Udall Alumni Association

The UAA is a volunteer-run organization, lead by the UAA Board of Directors.

Micah Leinbach, President

I’m an educator by training, having started an outdoor education company in northern Michigan that used social learning techniques to do social justice education in wilderness classrooms. I’ve since shifted into the corporate world, where I now work in corporate leadership development for an education technology startup. My background is in environmental studies, and at various times I figured I’d be involved in urban agriculture, green energy financing, wildlife biology, community organizing, and more. The outdoors and now higher education won out in the end!

Abby Halperin, Vice President

Abby is a climate change specialist with a passion for connecting people and science. She is currently working on climate change, forest conservation, and water policies for the Pacific Forest Trust in San Francisco. Eager to learn more about climate science, policy, and communication, Abby completed a MSc in Environmental Change and Management at the University of Oxford. Prior to her time in England, she worked to translate science to a range of audiences while coordinating environmental education programs in New York City and Colorado. She holds a BA in Biology and Environmental Studies from Oberlin College. Abby is a 2010 and 2011 Udall Scholar and joined the UAA Board in 2017.

Sol Eagle Road, Treasurer/Secretary

I am an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. Interested in minority communities, I have been studying Chinese, Japanese, Spanish and Latin from 6 months, to 10 years depending on the language. Ethnic sovereignty is above the most important thing to build secure and viable communities among the dance bourgeoisie politics plays today.

Shah Hussein, Chair, Mentorship Committee

Shah Noor Hussein is a writer, educator, and unapologetic queer black feminist with an M.A. in Anthropology and previous work in gender studies, urban environments, and teaching pedagogies. Shah recently served as a Writing & Scholarship Fellow at the California Institute of Integral Studies and currently work as a guest lecturer, freelance writer, and aspiring doctoral student. Their future work aims to (re)center marginalized voices in dialogues on alternative epistemologies and cultural reproduction.

Isobel Araujo, Communications Chair

Isobel is a graduating senior at American University, majoring in Environmental Studies and double-minoring in Communications and Spanish and looking towards a graduate degree in human geography or urban planning. Throughout her academic and professional work, she researched and explored sustainable and equitable urban development policies. She uses her communications background relying on special expertise in video editing, design, and web development as tools for community engagement. Her academic and professional experiences in Latin America influence her perspective on urban issues, and have strengthened my commitment to equitable, livable, sustainable and innovative cities.

Zack Davidson, Member

Zack is the Senior Associate with Ecosystem Investment Partners (“EIP”), a Baltimore-based investment manager focused on developing environmental restoration projects across the US. Zack’s work involves managing the financial performance of EIP’s portfolio and identifying new opportunities for investment. Prior to EIP, Zack worked as an investment banking analyst with Barclays, providing capital markets advisory services to natural resources companies. Zack graduated from New York University with a degree in Environmental Studies and a focus on Finance and Social Entrepreneurship.

Andrew Schoen, Member

Andrew is a Principal at NEA and is a founder of the firms’ NYC office. Prior to NEA, Andrew was an Analyst at Blackstone. In addition, Andrew co-founded Flicstart, a digital media company that was acquired in 2015. Andrew received his MS as a Schwarzman Scholar at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He received his BA from Cornell University where he studied Economics and Science of Earth Systems. Andrew serves on the Advisory Council for Entrepreneurship at Cornell and is President Emeritus of the Cornell Venture Capital Club.

Cailey Gibson, Mentorship Co-chair

I originally (and proudly!) hail from Vermont but I now live in the San Francisco Bay Area and have worked both domestically and internationally in public health and community development for the last eight years. I have a Masters in Public Health from UC Berkeley and a Bachelors in Political Science and Environmental Studies from Carleton College. I’m particularly interested in using community based participatory research and evaluation to advance health equity and environmental conservation efforts. I joined the Board in 2017.

Vanessa Alejandro, Regional Networks Committee Chair

I live in Boulder, Colorado and am from Texas. Absolutely LOVE boulder, perfect amount of hippie for me. I love music, dancing, singing, all of it! I was headed toward being a PhD scientist in climate science, but have since moved into working for tech startups. My goal is to eventually move into Venture Capital and fund companies that are social enterprises. I specifically want to work with companies in the energy and education sector. I like to go outdoors, hike, ski, read, dance, and go to concerts!