Coastkeeper welcomes Lee Barken, Everett DeLano, Stewart Halpern, and George Yermanos to its board of directors.

SAN DIEGO, March 28, 2013––San Diego Coastkeeper, an environmental organization that protects and restores fishable, swimmable, and drinkable waters in San Diego County, welcomes Lee Barken, Everett DeLano, Stewart Halpern, and George Yermanos to its board of directors.

According to Board of Directors President Jo Brooks, the new members’ diverse professional and environmental experiences will significantly increase the board’s capability to support Coastkeeper’s mission and staff.

Lee Barken is the energy and cleantech practice leader at Haskell & White, LLP, one of the largest independently owned accounting and business advisory firms in Southern California. He specializes in renewable energy project finance, public policy analysis, and environmental commodities consulting. 3A CPA and LEED accredited professional, Barken is also an active member of the boards of CleanTECH San Diego and the San Diego Venture Group and serves as treasurer on the board of directors at the San Diego Workforce Partnership. He resides in Chula Vista.

Everett DeLano is an attorney who specializes in land use and environmental law, with a commitment to preserving and protecting communities and the natural environment. With expertise encompassing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Clean Water Act, he represents homeowners’ associations, non-profit organizations, and neighborhood groups and individuals. Earlier in his career, he worked with the Natural Resources Defense Council in Los Angeles, the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund in Denver, and the Land and Water Fund of the Rockies in Boulder, Colorado. DeLano lives in Valley Center and his firm, DeLano & DeLano, is based in Escondido.

Stewart Halpern has a broad business background with over 30 years of experience as the senior financial executive of companies such as San Diego-based Mad Catz Interactive, videogame publisher Rock Star Games, and entertainment entrepreneur Russell Simmons’ Rush Communications, along with extensive Wall Street experience as a sell-side equity analyst and investment banker. Since stepping down as CFO from Mad Catz in late 2010, he has been independently advising a number of private companies on strategic, financial and operational matters while also serving as the treasurer on the board of Free Flight, a nonprofit exotic bird sanctuary in Del Mar. Halpern is a La Jolla resident.

George Yermanos is the vice president and director of property management for Sudberry Properties, a San Diego based real estate development and asset management firm that emphasizes long-term environmental sustainability in its properties and practices. George oversees a retail portfolio of approximately 2.5 million square feet. A certified shopping center manager (CSM) and former chairperson of the International Council of Shopping Centers, San Diego, he has 25 years of experience focused on retail and office construction and management in the San Diego region. He lives in Encinitas.

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San Diego Coastkeeper

Founded in 1995, San Diego Coastkeeper protects and restores fishable, swimmable, and drinkable waters in San Diego County. For more information, visit San Diego Coastkeeper online at http://www.sdcoastkeeper.org.

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