Meet Chance
I was elected to a four-year term on the Fairfax Town Council in 2020, serving as Vice Mayor in 2022 and then Mayor in 2023. Prior to serving on the Town Council, I was appointed to the Open Space Committee and Volunteer Board, and I served on the town’s Coronavirus Task Force.
Professionally, I work as Director of Programs at Resource Renewal Institute (RRI), a forty-year-old environmental non-profit located here in Fairfax. I lead environmental campaigns and research projects across the United States focused on large landscape conservation and nature-based climate solutions, from the preservation of biodiversity in National Parks and wilderness areas to the restoration of wildlife habitat across our nation’s farmland.
Outside of work, I spend much of my time volunteering for several community-based organizations. When I get a spare minute, I enjoy reading, writing poetry, trekking and backcountry camping, and practicing landscape and conceptual photography in Marin’s open spaces.
I am a dedicated public servant who brings expertise, creativity, and compassion to my work for Fairfax and the planet.
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As a current Councilmember, I serve in the following capacities:
As the Town’s representative to the Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) Board of Commissioners, where I serve on the Administration, Projects and Planning Executive Committee as well as the Alternative Fuel and EV Ad Hoc Committee
As Fairfax's representative on the Ross Valley Fire Department Board of Directors and the Governing Board of the Marin Emergency Radio Authority
As Town Council’s liaison to the Fairfax Open Space Committee and the Fairfax Community Emergency Preparedness Committee
As Co-Chair of the Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers (MCCMC) Subcommittee on Homelessness
As the Town’s alternate voting member on Marin County’s Flood Control and Water Conservation District (Zone 9) Advisory Board, the Ross Valley Paramedic Authority, the Ross Valley Yellow School Bus (JEPA), and the Safe Routes to School Task Force
In 2023 as Mayor, I served in the following capacities:
As the Council’s primary liaison to the Fairfax Chamber of Commerce
As Chair of the Citizens’ Disaster Council
As Chair of the Finance Committee
As the Town’s voting delegate for the League of California Cities and the Mayors Select Committee of the Marin County Council of Mayors and Councilmembers (MCCMC)
Prior to joining the Council, I served as a volunteer on numerous Town committees:
Appointed Fairfax Open Space Committee Member and Treasurer
Appointed Fairfax Volunteer Board Member
Fairfax Coronavirus Task Force Member
Appointed member of the Fairfax Measure A Oversight Committee
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In 2024 I was invited back to Presidio Graduate School as the 2024 Commencement Keynote Speaker
In 2024, I was accepted into the Marin Leadership for Equity and Opportunity (LEO)professional development program facilitated by Impact Launch.
In 2024 I was invited to become one of Coro Northern California's Lead Bay Area Fellows
In 2023 I was one of 10 recipients of the national JMK Innovation Prize for my work on climate smart agriculture
In 2021 I was awarded the inaugural “Champion of Promise” award in Food Sustainability from the Silicon Valley non-profit Acterra for my development of RRI's climate-smart agricultural program, Fish in the Fields
In 2018, I was honored with the Sierra Club California's inaugural "Emerging Leader award" for outstanding contributions to California conservation and politics by someone under the age of 30
2019 Presidio Graduate School Commencement Speaker for the Masters of Public Administration
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Sierra Club
In 2022 and 2023, I served as Board Chair of the Sierra Club’s San Francisco Bay Chapter
Prior to that I was elected as Vice Chair of the Executive Committee in 2020 and 2021
Acting Treasruer of the Sierra Club's San Francisco Bay Chapter in 2021
Former appointed Vice-Chair of the Political Committee of the Sierra Club's San Francisco Bay Chapter
Elected Executive Committee Member and Treasurer of the Sierra Club's Marin Group
Former Climate Adaptation Task Force Member for the Sierra Club's Board of Directors
Board Secretary of International Rivers, an organization focused on the protection of free-flowing rivers and the rights of the communities who depend on them
Former Policy Committee member of Showing up for Racial Justice ("SURJ") Marin
North Coast Regional Director of the California Young Democrats Environmental Caucus
Former Ballot Committee Treasurer for Citizens to Renew Novato's Urban Growth Boundary, Yes on D 2017
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Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and Political Science from Saint Xavier University
Master of Public Administration in Sustainable Management from Presidio Graduate School.
Currently enrolled in an Executive Course on Subnational Governance and Diplomacy at The George Washington University
To learn more about my professional achievements, credentials, and publications please visit my LinkedIn.
Chance the advocate
One of my mentors and friends, the esteemed conservationist Dr. Marty Griffin, and me, discussing strategies to protect public lands and wildlife in West Marin (circa 2022).
In 2024, I was invited by the ocean conservation group Oceana to meet with members of Congress and the White House to advocate against the expansion of oil and gas drilling and exploration along the Pacific Coast. I was the only elected official from the West Coast in the delegation.
In 2022, on the 60th anniversary of the founding of Point Reyes National Seashore, I hosted a rally of 500 park advocates from around the Bay Area calling for the restoration of the Seashore and the protection of the its wildlife community.
In 2024, I was invited by the League of California Cities (“CalCities”) to present his case study on improving Fairfax-Bolinas Road to elected officials from across California at the CalCities Leaders Summit in Sacramento. My presentation was titled “Small Town, Big Aspirations: Leveraging Interagency Collaborations to Address Complex Infrastructure Challenges.”
In 2023, while Mayor of Fairfax, I was honored to speak to Gold Star families and military service members at the 20th anniversary of the Middle East Conflicts Wall Memorial in Marseilles, Illinois. This wall, the first in the nation built during an ongoing conflict, holds the names of all service members who lost their lives in combat in the Middle East since 1979. My father, the late Anthony Cutrano, was a co-Founder of the National Memorial Wall.
Me and my partner, Naomi Schultz, with our lovable green-cheeked conure (small parrot), The Baird.
Chance the artist
In 2023, as Chairman of the Sierra Club’s SF Bay Chapter, I was invited by the de Young Museum to give a lecture tracing the history of Ansel Adams as artist and environmental activist as part of the “Ansel Adams: In Our Time” art exhibit at the de Young.
I was the Executive Producer and supporting cast member in the short documentary film, Tule Elk: the Killing of the Native Species, which was featured at the Mill Valley Film Festival (2021), Wild and Scenic Film Festival (2022), numerous other film festivals across the United States, and later distributed by KCET (PBS of Southern California).
In 2023, I was honored to have one of my photographs, '“Live Stream,” accepted into the juried de Young Open (2023). I was one of 883 working artists from around the 9 county Bay Area invited to participate.
If you have questions about my work or volunteerism, reach out.
I am responsive and attentive—qualities I bring to our Town Council and everything else I do.