Lesly joined Coastkeeper in July 2023 as the Volunteer and Outreach Coordinator. Since then, she has been promoted to Manager. Her work focuses on leading the Mission Bay Water Quality Monitoring volunteer program, community events, and outreach efforts within the City of San Diego and throughout the county.
Growing up in Imperial Beach, exposed to the ongoing transboundary sewage crisis, Lesly became passionate about environmental justice and sustainability. She graduated from San Diego State University with a B.S. in Environmental Science and a minor in Sustainability.
Before joining Coastkeeper, Lesly spent over four years at Casa Familiar, working on community and advocacy initiatives. In 2021, she was a youth care worker for unaccompanied children immigrating from Central America and Mexico seeking asylum in the U.S. due to violence, poverty, and climate change. She led a community air monitoring network and advocated on environmental justice issues in the South Bay, primarily focused on the impacts on the communities of San Ysidro and Otay Mesa. She was also part of the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District’s International Border Steering Committee and a member of the California Coastal Commission’s Environmental Justice and Sea Level Rise Advisory Group. She also served as a steering committee member of Leaders 20/20- a network that prepared professionals interested in the future of climate action, equitable community development, and a growing green workforce for the San Diego region.
Outside of work, you can find Lesly outdoors with her husky named Loki, enjoying nature, and near bodies of water.
You can reach Lesly for community events, water quality monitoring volunteering questions, and outreach opportunities at [email protected]