Sally Dannemiller • Executive Committee Chair
An active member of the Miami Group for the last five years, Sally has served as Chair for the past two years. Her interests lie with conservation -- the protection of our environment in Southwestern Ohio; opposing the continued extraction of fossil fuels and expansion of that infrastructure; working toward waste diversion from landfills and concern about pollution from PFAS and other threats to our air, land and water. She is a big believer in getting the word out about things people need to know and how they can take action to support environmental goals. A former teacher, Sally has worked diligently with a number of communities and nonprofits over the many years that she has called Cincinnati home. In her free time, she likes to hike, bike and paddle.
Marie Kocoshis • Vice Chair, Executive Committee Member, Conservation Chair
Nancy Bertaux • Executive Committee Member
Nancy is Professor Emeritus of Economics & Sustainabiity from Xavier University, where she founded and directed two interdisciplinary undergraduate academic programs; served as Chair of Xavier’s Sustainability Committee; ran a sustainability speaker series; supervised student sustainability interns; published articles on sustainability topics; and advised students on a variety of real world volunteer sustainability projects in the Cincinnati area. She also co-directed a student sustainability study trip to Colorado and represented Xavier on the Greater Cincinnati Green Business Council. She has taught many courses in workforce diversity and sees equity and justice as integral to environmental goals. She is a lifelong Cincinnati resident and would like to focus her volunteer efforts in her retirement here.
Larry Falkin • Executive Committee Member
Larry has been a Sierra Club Member for more than 25 years. He served as Director of the City of Cincinnati's Office of Environment and Sustainability from 2007-2020, and managed MSD's Green Infrastructure program from 2020-2022. He held previous positions with the City of Kansas City, Mo., and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Now retired, Larry is likely to be found engaged in outdoor activities, especially canoeing. His policy interests include climate protection, sustainability, energy, waste management, and stormwater management. In addition to Sierra Club, Larry is an active volunteer with the Mill Creek Alliance, Adventure Crew, and Green Umbrella.
Gail Lewin • Executive Committee Member, Political Chair
Gail has been a Sierra Club member since 2003, and has served several terms on the Executive Committee and as the Chair of the Miami Group Sierra Club Political Committee. That Committee has endorsed numerous candidates for local, state and federal elections. She feels it is important to let our members know which candidates support environmentally friendly policies, laws and regulations.
Barry Randall • Executive Committee Member, Outings Chair, Communications Chair
Barry has been a member of Sierra Club since 2007, and an active Outings Leader since 2013. After retiring from a 30+ year career with GE he became the Miami Group Outings Chair, and now serves as Executive Liaison to the Communications Committee as well.
Susan Sprigg • Executive Committee Member
Susan Sprigg has spent her career working toward healthy, sustainable communities. Much of her work has been focused on public health and health care; however, in the past decade she has increasingly felt called to address public health by addressing the health of the planet and ecosystems that support us. Currently the Director of Operations at Cardinal Land Conservancy, she also serves on the Environmental Advisory Board for the City of Cincinnati, and is a certified Electric Coach with Rewiring America, a member of the Izaak Walton League, and a Climate for Health Ambassador from ecoAmerica. She strongly believes that humans are part of nature, rather than separate from it, and is interested in discovering ways to integrate sustainability into everything we do. This includes continued expanding our audience to pull in new partners in the work.
Braden Trauth • Executive Committee Member
Braden Trauth, a lifelong Cincinnati resident with deep roots, is an Assistant Professor of Industrial Design at UC’s College of DAAP and has spent 25 years studying and practicing Sustainability and Sustainable Design. This includes building and living in off-grid homes called earthships, studying permaculture with the founders of the field in Australia, establishing the Cincinnati Permaculture Institute and its edible/native landscape nursery, Growing Value, and training hundreds of students and leaders in the field. He has also served on numerous local non-profit and government boards with strong focus or missions in sustainability including the City of Cincinnati’s Environmental Advocacy Committee and Urban Agriculture Advisory Board where he was president as well as the Midwest’s Professional Permaculture Organization where he just stepped down from a four-year role as board president for the six-state region.
Grace Behrman • Treasurer
Grace is a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University studying Energy Policy and Climate. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies from the University of Cincinnati, where she focused on climate communication and local sustainability initiatives. Grace has worked with organizations including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, and the Mill Creek Alliance, gaining experience in environmental communications, program coordination, and data management.
