Board of Directors and Staff

A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Steve Kretchman lived in and enjoyed the coastal areas of Florida and the Caribbean for 28 years and is a NAUI-certified SCUBA diver. Through extensive travel he has seen firsthand the devastation that resource mismanagement can have on all aspects of the environment. Steve joined Coastal Quest in 2010 and is passionate about maintaining and preserving coastal and ocean resources and communities.

Steve is the Senior Principle, Google Cloud at Google. In his role at Google, Steve helps further Googles’ goals by leading a team that supports sales strategy. Prior to joining Google, Steve was a marketing executive at Apttus supporting delivery of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications that help businesses automate their business functions. Prior to Apttus, Steve worked at Serena Software where his work involved developing project charters for financial and environmental justification of partnerships and the tracking of benefits throughout the relationship. Steve worked at SAP, an enterprise software company, in its Power & Utilities practice. At SAP, he was responsible for developing sales strategies and operating plans for its customers and prospects throughout North America. He also helped develop and implement demand management programs using SAP’s Smart Metering solution.

Before SAP, Steve worked as a management consultant at A.T. Kearney in the supply chain practice. He worked with clients in the retail, IT, automotive, and energy industries to streamline operations and reduce energy usage and solid waste. He started his career as an engineer at Siemens-Westinghouse, designing turbines, generators, and reactor internals for coal-, gas-, oil-, and nuclear-fueled power plants. His work included plant efficiency audits and monitoring of cooling water temperatures. A large portion of his time at Siemens-Westinghouse was spent modernizing 1950s-era power plants in China and Eastern Europe for significant improvements in efficiency and emissions.

He has a mechanical engineering degree with a minor in German from the University of Florida, and an MBA from University of California Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. He lives in Florida with his wife, Samantha, and daughter, Josephine Rose.

Tegan Hoffmann has over 25 years of experience in coastal and ocean conservation and resource management and is one of Coastal Quest’s founding members and the Executive Director of Coastal Quest.  After 15 amazing years founding and leading Blue Earth Consultants, both independently and under the ERG umbrella, she left to focus on fulfilling the Coastal Quest vision and mission. Tegan has deep experience working on domestic and international projects, focusing on building climate resilience, and achieving sustainable resource management and conservation goals.

Tegan has extensive know-how designing, developing, and launching projects, programs, and institutions for private foundations, public agencies, and nonprofit organizations. She has authored several publications and received numerous awards and research grants for her work on conservation, resource management, and building local conservation capacity in the Wider Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific, from such organizations as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s STAR Fellowship, the University of California’s Pacific Rim Research Program, and the U.S. Indonesia Society. She has developed and conducted several trainings in the Wider Caribbean and Indo-Pacific regions for hundreds of community stakeholders on conservation and resource management issues, and has taught several courses at the University of California. Tegan graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, and holds Ph.D. and master’s degrees in geography and a B.S. degree in conservation resource studies.

R. Peter “Chip” Mallari is an avid ocean lover with family roots in Hawaii. Chip is a devoted surfer and musician who understands the value of healthy coastal and ocean communities. He joined Coastal Quest in 2010 and brings extensive legal and advising experience.

Chip is a consultant and technology attorney based in Silicon Valley. He has managed and/or participated in the sales, finance, business and corporate development, licensing, intellectual property, marketing, human resources, and facilities and operations of technology companies, either in house or as a consultant. Currently, Chip works as a consultant for start-up companies in a variety of sectors including business technology, social media, music/musical instruments, and athletic apparel. Previously, Chip was the senior director of worldwide legal affairs for Fonality, Inc., a VoIP and unified computing company. Prior to that, he served as managing attorney for IronPort Systems, a company focused on email and web security.

During his time at IronPort, the company’s revenues grew from $30 million a year to over $500 million a year; IronPort was purchased by Cisco Systems, Inc. Prior to IronPort, he was senior corporate counsel at Verisity Design, Inc., a company focused on semiconductor chip design; Verisity was purchased by Cadence Design Systems. Chip performed a wide variety of tasks with IronPort and Verisity (similar to his role at Fonality), with the added role of managing and/or participating in the merger and subsequent integration activities of IronPort into Cisco and Verisity into Cadence, respectively.

Chip started his legal career as a corporate associate at Fenwick & West LLP, a law firm based in Silicon Valley. His practice focused on technology companies, representing both companies and investors in venture capital financings in excess of $250 million, mergers and acquisitions in excess of $7 billion, and public offerings in excess of $550 million. He earned his Juris Doctor from Santa Clara University and a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Davis.

Cat Kuhlman was appointed by California Gov Jerry Brown in 2012 to serve as Deputy Secretary for Ocean Policy and Ocean Protection Council Executive. Until she retired in 2016, she provided the vision to lead agencies toward the shared goal of healthy ocean ecosystems and a sustainable future for oceans and those who rely on them to make their living. Her work spans the west coast where she built productive collaborations with neighboring states by identifying common priorities and approaches that serve across political borders. Key to her success, both within California and beyond, was positioning science to inform sound policy goals and decisions, and providing open, transparent processes that led to durable outcomes. Critically,   Cat reached out to tribal peoples, fishermen, industry and others to ensure the broadest input and created a stronger understanding of the impacts of climate change on ocean systems and policy options to combat them.

Prior to this role, Cat led the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board where her work at preserving critical headwaters earned her national recognition and multiple awards. Here too, her success derived from fair, open and informed processes where science served as a common denominator.  Cat has also served in various capacities within the US Environmental Protection Agency, addressing complex water resource management issues across jurisdictions and national borders. Known as a staunch advocate for resource stewardship and a problem solver who seeks equitable solutions, Cat continues to be sought after for her expertise at working on the intersection of the Clean Water Act and marine resource management. When she’s not working Cat and her husband are avid travelers, exploring waterways and coasts throughout the world.

Barbara Endemaño Walker has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Geography from UC Berkeley and a B.A. in Anthropology and African Studies from UCLA. She concurrently serves as the Director of Research Development and the Special Assistant to the Executive Vice Chancellor for Diversity Initiatives at UC Santa Barbara (UCSB). Prior to these positions, she was an NSF Post-Doctoral Fellow in the Department of Anthropology and the National Center for Geographic Information and Analysis (NCGIA) at UCSB. Her research and publications focus on the political ecology of marine resources, gender and the environment, and broadening participation in higher education and STEM, and she has conducted field work in Ghana, French Polynesia, Mexico, and California. Her work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, NOAA Sea Grant, the Social Science Research Council, and the Department of Education, among others. She was a founding board member of the National Organization of Research Development Professionals (NORDP), and she currently leads the Center for Research, Excellence, and Diversity in Team Science (https://oru.research.ucsb.edu/teamscience/). She is also co-author of the book Funding Your Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences: A Practical Guide to Grant and Fellowship Proposals (Routledge 2017).

Kathy Randlett earned her Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from California State University, Hayward in 1976. She became a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) in the State of California in 1978 and is currently a member of the American Institute of CPAs and the California Society of CPAs. 

Kathy spent five years in public accounting before leaving to become Controller for a real estate development company where she stayed for 7 years before the company was acquired by Quadrant, a subsidiary of Weyerhaeuser.  She continued to provide consulting services to Quadrant and coordinated the transition.  At the same time, she formed her own business and accounting consulting practice to a variety of mid-size businesses, becoming an integral part of the management team for her clients.  In many cases, Kathy bridged the gap between the internal and external accounting functions. She has over 40 years of experience in the accounting field and is currently a retired CPA residing in San Francisco. 

A native of the Bay Area, Kathy has always been a supporter of environmental solutions and conservation of our biodiversity and natural resources.  She was raised to appreciate the outdoors and continues to enjoy California’s mountains and coastlines.