Board of Directors and Staff

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.

Rachel joined Coastal Quest in 2022 bringing over 11 years of experience in fundraising for environmental non-profits. She has a passion for helping donors connect with transformative organizations to make a positive impact through effective philanthropy. As a non-profit leader, Rachel has specialized in working with early-stage organizations and organizations undergoing significant change.

Rachel brings experience in fundraising, board development and governance, communications, leadership, and finance to her role as Senior Director at Coastal Quest. As Senior Director Rachel works on fundraising for Coastal Quest and our fiscally sponsored projects to get resources on the ground to achieve multi-benefit coast resilience solutions. She has coached senior leaders and board members on fundraising and effective ambassadorship for their organization, leading to them soliciting and receiving significant donations. She has worked with funders of all types – government, foundation, corporate, and individual – and is well versed in their grant writing, reporting, and financial requirements. Rachel’s strong fundraising skills along with deep experience in communications, finance, and strategy make her a natural ally for leaders and boards looking to take their fundraising to the next level and those looking to build their organization.

Prior to Coastal Quest Rachel was Chief Philanthropy Officer at Island Conservation where she worked closely with the executive director and board to create a strong major gifts program. Rachel began her career with The Nature Conservancy, working for the California program as an Associate Director of Philanthropy. As the first Director of Philanthropy for The Nature Conservancy in India Rachel was part of a team that built the programmatic and funding base for this successful program. She has deep knowledge of the coastal landscape, from programs to funders, in California, across the US, and abroad.

Rachel graduated from Wellesley College and holds a master’s degree in Art History from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Tina Lee works with people to conserve and manage coastal and marine environments through equitable, locally driven, culturally centered approaches.

Tina joined Coastal Quest in June 2022 with over 12 years of experience leading collaborative projects both in the U.S. and globally.  She has focused her career on convening multi-sector groups to achieve collective outcomes for the coasts and communities—managing federally funded awards, organizing conferences and meetings, partnering with community organizations, strategic planning, and managing committees and partnerships. Most recently, she spent over four years with NOAA’s Office for Coastal Management Pacific Islands region based in Honolulu, HI. There, she supported the launch of the Heʻeia National Estuarine Research Reserve and coordinated the Pacific Risk Management Ohana: a partnership of 100+ organizations building disaster resilience in the Pacific Islands.  She is also a skilled diversity, equity, inclusion and justice (DEIJ) practitioner, and launched a DEIJ Working Group to connect a national system of 30 National Estuarine Research Reserves towards building equity into conservation and research practices. Prior to her position with NOAA, Tina played an integral role in achieving social and ecological outcomes with organizations such as the University of Hawaiʻi, Conservation International, and the Hawaiʻi Conservation Alliance.

Tina holds a B.S. in Biology with a focus in Ecology, Behavior and Evolution from the University of California San Diego, and a dual M.A. in Natural Resources/Sustainable Development and International Affairs from American University in Washington D.C. and the U.N. University for Peace in Costa Rica.

She speaks Mandarin and Spanish and enjoys spending time in the ocean, traveling, and making noodles from scratch.

Gabi joined Coastal Quest in April 2022 with over 7 years of experience managing complex conservation and development initiatives across the globe. She is passionate about empowering coastal communities to be stewards of their resources and has worked closely with community members—fishers, oyster farmers, women, and indigenous groups—to ensure their needs are heard and that they have a role in making decisions that affect their future. Gabi brings a wealth of expertise in community-led solutions, stakeholder engagement, behavior change, and capacity building. Throughout her career, Gabi has facilitated several participatory mapping, profiling, and visioning exercises with community groups, and implemented trainings, scenario planning sessions, discussions, and other tools to help local actors articulate their goals, priorities, challenges, and potential solutions. She has also planned and supported community consultations to create multi-benefit coastal solutions.

Most recently, she spent five years managing Rare’s flagship program (Fish Forever) to revitalize coastal habitats, protect biodiversity, and secure coastal livelihoods in Central America. In that role, Gabi oversaw program implementation, contributed to program strategy and fundraising, and collaborated with diverse partners to advance sustainable ocean policies and build local capacity for marine resource management. Gabi’s contributions and leadership were essential to achieving critical milestones, including the program’s expansion into new geographies; the declaration of Honduras’s first community-led managed access area; the successful launch and execution of a behavior change campaign to promote responsible fishing; the growth of Honduras’s fully protected reserve network; and the strengthening of the resilience of vulnerable coastal governments and Indigenous communities. Prior to this work, Gabi supported several conservation and livelihoods projects in Belize, Cuba, and Costa Rica with Rare, Ocean Doctor, and University of Florida’s Conservation Law Clinic.

Gabi holds a B.A. in Economics and International Studies from DePaul University and a Master’s in Sustainable Development Practice with a Specialization in Tropical Conservation and Development from the University of Florida. As a native of Ecuador’s largest coastal city, Gabi is fluent in Spanish and has a deep passion for coastal and marine conservation.

Sadie joined Coastal Quest in October 2022 bringing 16 years of experience working with local and global environmental NGOs. She is passionate about building meaningful partnerships and working closely with diverse communities.

During her tenure as a Bay Area sustainable business leader, Sadie worked with environmental non-profit, government agencies and community organizations to advance their mission and provide impactful solutions. She is skilled in strategic planning, identifying key resources, and driving multi-faceted projects to fruition. Sadie feels strongly that collaboration and the sharing of ideas brings about long-lasting, meaningful solutions that better meet our community’s needs.

For the last 5 years, Sadie has been working with diverse partners to engage Bay Area community in Climate Resilience awareness. She developed and implemented complex community engagement strategies to drive support and capacity for the protection of the San Francisco Bay. Through community outreach, stakeholder engagement, volunteer management, project management, and communications strategies, Sadie amplified the work of dozens of local organizations and elevated their impact.

Sadie has a strong foundation in project management and philanthropy and is passionate about building inclusive, collaborative outcomes for protecting the coastal areas from the impacts of climate change.

Sadie holds a B.A. in Art History from the University of California, Los Angeles and a M.A. in Coastal Zone and Natural Resource Management from San Francisco State University. Sadie lives with her family in the Bay Area and enjoys sharing the joys of tide pooling.

Natalie joined Coastal Quest in February 2023 with 6 years of experience in environmentally focused project management. Natalie brings expertise in technical writing, outreach, and stakeholder engagement, along with a passion for nature-based adaptation solutions, coastal ecology, and water quality issues. Having worked in environmental education, energy resource management, GIS, and environmental consulting, Natalie has extensive experience coordinating with stakeholders, creating solutions that benefit communities, and effectively communicating about environmental issues.

Most recently, Natalie managed municipal streetlight LED conversion projects, where she oversaw project implementation, outreach, urban design, and economic modeling. These projects helped cities decrease their carbon footprint dramatically and save millions of city dollars.

Natalie holds a B.S. in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from University of California, Santa Cruz, where she assisted in research on elephant seal and sea lion population dynamics, and a M.S. in Environmental Management from University of San Francisco where she completed a master’s project synthesizing and comparing the benefits of blue carbon sequestration methodologies. She loves invertebrates (marine and terrestrial), biking, and bad horror movies.