Rich Farrington retired from a 40-year career in architecture, working from Boston and Portland, Oregon to Iran on large and small projects. He designed a net zero energy home with a solar PV array and ground source heat pump near Durango, where he and his wife, Deborah, live. Rich loves the mountains and spending time with his new granddaughter. He is passionate about doing what he can to address climate change, from advising on how to improve the built environment to driving an electric vehicle. He looks forward to contributing to 4CORE’s mission of addressing the climate crisis, the greatest challenge of our time.

Bruce LeClaire is an enrolled member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe. He was born and raised in South Dakota and moved to Durango in 1982, where he graduated from high school. Bruce served in the United States Army as a Combat Engineer. He then attended Ft. Lewis College, where he met his wife, Mary. They raised their four children in Durango and now have five grandchildren. Bruce has worked with Native American Youth for 35+ years. He is currently the Chief Executive Officer of the Boys & Girls Club of the Southern Ute Indian Tribe. He enjoys hiking, snowshoeing, traveling, dancing at powwows, and spending time with his grandchildren.

Lindsay – originally from the East Coast – has lovingly called Durango home since 2016. She began her career at a climate change research & education non-profit and has since moved on to renewable energy. Currently, she is the Business Operations Manager for the local solar and energy storage expert, Shaw Solar. Lindsay is excited to bring her life-long passion for sustainability to the 4CORE Board. In her free time, she can be found on her mountain bike, up at Purg, or out pushing the limits on where her Prius can go.

While fairly new to La Plata County, Kelsey has lived in the greater Southwest since 2010. She works full-time for the Institute for Tribal Environmental Professionals, doing climate adaptation and mitigation planning on a national level. Kelsey has also been an educator since 2015 and currently teaches in the Environment and Sustainability Program at Fort Lewis College and for the Wild Rockies Field Institute. Kelsey has a background in renewable energy systems, social justice, democratic teaching methodologies, sustainability, and Indigenous climate adaptation work.

In her free time, she enjoys being outside, most often hiking, cross-country skiing, or taking a nice forest stroll with her pup. As a new member, Kelsey is excited to further her passion for climate justice issues and striving for cleaner energy solutions and economics in La Plata County.

Robert Galin is a former university associate professor of English, literature, and communications and a lifelong journalist. His publications include books as both editor and contributor, academic articles, and journalism in national and international print, digital, and broadcast media. He was the 2014 Writer-in-Residence at Mesa Verde National Park, the first national park in the United States set aside primarily for its cultural resources. He also was a first-place co-winner for reporting from the Colorado Associated Press Editors and Reporters. Robert also was a board member of several academic, journalism, and environmental organizations. He also has given presentations at professional, academic, and business conferences worldwide, including three times at Oxford University. He helped develop a number of environmental education curricula, including contributing to the State of Colorado environmental education standards as well as curricula for the National Park Service and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

Dick Grossman has been concerned for decades about the disparity between human enterprise and the natural world.  He and his wife chose Durango in 1976 as the best place for their children to grow up. He practiced obstetrics and gynecology for 40 years here and is now retired. “The work that 4CORE performs is important because it decreases our use of energy and helps to preserve our environment.”

Becca Robison is a Colorado girl raised on mountain air, cold rivers, and the smell of pine needles.  She was very excited to bring her family back to the mountains when they moved to Durango eight years ago.  She can frequently be found out trail running or mountain biking with her children and their dog, Chippie.  She has a BA in English Education and a JD with an emphasis in environmental law and sustainability.  She has worked with the Sierra Club, Trust for Public Land and the Minnesota legislature in days past and is currently finishing an LL.M in Indigenous People’s Law and Policy.  This last year, she taught as an adjunct professor at Fort Lewis College, currently serves with the Southwest Colorado Bar Association, and loves bridging the gap between education and real-world solutions to build communities that value and protect the environment. 

Kent Curtis is President and CEO of First Southwest Bank, a $550 million certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) serving primarily rural Colorado and parts of New Mexico. He is also President of First Southwest Community Fund, a 501c3 loan fund, and he is Co-founder of a financial B2B software known as HelloBello Financial. In a unique way, these three entities fulfill thebank’s mission in serving the underserved and unbanked.

Kent began his banking career after graduation from Fort Lewis College in 1982 and he has spent his entire banking career, spanning over 40 years, as a rural community banker on the Western Slope of Colorado. He currently sits on several local boards that address rural community issues, and he is focused on reversing the declining capital availability in rural America.

He and his wife April, son Ben and daughter-in-law Lori, are slowly and meticulously establishing a vineyard southeast of Durango, hopefully with winemaking in their future!

​​John Byrd retired from the University of Colorado Denver two years ago, where he played a pivotal role in launching the Managing for Sustainability (M4S) MBA program. He taught various climate and sustainable business courses during his tenure and authored papers on climate change and sustainability topics.

With extensive experience on not-for-profit boards, John brings a strong understanding of not-for-profit accounting and the dynamics between boards and staff. His two longest board commitments were with the dZi Foundation, where he served for about 10 years, and Vallecito Nordic, where he’s been involved for nearly 12 years. John has taken on various responsibilities, from managing finances to trail grooming, but is in the process of transitioning out of some of these roles to focus on new opportunities where he can make a greater impact.

John and his wife, Shere, enjoy Durango’s outdoor activities, including cross-country skiing, hiking, and rafting, albeit at a slower pace these days. The couple, who were married in Durango 44 years ago, feel fortunate to call the area home.