Deb Self

Formerly Greater Farallones Association’s Executive Director, Deb Self now serves as Senior Director of Restoration and Partnerships. With more than forty years of experience in nonprofit development, environmental justice advocacy, and community organizing, she is excited to engage sanctuary partners in expanding restoration of kelp forests in the sanctuary, climate resilience through nature-based solutions, and the safe, joyful, equitable access to coastal spaces for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. Before GFA, Deb led San Francisco Baykeeper for twelve years and also managed a successful campaign to stop a major new fracking pipeline in Appalachia proposed for natural gas export. Deb received a bachelor’s degree in geology and a masters in environmental sociology from the University of Tennessee. Her enduring concern is the disproportionate toxic exposure of historically Black communities (still bearing the economic brunt of Jim Crow red-lining laws) in both the American South and the cities of the East Bay. Deb lives in Oakland with her wife, Mandy, and their two dogs and spends her free time birding, playing board games, and baking.