Donelle Morgan

Donelle Morgan (Donni), Vice President of Greenspace, brings 40 years of experience as a Family Law Attorney; she practiced law in San Jose, ultimately as the head of a 10-lawyer firm.  Donelle has been an outdoor enthusiast and has participated in environmental causes since childhood, including planning and implementing the first Earth Day celebration at her high school in 1970.  The redwood forest brought her to UC Santa Cruz, where she majored in Politics and Women Studies, subsequently receiving her Bachelor’s Degree from Ohio University, Athens, summa cum laude.  She then attended law school at Santa Clara University, obtaining a JD degree in 1979.

Donni has been a member of the Sierra Club for 37 years.  Her retirement from law in 2018 allowed her to become more active in environmental causes.  She became a River Advocate for Friends of the River and served as FOR Board President from 2020-2022.  Since 1998 she has had a home in Cambria on Marine Terrace, moving there permanently in 2024.

Donni joined Greenspace in 2022 and was elected Vice President in 2023.  She participates in the Events and Executive Committees and recently joined the Communications and Advocacy committees.  Donni’s significant Greenspace achievements include re-initiating the Speaker Series and the Stewardship Program for Greenspace properties.  Donni’s background in law has also been an invaluable asset in strategic planning and land acquisition.

Donni married Tom Avila in 2016.  He shares her love of wild places, motorcycles, flying their airplane, museums, camping, and good food.  Tom is also a Greenspace volunteer.  He created Greenspace’s scarecrow for the Cambria Scarecrow Festival for the last two years.  As a world traveler and avid outdoors woman who loves camping, flying, whitewater rafting, gardening, and cooking, she cherishes the lands conserved by Greenspace.   She loves the quiet forest, the bird song and the wind in the trees and rustling grasses, taking the time to observe the blue heron or hawk perched in a Monterey pine, wildflowers, and mushrooms in the winter.