Meet our Board of Directors
Irma R. Muñoz
President
Irma R. Muñoz is the Founder/President of Mujeres de la Tierra. She has held many positions in the public sector, and the position she is most proud of is being a presidential appointee with the Clinton Administration serving in Washington D.C. with the U.S. Small Business Administration. She earned her BA from the University of California, San Diego and her Juris Doctorate from the Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California.
Irma Muñoz serves as a member of the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Adán Ortega, Jr.
Interim Chairman
Adán Ortega, Jr. is the sole proprietor of AOA, a public, and government affairs practice and is involved in other business ventures involving water conservation and consumer goods. He has devoted most of his twenty-five year career as a senior executive in strategic planning and communications in the public sector and business arena playing prominent roles as board member on organizations such as the California State Board of Food and Agriculture, Whittier College, Heal the Bay, Roots of Change, Sustainable Conservation and the National Audubon Society.
Adán is 50 years-old, fully fluent in Spanish. Adán has a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Whittier College and was a fellow with the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation.
Samantha Martinez
Treasurer
Samantha Martinez has over twenty years of experience in advocacy, community engagement, and government affairs. Before starting Kindel Gagan, Samantha was a principal with Rose & Kindel from 1996 through 2009. Samantha has a breadth of experience managing a diverse combination of clients in industries and interests ranging from entertainment and education to public works and technology. She represents clients before multiple jurisdictions in Southern California and has experience working with officials at all levels of government. On behalf of both public and private sector clients, Samantha develops and executes comprehensive public affairs programs to gain support for a broad range of issue areas.
Lynda Noriega
Lynda Noriega is the current Vice President/General Manager of California Domestic Water Company, a wholesale mutual water company based in Whittier, California. She started her career in the water industry with Valley County Water District, a retail water district located in Baldwin Park, California, on September 11, 2001, serving as the Operations Assistant, Water Quality Specialist, Finance & Administrative Manager and Interim General Manager before her appointment as General Manager in February 2011. Lynda served in the capacity of General Manager for Valley County Water District until her hire with California Domestic Water Company in March 2016. Lynda obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Accounting Theory from California State University, Fullerton in 2007. She is happily married to her husband, George Noriega, and has two young children, Damien and Audrey.
Elsa Lopez currently works at the Department of Toxic Substance as a Public Participation Specialist. She is the former head of the Mothers of East Los Angeles and served as the first Director of the Audubon Center located in Highland Park.
Elsa Lopez
Tracy Egoscue is the founder of Egoscue Law Group, her unique range of experiences as a former regulator, private sector employee, and public interest attorney makes her uniquely situated to understand and analyze complex environmental matters from a multitude of perspectives. Ms. Egoscue received her J.D. from George Washington University in Washington D.C., and her B.A. from the University of California, Santa Barbara and is also licensed to practice in Connecticut.