YES! Staff

Ocean Robbins, 36, Co-Founder/Co-Director, organized a peace rally at his elementary school at age 8, founded Ocean’s Natural Bakery at age 10 (serving as baker, salesman and accountant for a home business that grew to have several hundred regular customers), and by the age of 14 he was facilitating international youth summits in Moscow and Washington, DC. At 16, he founded YES!. He is co-author of Choices for Our Future, has spoken in person to more than 200,000 people with a message of hope and a call to action. Ocean has served on the board of directors for Friends of the Earth, Creating Our Future, The Turning Tide Coalition, The Omni Center, and EarthSave International, and has been chosen by Audubon, Time Magazine, and Utne Reader as among the heroes of the new Millennium. He was also awarded the Freedom Flame Award and a National recipient of the Jefferson Award in 2008.  He speaks widely at conferences and events.  To learn more, visit his speaking website.

Tiffany Brown, 29, Co-Director, is the Co-Director at YES!. She has worked with local as well as national anti-racist groups such as the civil rights organization, the NAACP (Southeast Regional office's Prison Project). Tiffany is passionate about bringing people together over food, community, relationships and communication. She has participated and facilitated several conferences with Be Present, which focuses on transformative communication across difference. And she is serving on the Board of Common Fire, working towards the vision of a diverse intentional community that promotes living in alignment with our values, She is a co-founder of the Santa-Cruz based Community Alliances Initiative (CAI), which is a support network for a diverse group of intergenerational changemakers. She is thrilled that her life is currently a manifestation of what she holds dear.

Lorin Troderman, 44, Operations Manager, has lived with his wife Jill and their two sons Dylan and Max in Soquel since 1995. Lorin has worked predominately in the social profit sector for the past 20 years focusing on collaborations for local sustainable solutions. Lorin has served as the Executive Director of the Santa Cruz Hillel Foundation and in various capacities at the Homeless Garden Project, Resource Center for Non Violence and Ecology Action. Lorin earned his MBA in Sustainable Management as a member of the Pioneer Cohort of the Presidio School of Management in San Francisco before joining YES! in July of 2005. Together with Jill, Lorin also runs Blue Lotus Goods, a web based manufacturer and distributor of reusable organic cotton shopping and bulk food bags.

  Nga Trinh-Halperin, 37, Development Manager, has worked with social profit organizations and public agencies for over 15 years as a consultant, director, board member, and volunteer. Her community-building experience weaves together civic engagement, economic development, and arts & culture for positive social change. Past projects and clients include: KidsVoting California, San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, YWCA of Silicon Valley, Mexican Heritage Corporation, and The Tech Museum of Innovation. She spent six years with Project Cornerstone, part of a national movement to create a culture that supports and empowers young people. Nga holds a BS degree in Mass Communications and Masters in Public Administration from San Jose State University.

Romy Narayan, 28, Office Manager, has been a fan and employee of YES! since June of 2004. With a degree in Language Studies, she is happy to be using her enthusiasm and talent to facilitate YES!’s transition into a multi-lingual organization. Romy is passionate about language, dance and movement.

Julie Pennington, 28, National Community Coordinator , joined the YES! staff in August of 2008, from Austin, Texas, where her collaboration with exceptional queer and gender-nonconfirming youth activists has been her passion. During her time with OutYouth, she was instrumental in building the Texas Gay-Straight Alliance Network, a youth-led organization that combats homophobia and transphobia in Texas schools. She has served on the boards of local and international housing co-op organizations as well as the Advisory and Working Group for the Gender and Sexuality Center at the University of Texas at Austin. She currently serves on the Board of Common Fire and works on a queer youth media project in the Bay Area. Julie is radically committed to creating spaces where we as a community actively participate in the redesign of our world.