2009 Board of Directors:
Board members receive no compensation for their position
Gayle Borst, President
Company/Organization: Owner, Stewardship, Inc.
Years as a Board member: 3+
Gayle was a founding member of the Sustainable Building Coalition, DBL’s predecessor organization, and has been actively involved in the organizations for 18 years. She has served as the program coordinator for the monthly public presentations for most of those years, and more recently has been the educational coordinator for workshops, classes and special presentations.
Professionally, Gayle is a consulting architect for sustainable design and LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) commercial/municipal sector projects through her firm Stewardship, Inc., which she founded in 1991. Drawing upon her undergraduate degree in biology, her emphasis has been on site/building/climate relationships, with particular interest in Permaculture, low-impact site development and site-responsive design.
After helping build a cob (earthen construction of clay, sand and straw) cottage during a workshop in California in 1994, Gayle became a passionate believer in the “deep green” advantages of natural building over conventional building materials and methods. Since then she has studied, designed, built, and taught about cob and many other natural building techniques.
Gayle also serves as volunteer Executive Director of DBL.
Ken McKenzie-Grant, Vice President
Company/Organizations: Owner-Arborist, Sunlife Services Company / Co-founder, and currently Producer & Senior Member, Program Committee: KO.OP Radio (Texas Educational Community Broadcasting Corp., Inc.)
Years as a Board member: 3+
Birth into a highly mobile military family (both parents were native Texans) allowed for Ken’s early exposure to several geographical settings (Texas, California and Spain), as well as to ways that various cultures function within those environments. While living in upstate New York, his photo coverage of Earth Day activism led to co-founding an “Ecology Club” in 1970, and to UT Austin coursework split between natural sciences and modern media communications. Concurrent employment then – - (DJ-ing pop music nightly, with days spent trimming trees), established an Austin lifestyle that continues today.
Ken carried Austin’s enthusiasm for recycling (and a disdain for nuclear energy) to Houston’s Pacifica FM Radio when he began producing and hosting ‘Embrace the Earth’ in 1979, with a format update of that environmental talk magazine for Austin commercial station KFON-AM in 1990. Current efforts to discuss such topics are heard locally every week on KO.OP’s “Shades of Green” FM radio hour, as the program includes Renewable Energy technology and policy, organic health, food and the Permaculture community, with the business of Green & Natural Building – to include non-profit Design~Build~Live.
Family ties keep Ken busy between tree jobs and radio shows, with occasional participation in American Indian ceremonies, and as a traditional ‘Gourd’ Dancer at regional powwow gatherings. Given growing local interest in the building styles (strawbale, cob and cordwood) that utilize recycled materials, he still enjoys providing promotional as well as practical logistics support for various tours, events and projects.
Other positions Ken holds include Chair, Entertainment Cmte. for the Austin Powwow and American Indian Heritage Festival, among others.
Yvonne Hansen, Vice President
Years as a Board member: 3+
Yvonne began teaching art in one- and two-room schoolhouses in Wisconsin, then taught art in Saudi Arabia, and California, after earning a PhD in Education. She has also has taught classes and special sessions at ACC, in classrooms at IBM, and was a professor at Park University (when it was Park College). A prolific artist, she’s exhibited in galleries in Arabia, Palo Alto and San Mateo.
Yvonne has been a fixture of the organization for more than a decade, and was organizing events & volunteers back when the Sustainable Building Coalition merged with the Straw Bale Association of Texas, which later became Design~Build~Live. The ‘Clipboard Lady’ is an indispensable part of planning and implementation of DBL’s core mission.
Effie Brunson, Secretary
Years as a Board member: 3
Effie Brunson, LEED AP BD+C has over ten years experience in the design and construction field. A licensed Interior Designer, she spent most of the last decade in the Pacific Northwest doing architectural project management, code consulting, and permit expediting. She moved back to Texas four years ago, and spent 2 1/2 years as Sustainable Development Coordinator for a local commercial real estate developer. She also co-founded a local non-profit that retrofits low-income homes to make them more energy- and water-efficient using volunteer labor, called 1house at a time™. She currently serves as Austin Co Vice-Chair for the Central Texas-Balcones chapter of the US Green Building Council.
Michele Hallahan, Interim Treasurer
Company/Organization: President, Eco-Logic
Years as a Board member: <1
Michele moved to Austin 6 years ago and calls it home. Originally from Ireland, Michele worked in ISO management standards for 5 years before arriving in Texas, where she held the position of Environmental Specialist for 3 years at University of Texas at Austin. In that time, Michele spearheaded many sustainability programs at UT Austin, such as the Green ‘Horns staff sustainability group and the Waller Creek Clean up project. She also expanded the outreach program of the UT Sustainability Network. She now is an independent sustainability consultant involved in standards writing and converting businesses to lean, green practices. She was a member of the national STARS Technical committee (steering committee for sustainability for the American Association for Sustainability in Higher Education) while working at UT Austin.
Michele also worked with the internationally renowned ecological designer, Dr. John Todd, on Living MachineTM technology in California in the 1990s. She studied under Jay Baldwin (former editor of Whole Earth magazine) in CA. She is LEED accredited and works part-time with the environmental certification group Green Seal. Michele was the vice chairwoman of the board of the Texas Solar Energy Society from 2006 – 2007. She currently is the Treasurer of Sunflower co-op and sits on the board of Design-Build-Live. She established Eco-Logic, a sustainability consultancy, in 2008.
Michele is a master sushi-chef, accomplished pianist and yoga devotee (not all at the same time). She can also sing “How much is the Doggy in the Window” backwards, if asked nicely.
Scott Clay
Biography – coming soon
