Meet Deb Kramer | Founder and Executive Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Deb Kramer and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Deb, let’s start by talking about what inspires you?
I draw inspiration from how our community members come together to learn, play, and be in our natural environment. As I conduct my work, I see how energized they can be as they meet new people. Also, I love observing that “ah ha” moment when a young person can connect different aspects of nature, such as a bird and an insect as its food. My colleagues showcase their many talents with the community we have built. One example is my entomologist friend who leads our BioBlitz events, where we explore a park and as community scientist document nature. Another colleague is an artist, and together we have created murals painted by community members and an educational activity to take kids on a journey through our watershed through performance art. Each of these people and our active community members inspire me to keep working towards a healthy environment.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
My nonprofit is based on a model of community activism. We coalesce around Coyote Creek, a 64-mile long river that starts in the mountains of a state park, flows through a beautiful valley, past downtown San Jose, and empties into San Francisco Bay. Along this creek, we see an incredible diversity of wildlife, but we also experience a lot of problems that are similar to other urban areas. Our goal is to connect people to the creek, and the ways to do so are varied. To accomplish our goal, we bring hundreds of volunteers each month together to conduct creek cleanups, park beautification, tree planting, nature walks, and more, mostly through our partnerships. And, through our partners, such a Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society, collectively we can expand our outreach and cross-pollinate our participants.

These efforts to create community by working together is what sets us apart from other organizations. But, with that emphasis comes the challenge of how to manage all the work with a limited staff while operating mostly with grants. Operating a nonprofit has to be sustainable, and the only way we can grow is to expand our diversity of income. To do so, I’ve recruited additional board members and have helped them form working committees and collaborated with them to create a strategic plan to keep us focused.

Our brand consistently is one of teamwork, excellence, fun, and partnership. My leadership of collaborating with others (individuals, groups, other nonprofits, businesses) separates us from other groups who are working towards similar goals. I am proud of our team and the work we do together.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
My favorite places to go mainly involve being outdoors. A favorite hike is Purisima Redwoods Open Space Preserve in the Santa Cruz mountains. Another highlight is the Pacific Ocean at Año Nuevo, where elephant seals spend the winter. Mt Diablo State Park and Henry Coe State Park in late spring are my favorites for their great wildflower displays of significant variety since we hike several thousand feet through various ecosystems. Another fun activity is birdwatching along various points of San Francisco Bay, including the Palo Alto Baylands or Alviso’s Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge, both of which are filled with migrating birds during the winter.

Food is another hallmark of the Bay Area, where so many cultures have established wonderful restaurants. Vino is my favorite Italian restaurant in San Francisco. Monsoon Himalayan Cuisine in Half Moon Bay has become a recent favorite. Acme bread is a staple for people who live here, with their sourdough foccacia. Chuck’s Donuts has fresh apple fritters. I love shopping at Sigona’s Farmers Market located in Redwood City and Stanford Shopping Center for the local fresh seasonal produce that I can buy anytime of the year. Finally, Zachary’s Pizza in Oakland has the best ever pizza: stuffed spinach with pesto. I’ve been eating that pizza for over 30 years.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Merav Vonshak has been a guiding force as a collaborator for BioBlitz events for seven years now. These events are short in nature, about 2.5 h, and involve naturalists leading a group of people through the park to learn and document all living things using iNaturalist. We started with a few BioBlitz events to explore a few parks along Coyote Creek. Then, through the good fortune of a few grants, we were able to expand our offerings to monthly events, and even hosted virtual events during the Covid pandemic. We explored Henry Coe State Park, which not very many people have seen, which is the headwaters of Coyote Creek to create a series of short videos.

And, now, we have a new series called Naturalist Trainings, where we host a presentation followed by Q&A on a variety of topics related to local nature and how to best experience it. Our hope is that those that participate will our BioBlitz events, or better be able to host their own or grow their understanding of the natural world and how to share that with others.

To-date, we’ve had over 160 people sign up for the six Naturalist Trainings and over 3,500 participants in our 77 BioBlitz in-person events. Now, that’s a big impact that we’ve been able to make together. And, from our collaboration, she now has a business and gives talks, and collaborates with other organizations to host BioBlitz events.

Website: https://keepcoyotecreekbeautiful.org

Instagram: coyotecreeksj

Linkedin: debkramer

Youtube: @KeepCoyoteCreekBeautiful

Image Credits
Deb Kramer, Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful, Merav Vonshak