When Lynn Baumgartner first arrived in Lake Tahoe in 2010, she was one of the rare few who secured a job in the Sierra before actually setting foot in the region. Armed with a Master’s degree from UC Santa Barbara’s Bren School and fresh from her own AmeriCorps service, she joined the Sierra Nevada Alliance as a Development Associate—beginning what would become a transformative 14-year relationship with both the organization and the mountains themselves.
“I didn’t actually have really any experience in Tahoe before I moved there,” Lynn reflects. “But I just fell in love with Tahoe and the Sierra in general.”
Building Resilience Through Challenge
Lynn’s seven years on staff coincided with one of the most challenging periods in the Alliance’s history. Starting at the height of the recession, she witnessed the organization navigate significant financial headwinds that forced difficult decisions and organizational downsizing.
“It was tough for everyone—all environmental organizations,” she recalls. “A lot of the state funding that we relied on went away.”
But what emerged from this crucible was a clearer understanding of the Alliance’s unique value proposition. Lynn watched as the organization pivoted to “play to our strengths,” particularly through the Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps Partnership (SNAP) program she would eventually lead.
After two years of development and fundraising, Lynn transitioned to become the SNAP Program Director, taking the helm of a program that had already demonstrated a remarkable impact since its founding in 2007. In its inaugural year alone, SNAP members had established 389 monitoring sites, restored over 4,100 acres, and educated 30,000 individuals. By the time Lynn assumed leadership, the program was placing 25-30 AmeriCorps members annually across the Sierra Nevada, from Oroville in the north to Visalia in the south.
Under her five-year leadership, during what would prove to be the Alliance’s most transformative period (2010-2017), the program continued to build its impressive legacy. During Lynn’s tenure, the Alliance celebrated two significant milestones in 2013: its 20th anniversary, with climate activist Bill McKibben as the keynote speaker, and SNAP’s 10th anniversary, marked by member Sara Kokkelenberg earning California’s AmeriCorps Member of the Year award. These achievements validated the program’s excellence in developing conservation professionals—a mission Lynn helped advance through some of the organization’s most challenging financial years.
A Moment That Defines a Mission
Ask Lynn about her most memorable moment at the Alliance, and she doesn’t hesitate. It happened during a SNAP orientation near Yosemite National Park, when she was leading a caravan of new AmeriCorps members—many of whom were experiencing California, let alone Yosemite, for the first time.
“I look in the rearview mirror and three of them had their heads out the window and one is out the sunroof,” she remembers with evident joy.
“I look in the rearview mirror and three of them had their heads out the window and one is out the sunroof,” she remembers with evident joy. “They were just blown away by the Sierra. You could just see their lives changing as they made that drive into the valley.”
This moment crystallized for Lynn what the Alliance’s workforce development programs truly accomplish: they don’t just fill conservation jobs; they create lifelong advocates for the Sierra Nevada by introducing people to its breathtaking beauty and vital importance.
From Staff to Board: A New Perspective
After leaving the Alliance in 2017 to explore new challenges, Lynn couldn’t stay away for long. Within a year, she returned as a board member, bringing her insider knowledge and passion for the mission to a governance role. Now, after two full terms of board service, she’s preparing to term off with invaluable insights about organizational leadership.
“It was really interesting to learn how deliberate staff have to be to get their work in front of the board,” she observes. The shift from being immersed in daily program operations to quarterly board meetings revealed the communication challenges inherent in nonprofit governance. “It’s so different when you’re in the work every day… It was eye-opening to see how deliberate you have to be with communication to ensure the board knows all the important work that’s going on.”
Advocating for Professional Worth
Throughout her tenure, Lynn championed a principle that challenges outdated nonprofit thinking: conservation professionals deserve to be compensated fairly for their expertise.
“I’ve always really pushed for the staff to be well paid,” she emphasizes. “People who work at nonprofits are talented, hardworking professionals, and they should be paid like that. We shouldn’t try to take advantage.”
This advocacy stems from her belief that fair compensation isn’t just about individual welfare—it’s about organizational sustainability. “Develop people to stick around, develop into leaders,” she argues, pushing back against the notion that nonprofit work should require personal financial sacrifice.
Finding the Niche That Matters
Lynn’s journey with the Alliance taught her a fundamental lesson about organizational success: “Find what the strengths of the organization are, what the organization is really great at, and what others aren’t doing.”
For the Sierra Nevada Alliance, that sweet spot has increasingly focused on workforce development programs that address the “rural brain drain.” These programs have grown significantly since Lynn’s time. SNAP alone has now deployed over 400 members who’ve restored more than 25,000 acres and educated over 250,000 individuals, while the newer Sierra Corps Forestry Fellowship, launched in 2019 with a $2.5 million CAL FIRE grant, addresses urgent wildfire resilience needs
Lynn knows firsthand, thanks to her Eastern Washington roots. “Having great opportunities to come back and get an entry-level job and then get training to stay in the area, I just really see how important that is.”
Her excitement about the Alliance’s expanded workforce programs, from SNAP to Sierra Corps to the Lake Tahoe Ambassadors, reflects her understanding that these initiatives address not only immediate conservation needs but also broader environmental concerns. They build a sustainable pipeline of leaders who will protect the Sierra Nevada for generations to come.
Wisdom for Future Leaders
As Lynn prepares to pass the torch to new board members, her advice is both practical and heartfelt:
For fundraising success: “You have to deeply care about the mission and the work that’s being done. Pick something that you really care about and use that as your reason—people can tell when you’re passionate about it.”
For board effectiveness: “The difference between a good board and a not-so-good board makes a huge difference to the day-to-day life of the employees who are doing the important work.”
For understanding the Alliance: “Try to get to a SNAP training or meet the Lake Tahoe Ambassadors. Meet the people who are giving up their summer or a year and listen to them be passionate about their work.”
A Legacy of Service
As Lynn transitions from board service while continuing her affordable housing work with the Town of Truckee, she remains a committed supporter of the Alliance, maintaining her monthly donation and encouraging her family’s continued involvement.
Her parting reflection captures both the opportunity and responsibility of board service: “The Sierra Nevada Alliance is a great organization, and any person who’s interested in the environment and the Sierra and youth would be lucky to serve on the board and get to see the awesome work that is being done.”
Lynn Baumgartner’s journey from East Coast AmeriCorps member to Sierra Nevada conservation leader exemplifies the transformative power of the Alliance’s mission. Through recession and recovery, as a staff member and board leader, she has helped shape an organization that not only protects landscapes, it cultivates the people who will sustain that protection for generations to come.
Help continue Lynn’s commitment and service by becoming a Board Member today.
