Meet the Team

Executive Committee & Leadership

Darcie Connell
Executive Committee Interim Chair / Volunteer Coordinator
(her/she)

Darcie Connell has had a deep love for the ocean since childhood—from camping at Sunset State Beach to playing in the sand at Seacliff, many of her fondest memories are by the coast. She’s an avid surfer, advanced certified scuba diver, and overall water enthusiast! Now living in Capitola, Darcie is passionate about community and ocean conservation. With a background in marketing, she serves as the Interim Chair and Volunteer Coordinator for Surfrider Santa Cruz, inspiring others to protect our ocean, waves and beaches.

Ellen Baker
Executive Committee Interim Vice Chair / Program Coordinator
(her/she)

Ellen is happiest sleeping under the stars or climbing in remote areas which shaped her love for the natural world. After moving to Santa Cruz in ~2019, surfing and mountain biking strengthened her connection to the land, ocean, and community. She started with Surfrider as a BWTF water sampler and later stepped into the roles of Interim Vice Chair and Program Coordinator. As a photographer and filmmaker, she brings collaborative experience and is dedicated to helping protect our oceans and beaches.

Dina Santos
Executive Committee Secretary 
(her/she)

Dina Santos has always been drawn to the ocean. Spending her earliest years in the sands of Southern California, she now resides in Santa Cruz for 20+ years, hailing from the East Side, in Live Oak with her hubby and ten year old son who is a boogie boarding fanatic and a 4th generation Californian!  Dina is an artist, educator, ocean lover, avid naturalist, seashell collector, and seaweed enthusiast. She moved to Santa Cruz to pursue her MFA in Photography from San Jose State. She is passionate about educating, connecting conservation and community, and spreading love for our planet's most important resource, our OCEAN!

dsantos@santacruz.surfrider.org 

Amir Companieh
Executive Committee Treasurer
(him/he)

Amir Companieh is a Director of Data Infrastructure & Finance Planning, with a background in engineering and managing large world-wide teams. Alongside his data/analytics role, he manages finances for his department, ensuring efficient resource allocation and financial planning.  Amir lives in Almaden with his wife and two kids and enjoys surfing with his son at Capitola regularly.  Amir has had many volunteering roles in the past, ranging from working with at-risk kids, mentoring high school to-be-graduates, various Math/English/Soft-skills tutor/coach roles at Elementary School level and kids sports coaching.  Amir is dedicated to making a positive impact on his community and the environment.

acompanieh@santacruz.surfrider.org 

Tico Andrea
Executive Committee BWTF Coordinator
(him/he)

Tico has been fortunate to have always lived close to the ocean. He grew up in the Netherlands and the beach was a 15 minutes bike ride away. He met the love of his life in the Netherlands and was lured (without much resistance) to move to where she grew up (Santa Cruz). He has two kids both pursuing careers in science. Tico has a background in Biology, but got side-tracked and has been working in the field of translation and localization as a career. He loves being able to contribute to give people the opportunity to enjoy nature and the oceans, now and for future generations to come.

tandrea@santacruz.surfrider.org 

Mark Burriss
Executive Committee At Large Member
(him/he)

Mark is retired from a career as a Director of Facilities and Workplace Services. He holds an MS degree in Environmental Studies from San Jose State University, is a Certified Facilities Management Professional, and is a certified Lean/Six Sigma Green Belt. He brings skills from a career supporting high tech corporations in the Bay Area for over 25 years. He worked in light manufacturing (LIDAR), heavy manufacturing (plastics), biopharma manufacturing and research, and semiconductor manufacturing. Mark enjoys the outdoors taking his fishing boat out of Santa Cruz for coastal fishing trips, pickleball, as well as firing up the smoker for his famous wings.

mburriss@santacruz.surfrider.org

Michael Zatzke
Executive Committee At Large Member
(him/he)

Bio coming soon!

mzatzke@santacruz.surfrider.org 

Dan Young
Co-Founder of the Surfrider Foundation
(him/he)

Dan is one of the original founders of the Surfrider Foundation. A native of Watsonville, he is a biogeographer who has been active in the environmental field since 1971. He interned on an 8,000 acre wilderness preserve for The Nature Conservancy, created the design concept for Manresa Uplands State Park and went on to work for the U.S. National Park Service and for several nonprofit law firms. While representing Surfrider, Dan was the chairperson in creating the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum and served on numerous advisory committees, including the creation of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and a State of California Water Policy five-year update. While an advisor with Save the Waves, he was involved in creating the Santa Cruz World Surfing Reserve. Dan, a member of the Santa Cruz Surfing Club, est. 1936, is retired and currently works as a freelance musician.

Program Leads

Blue Water Task Force (BWTF) Coordinators

Policy Committee

Photographers & Videographers