Board of Directors
Sheryl Klein
Board Chair
Sheryl Klein is the first Chief Operating Officer at Alta Housing, formerly Palo Alto Housing, which operates the majority of affordable housing in Palo Alto. Prior to being COO she served a five year tenure on Alta’s Board of Directors. During her time as Board Chair, she led Alta Housing’s latest affordable housing project, Wilton Court, through entitlements, development and funding.
Natalie Geise
Vice Chair
Natalie Geise is originally from Pennsylvania and moved to the Bay Area for graduate school in chemistry in 2015. She has rented in Menlo Park, Mountain View, San Francisco, and Palo Alto since then. Natalie is a senior associate at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Laboratory, where she bikes to work and supports science and technology initiatives. Natalie also volunteers locally at the Palo Alto Repair Cafe and with ClimateRaise, advocating for female and non-binary founders in climate.
Reid Kleckner
Secretary
Reid grew up in Palo Alto, graduated from Palo Alto High in 2006, moved to Boston to attend MIT, and returned to the SF Bay Area in 2013. Reid met his wife, Anastasia, in 2017, and she is, coincidentally, also a local who graduated from Gunn. Reid and Anastasia currently live in Palo Alto with their two young children, and they are both incredibly grateful for the opportunity to live here and start a family near both sets of grandparents. Reid is currently working as a software engineer at Google and serving on the board of the LLVM Foundation. Reid is a passionate cyclist, and was drawn to Palo Alto Forward in his desire to see Palo Alto grow and support more human flourishing. Palo Alto is a wonderfully innovative and welcoming university town, and Reid wants to see the city live up to those values, extend the franchise to new neighbors, and cultivate a city that is safe, livable, and inviting.
Steve Levy
Treasurer
Steve Levy came to Palo Alto in 1963 for Stanford Graduate School. He and his wife Nancy raised their children in a home close to Duveneck Elementary School and moved downtown to a condo in 2005. Steve is the Director of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. His work focuses on long term regional growth projections and planning for public agencies in California and on workforce projections and policy implications, with a focus on helping workers, businesses and the economy. He serves on the state and our local area workforce boards, is on the committee advising the state on the new state housing policy and served on the Palo Alto Infrastructure Commission. Steve can be reached at slevy@ccsce.com.
Elaine Uang
Board Member and Co-founder
Elaine arrived in the South Bay in 1988 as a fourth grader, and credits all the house hunting during the move with cementing her interest in architecture. She has spent most of the last three decades bouncing up and down the Peninsula, before returning to Palo Alto in 2011. She currently resides in the first post-office of Palo Alto/Stanford, which she renovated inside and out (with an edible garden!) to serve as a dwelling for her, her husband and two young daughters. As an architect and design thinker, she spends nearly all of her professional and spare time thinking about how our built environment can be improved, from street furniture to housing policies. She has BA in Human Biology from Stanford University and an Masters in Architecture from the University of Virginia. Elaine can be hailed at elaine@elaineuang.com.
Gina Dalma
Board Member
Until recently, Gina Dalma led the impact work of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) — the largest community foundation in the United States with over $13B in assets under management. As a pivotal member of the SVCF's Executive Leadership Team, she played a key role in shaping the overall strategic direction of SVCF's work and fostering collaborative partnerships with donors and nonprofits.
As a Mexican transplant, Gina's journey is a testament to her commitment to fostering a more just and equitable global community. Her passion for social justice and equity is a driving force behind her work, as she actively seeks innovative ways to create positive change in the philanthropic landscape. Gina attended both Stanford and the University of London for her graduate degrees. She received the Athena Award in 2022, was selected as a Top 50 Women Leaders of San Francisco for 2023, received the Justice in Philanthropy Trailblazer Award from the Chicana Latina Foundation in October 2023 and The Gene Young Award in 2024 from the African American Community Services Agency.
Scott O'Neil
Board Member
Scott O’Neil grew up in the Bay Area and worked as a software developer in Silicon Valley for fourteen years. He's lived in Palo Alto for ten years, where he serves as President of his HOA. His passion for housing policy stems from watching much of his generational cohort gradually displaced from the region by ever-escalating housing costs. A parent of two, his goal is to be able to hug his grandchildren without buying plane tickets. His focus at Palo Alto Forward is on monitoring and ensuring local compliance with state housing law.
Owen Byrd
Board Member
Owen Byrd has been an advocate for, and developer of, dense infill housing on the Peninsula for most of his 35 years of Palo Alto residency. HIs land use experience began as the policy director and staff attorney for Greenbelt Alliance. He served as a member and chair of the Palo Alto Planning and Transportation Commission, member of the Community Development Block Grant Committee, and chair of the Housing Action Coalition. As a private attorney he represented developers of market-rate and affordable housing in obtaining sites and entitlements for new projects throughout San Mateo and Santa Clara counties. He has developed housing projects with partners and continues to do so, while also providing development consulting services, primarily on projects in East Palo Alto. He currently serves on the Peninsula/South Bay Board of YIMBY Action.