STAFF
Dr. Catherine Garoupa, Executive Director
Catherine (she/her & they/them) returned as Executive Director in December 2019. In this capacity, they spearhead policy advocacy for clean air in the San Joaquin Valley in close collaboration with coalition members, and manage internal operations. Dr. Catherine has a long history working on social and environmental justice issues in the Valley, where they were born and raised. In 2006, they were hired as CVAQ’s Madera County Community Organizer, then served as Director from 2009 to 2011. They left to pursue a PhD in Geography at UC Davis, working on community engaged research projects and completing their dissertation on the movement for clean air and environmental justice in the San Joaquin Valley. After graduating in 2016, Dr. Catherine advanced efforts to end extreme extraction and plan a just transition off fossil fuels with Californians Against Fracking and Dangerous Drilling, and served on the CVAQ Steering Committee from 2018 to 2019. Dr. Catherine has taught social work, geography, and community and regional development at California State University, Fresno, UC Davis, and CSU Sacramento and is currently a geography lecturer at CSU Stanislaus and Columbia College.
Contact Catherine at catherine@calcleanair.org
Katie Valenzuela, Policy Consultant
Katie Valenzuela (she/her) was born and raised in Oildale, Kern County. She has spent more than two decades fighting for social justice through community organizing and policy advocacy. Before joining CVAQ, Katie ran a consulting firm focused on supporting environmental justice groups working on state policy, served as Policy & Political Director for the California Environmental Justice Alliance, and was the first consultant for the Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change. She has also held positions focused on youth development, statewide education policy advocacy, and advancing food justice. She has extensive volunteer experience in Sacramento where she helped organize the Sacramento Urban Agriculture Coalition and the Sacramento Community Land Trust, and was appointed to be one of Sacramento area’s first representatives on the AB 32 Environmental Justice Advisory Committee. Katie has a bachelors and masters degree in community development from UC Davis. She lives in Sacramento with her two dogs, Kevin and Chevy, and serves on the Sacramento City Council.
Daniel Talamantes, Research and Communications Coordinator
A fourth-generation Central Valley native, Daniel Talamantes is a researcher, writer, and organizer with expertise in environmental justice, community-based research, and spatial analysis applied to policy and advocacy. With a background in social justice analysis of the criminal justice system, he has applied these frameworks to sustainability, land use, and pollution issues across California, collaborating with community organizations and regulatory agencies to strengthen grassroots participation in environmental decision-making. His research and teaching explore how data, culture, and local knowledge intersect to advance equity and collective self-determination.
Most recently, he has been organizing with the Clean Air Coalition of North Whittier and Avocado Heights on cumulative impacts and ground-truthing projects. He was Lecturer in the Chicanx Studies Department at the University of California, Davis, and is a Ph.D. candidate in Cultural Studies at Claremont Graduate University. Daniel can be reached at daniel@calcleanair.org