national and international implications. Martin has spearheaded innovative efforts such as the Berkeley Food Policy Council, the Berkeley Climate Action Coalition, California Alliance of Farmers’ Markets, Market Match (electronic food stamp access and incentives at farmers’ markets), and the nation’s first soda tax. Martin connects the local with the global, has advised on public policy at the local, state, and national levels, and is engaged with international partners fighting plastic pollution across the globe. Martin pioneered GPS tracking of scrap plastic exports and has been part of international policy processes such as the Basel Convention on Waste Trade and the Global Plastics Treaty. By linking local grassroots grit with highly competent program implementation and effective policy advocacy, Martin has led the Ecology Center to become a high-impact engine for change. Martin has been featured in numerous films and documentaries, including Bag It, The Story of Plastic, and the Netflix Series Broken: Recycling Sham, and is a trusted source for news agencies from the Los Angeles Times and the Sacramento Bee to the New York Times and The Guardian.

Alex Danovitch brings a unique perspective to his work, derived from over 25 years of experience in zero waste and recycling social enterprise development, planning, implementation, and policy. He uses his financial acumen and boots-on-the-ground experience to provide real-world solutions that move towards innovative system change, resulting in over $30 million in zero-waste infrastructure investments from the projects he’s worked on. He is currently Director of Strategy and Business Development at Recycle Ann Arbor in Michigan, where he is leading the development of a 21-acre eco-park as a model of local circularity as well as supporting the organization’s business development and financial modeling for their MRF, municipal collections program, hard-to-recycle drop-off, and construction and demolition recovery yard. From 2001 to 2018, he worked at Eureka Recycling, the largest nonprofit recycler in North America, most recently as Vice President, and continues to serve on the board. As an independent consultant with Nothing Left to Waste, Alex has worked with numerous municipalities, nonprofits, and colleges on zero-waste planning, implementation, and research. He is a frequent presenter and has authored several reports and articles. Alex is a TRUE-certified Zero Waste Advisor certified by the US Green Building Council.

Michael Garfield has worked for health, environment, and justice in Michigan for over 30 years, and has served as Executive Director of the Ecology Center since 1993. He’s been one of Michigan’s leading voices on environmental issues, and an architect of some of the state’s most ambitious municipal initiatives in land use, transit, and solid waste.

Under his leadership, the Ecology Center has grown from a primarily local organization focused on Washtenaw County into a regional innovation center with a national reputation. Over the past two decades, the Ecology Center spearheaded a statewide campaign that closed all of Michigan’s medical waste incinerators, established the Midwest’s largest locally funded land preservation program, created the country’s premier consumer product toxic testing service, and won the nation’s Top Community Recycler award. The Ecology Center has offices and facilities in Ann Arbor and Detroit, and is the parent organization of Recycle Ann Arbor.

Michael’s advocacy work specializes in environmental health, climate change, zero waste, and land use policy. He was one of the principal architects of Ann Arbor’s nationally regarded recycling program, leading campaigns that funded major public investments in the program’s infrastructure. Between 1999 and 2005, he led or co-led six successful ballot campaigns to preserve over 10,000 acres of land in southeast Michigan, including campaigns that created the Washtenaw County Natural Areas Program and the Ann Arbor Parks and Greenbelt Program. He was one of the leaders of the 2014 ballot campaign to expand transit service in Washtenaw County. He’s testified before congressional, state legislative, and local committees, and served on numerous nonprofit and public boards and commissions.

Lynn Hoffman was previously the Co-President of Eureka Recycling, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit social enterprise whose mission is to demonstrate that waste is preventable, not inevitable. Lynn joined Eureka in 2003 and has held various roles overseeing community engagement, advocacy, education, policy, and human resources. Considered a national expert in zero waste recycling systems and policies, particularly regarding climate and plastic pollution, Lynn works with other organizations, companies, and governments to advise, strategize, and implement authentic recycling, plastics reduction, and zero waste policy and program solutions. In 2020, Lynn was invited to Washington, D.C., to testify before the House Energy and Commerce Committee on the environment and climate change. Lynn has served on the boards of the Minnesota Composting Council and the Minnesota Environmental Fund. She, her husband, Andy, and her daughter, Wren, live in (and love) Minneapolis.

Marti is the Deputy Director at Eco-Cycle, where she has worked for 30 years. Having been in leadership at this pioneering organization for many years, Marti has been part of creating many zero-waste “firsts” in the nation, from educational and outreach programs to operational systems and public policy. She is considered a national expert in creating words, images, and communications tools to change a community’s environmental behavior and to increase recycling and waste reduction participation. She has developed many communications materials used nationally and internationally to frame the zero waste movement and has more than 30 years of experience organizing community campaigns. She is a guidelines expert and works directly with the Boulder County Recycling Center leadership to establish the community’s recycling rules. She is also trained in mediation and Hakomi Therapy.

Bryan has 30 years of experience that spans a cross-section of public and private solid waste fields, including collections, transfer, processing, financing, and policy expertise. Before his appointment as CEO of RAA, Bryan served as Co-President of Eureka Recycling, the nation’s largest non-profit recycler located in Minnesota. Under his leadership, Eureka was awarded processing contracts for the two largest cities, Saint Paul and Minneapolis. Bryan was also involved in financing, design, construction, and commissioning of MRFs in Northwest and South Arkansas. He also directed Business Development for Eco-Cycle in Boulder, Colorado, the nation’s second-largest private non-profit recycler. Bryan is currently CEO at Recycle Ann Arbor, a 40-year-old, mission-driven, non-profit recycler who started one of the nation’s first curbside recycling collection programs and has been the city’s only recycling collector. Recycle Ann Arbor also owns and operates a 40,000 tons/year MRF, a ReUse Center, a Construction & Demolition recovery facility, and a comprehensive public Drop-Off Station that accepts 19 non-traditional and hard-to-recycle items.

Suzanne “Zan” Jones has over 30 years of experience and expertise in environmental and climate policy in the non-profit and government sectors. Suzanne is in her ninth year as the executive director of the Boulder County non-profit Eco-Cycle, one of the nation’s oldest and largest non-profit recyclers dedicated to innovating, implementing, and advocating for waste reduction, recycling, composting, and other zero-waste solutions. Suzanne also recently finished eight years of public service on the Boulder City Council (2011-2019), the last four as Boulder’s Mayor. Previously, Suzanne worked for 16 years for The Wilderness Society, where she served as the Central Rockies Regional Director, leading coalition efforts to protect our nation’s public lands. Before moving back to Colorado, Suzanne worked in Washington, D.C., for the National Wildlife Federation and as congressional staff for the Fisheries & Wildlife Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives. Suzanne has an M.S. in Resource Policy and Management from the University of Michigan’s School of Natural Resources and a B.S. in Natural Resources from Cornell University.