Susan has over thirty years as a solutions strategist in the environmental and sustainability field, and served for 12 years on the Cedar Grove Composting leadership team in the Seattle area.

Susan’s collaborative and business centered philosophy links compost manufacturers, product development teams, end users and municipalities together in effective engagement models that minimize contamination in feed stocks while expanding the diversion and capacity for viable compost feed stocks eligible for organics recycling.

Janet joined CMA as Compliance Director in 2019. After 14 years in private law practice, Janet joined CMA to combine her passion for civil justice and her commitment to real-world solutions to environmental challenges.

She received her law degree from the University of Washington School of Law in 2006 and has been an active volunteer and organizer for many social and environmental causes. She is a member of the Washington State Bar Association and the National Lawyers Guild.

Kelvin is President of his own consulting firm, Green Bottom Line, that focuses on sustainable materials and packaging development, commercialization, testing and certification. He is also founder and CEO of Gen3Bio, a startup company focused on producing biobased chemicals and subsequent bioplastics from microalgae.

For ASTM, Kelvin is the chair of the ASTM D20.96 subcommittee that deals with biodegradation and biobased standards for plastics and is Vice-Chair of Products for D20 Plastics, which oversees other subcommittees include D20.95 Plastics Recycling. Kelvin is also on the USDA Biopreferred Program Technical Advisory Council and is on the Board of Directors of the Indiana Recycling Coalition.

Kari Rolnick is a Compliance Supervisor for CMA. She has a BS in Geological Sciences from the College of Charleston. Over the past 15 years, she has worked in a variety of environmental and scientific fields. She began her career as a laboratory technician for the WA State Department of Ecology, in their general chemistry department.

She then transitioned to field sample preparation for the lab’s organic chemistry department. After working for Ecology, she began work for TechLaw, Inc. as their lead inorganic chemist/consultant. There, she performed various inorganic chemistry analyses as well as assisted metals and organics sections of the lab. After working for this environmental consulting company, Kari took a position as a Health Physicist for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard.

There, she monitored radiation exposure of workers, reported dose, maintained procedures, and assisted with program audits. Kari has lived in Washington for 15 years. She enjoys portrait photography, exercise (chasing three children), and camping & hiking all around our state.

Jeffrey P. Gage developed a large percentage of the composting infrastructure in the Pacific Northwest over the past 38 years. Established the Tilth Alliance Master Composter program, established land use codes for composting in King County, designed and permitted Cedar Grove Compost in Maple Valley, performed pathogen research on the public safety of composted zoo manures. Established the Legislative imperative in the Waste Not Washington Act for the Clean Washington Center and the state’s explicit support for developing compost markets. Designed and piloted the curbside recycling collection program for Pierce County. Designed, built and operated the Pierce County Compost Facility which received an Environmental Excellence Award from U.S. Conference of Mayors.  Fought with other composters the State Compost Quality regulations, and formed the Washington Organic Recycling Council (WORC) all within his first 5 years in the nascent compost  industry. 

Jeff continued to serve his community as President of WORC for 6 years, board member of the US Composting Council Board for 7 years, The Tahoma Food System board and president for 3 years. and represented WORC on the State Fertilizer Advisory Committee to help establish marketing claims for compost soil amendments. He led the charge against Dow Agrosciences on the public use of Clopyralid on lawns and was a prime developer of the Soils for Salmon campaign resulting in establishing post construction soil standards in Puget Sound. Collaborative training has always been his primary focus and has helped develop WORC’s and the USCC’s operator training programs. 

Mary Ranahan joined the CMA leadership team as the Business Development Manager  in late 2023 bringing a rich and seasoned history of compost industry experience and program development experience to the CMA program.  In addition to Mary’s recent work in various business development roles in the Pacific Northwest, Mary served as the Key Account Manager at Cedar Grove Composting for over eight years where she oversaw the company’s soil amendment OMRI registration, product packaging design, and corporate retail sales.

Mary has worked extensively with municipalities and community leaders to advocate for composting organics as well as educating garden groups and the public on the endless use of compost in gardening, erosion control, and waterway contaminant mitigation. Mary has joined the CMA team to fulfill her passion and love for the planet, and to invest her background and experience to advocate for continuous improvement, collaboration and innovation around sustainability with the supply chain and compost manufacturers across North America.