Kevin Bixby
Executive Director

As the son of a naval officer, Kevin grew up all over the world, but the American West has always been home. While attending high school in Oakland, he began his activist career by volunteering at the Berkeley Ecology Center. After graduating with a B.A. in biology from Dartmouth College in 1978, he returned to the San Francisco Bay Area and began volunteering at Friends of the Earth where he rubbed elbows with the late, great David Brower. Working to save condors and whales by day, he made a living by driving a San Francisco taxicab at night. Realizing that more education might be useful, Kevin set off to the School of Natural Resources at the University of Michigan in 1985, where he earned a Master’s degree in Natural Resources Policy. But the West beckoned, and in 1988 Kevin moved to New Mexico with his future wife, Lisa LaRocque, and started the Southwest Environmental Center in 1991.

Jason Burke
Field Organizer

Jason attended the University of Missouri, studying Philosophy and History. After completing his undergraduate studies, he began his non-profit environmental canvassing work after years of political canvassing. He was raised in Missouri and moved to Las Cruces in September 2009.

Arianna Parsons
Office Manager, Membership Coordinator

Arianna joined the SWEC staff in August of 2012.  She brings a range of experience to the office.  She attended The College of New Jersey pusuing a degree in Business Management.  She worked for the Koreatown Youth and Community Center in Los Angeles for several years as Community Relations Coordinator and as a Youth Outreach Specialist.  She started the company My Green Cities in 2010 and created an iPhone app to help users shop according to their values.  Like Jason, she, too, hails from Columbia, MO.