The Board of the Sacramento Botanical Garden

 Renee Taylor is a near-lifelong Sacramentan who brings decades of community leadership to the Sacramento Botanical Garden. She headed her PR firm Forma Communications for 15 years and served in numerous community leadership roles including Executive Director of the Fulton Avenue Association, a member of the SMUD Board of Directors, and CEO of the Northern California World Trade Center. She served multiple terms on local planning councils as well as on the boards of the Sacramento Metro Chamber, Sacramento Region Community Foundation, Roberts Family Development Center, St. John’s Program for Real Change. Renee has a Political Science degree from UC Berkeley. 

William is a prominent and active artist who has served as board member, curator, moderator and speaker for multiple organizations and commissions. A registered civil engineer in California and his native state of Kentucky; formerly a LEED accredited professional, and a certified urban planner (AICP) with a Bachelor's in Civil Engineering from Duke and a Master's in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan. William served as the Managing Principal with Nolte Associates, for the Sacramento office, as well as a member of the firm's Executive Committee. He has served under three mayors in the Sacramento City Planning Commission and as head of the City’s Urban Design Plan initiative.

  As the visionary behind and founding board member of the Sacramento Tree Foundation, Ray is the prime mover behind causing the planting of over a million trees in Sacramento. He served as the Tree Foundation’s Executive Director for 39 years overseeing its growth to a $3 million/year organization. Ray has also served as founding board member for the Alliance for Community Trees, and California Releaf, where he currently serves as board president. A Vietnam Veteran, he served ten years on the Sacramento City Council and including a term as Vice Mayor. Ray has received many awards for his work building and protecting urban forests, including the Frederick Law Olmsted Award for exemplary tree planting and conservation work. 

Lisa Bodemeijer brings 17 years of experience in accounting in and around the Sacramento area. After graduating from Sacramento State with her degree in accounting, she pursued a career with Franklin Templeton Investments, a global investment firm.  In 2005, Lisa created her business, Double-Check Bookkeeping Services and now services businesses in Sacramento, Placer, and Yolo counties.  She previously served as Treasurer for Soroptimist International Sacramento North, a non-profit for over two years.

 Jeffrey, FASLA is a retired Professional Landscape Architect with 36 years of private-practice experience. He retired as a Principal at Jacobs in May 2021 where he served as the Director of Urban Design & Planning and managed operational and financial matters for the Sacramento office (75 employees) and for the urban design & planning practice (14 employees). Prior to Jacobs he held management and project leadership positions at Carter & Burgess, Vail Engineering and Takata Associates and Sasaki Associates.
Jeff served one term as Vice President of Finance for the National ASLA after serving two years at the state level on the CA-Council of ASLA and six years as the California Sierra Chapter Trustee.
Jeff enjoys public service in his community including Sacramento Metro Arts – Art in Public Places Committee, Habitat for Humanity, United Way, ACE Mentoring Program, Courage House, Music on a Mission, and the Sacramento Food Bank. He also serves on other non-profit boards including the Urban Land Institute, Sacramento Tree Foundation and The California Garden Project (botanical garden) in Sacramento. 

 A former Vice Chancellor and President of the Foundation at both UC Davis and Los Rios Community College District, Babs also led her community of West Sacramento as a member of its planning commission and city council. Babs is active in the Sacramento Region as a volunteer, serving as a board member and leader over the years for Metro Chamber of Commerce, United Way California Capital Region, Yolo Basin Foundation, Sacramento Valley Conservancy, Woodland Opera House, American Leadership Forum, Yolo Community Foundation and West Sacramento Foundation. Babs holds both a bachelor’s degree in political science and a doctorate in social ecology from UC Irvine.   

 Christi Black-Davis is a respected business executive, communications advisor, and community leader. In her role at EGA, a specialty within marketing communications firm Edelman, she consults to public and private sector organizations on public affairs, crisis communications, and consumer education. Christi has a long history of volunteer leadership with nonprofit organizations involved with the environment, youth wellbeing and public health. She served as the first executive director – and later board chair – for the American River Parkway Foundation, and as board member for both the Sacramento Tree Foundation and the American River Natural History Association. Christi also served in leadership roles for numerous other organizations and as part time faculty at Sacramento State University and regional community colleges.

After a wide-ranging public service career with the City of Sacramento, Derrick has continued to engage community service projects like establishing Chinese heritage museum in Folsom, ensuring equity for wok-cooking and Asian cuisine, and being on the board of Gifts to Share, Inc. 

Derrick's public service started at City Hall with the late City Councilmember, Lynn Robie. He returned to City Hall to staff Councilmember Heather Fargo. The culmination of nearly 25 years of continuous city service including major initiatives with other departments concluded as a manager in Neighborhood Services.   

A history of community service, advocacy, and non-profits has also been integral to the Sacramento native including - Chinese artifact exhibit at the Robert T. Matsui United States Courthouse; historic land ownership in Locke; senior housing; Chinese American Council of Sacramento; Perceptions public affairs program at KCRA-TV; home improvement with Rebuilding Together; Pacific Rim Street Fest; Sacramento County Grand Jury; Leadership Sacramento; Asian Resources, Inc.; Asian Community Center; and commissioned essays in Neighbors and Sacramento Lawyer. 

Jose serves as Senior Counselor to Integrated Communications Strategies, which he co-founded in 2016

Jose’s career in government, politics, public affairs, and communications spans decades. He has been at the center of dozens of statewide and local ballot measure campaigns and legislative and regulatory debates on a wide range of issues. He served as the managing director of the Sacramento office of APCO Worldwide (1996-2016).

PR News, the industry’s leading national publication, recognized Jose as “Public Affairs Executive of the Year,” and he has twice been named one of the most influential people in the region by Sacramento Magazine. In 2024, Jose was named one of McGeorge School of Law’s 100 exceptional alumni in celebration of its 100-year anniversary.

Jose graduated with honors from Pomona College and the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law. He also received a certificate in trial and appellate advocacy from the University of California’s Hastings College of the Law.

Jose serves on the board of directors for Sierra Health Foundation, which promotes health equity and racial justice in communities throughout California. He also has served on numerous boards for such organizations as Valley Vision, Umpqua Bank/Holdings Corporation, and Capital Public Radio. He is a senior fellow of the Mt. Valley Chapter of the American Leadership Forum.

Roy Brewer has been one of the leading land use attorneys in the Sacramento area for approval of complex multi-use projects since 1984.

In a segment of the law that tends to be rife with conflict, Roy is a calm and competent adviser. He has served as legal counsel, project manager and advocate for many controversial, high-visibility projects, and has successfully negotiated approvals with regulatory agencies in more than 40 jurisdictions in three states.

Over the last four decades, Roy has served as a respected regional resource on public policy issues including land use, flood control, water resources and local government reorganization.

Roy is a Senior Fellow of the Mountain Valley Chapter of the American Leadership Forum and has served in leadership capacities with the American Leadership Forum, Los Rios Community College District, Sacramento Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, KVIE and the Sacramento Valley Rugby Foundation.