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Steve Teshara Bio

Steve Teshara

Steve Teshara has been active in policy, planning, public-private partnerships, legislative advocacy, and project implementation in the Lake Tahoe region for more than 30 years.

He has provided leadership and coordination for groups such as the Lake Tahoe Transportation and Water Quality Coalition, the Lake Tahoe Federal Advisory Committee, and, currently, the Lake Tahoe Partnership, in the work to secure vital federal, state, and local investments in forest health, watershed restoration, transportation, trails and other projects consistent with the Lake Tahoe Environmental Improvement Program (EIP). The EIP is a unique collaborative approach that engages the federal, state, local, and private sectors to help achieve and maintain Lake Tahoe’s adopted environmental threshold standards and an important framework for community revitalization and sustainability.

Steve’s experience includes over 28 years as the chief executive for community organizations, including 7 years as CEO of the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association and Executive Director of the North Lake Tahoe Chamber of Commerce (January 2003 through April 2010). He served as Executive Director of the Lake Tahoe Gaming Alliance for 11 years (1991-2002), Executive Director of the Tahoe Douglas Visitors Authority (1997-2002), and Executive Director of the Tahoe-Sierra Preservation Council (1986-1990). He was one of the original members of the Sierra Business Council (SBC) Board of Directors and received the Council’s first Vision 2020 Award in 1996.

Steve was a principal organizer of the Lake Tahoe Regional Plan Initiative (RPI), presented to the TRPA Governing Board in March 2010, and a member of the Steering Committee for the Lake Tahoe Basin Prosperity Plan, presented in 2011. Both the RPI and Prosperity Plan conveyed important community and private sector input that helped shape the 2012 TRPA Regional Plan Update and local Area Plans approved consistent with the Regional Plan.

Steve stepped down as CEO at the North Lake Tahoe Resort Association in April of 2010 to open his own consulting firm, Sustainable Community Advocates (SCA), headquartered in Zephyr Cove, Nevada. In addition to his other clients, since May of 2017, Steve has been engaged by the Board of Directors to serve as Chief Executive Officer of the Lake Tahoe South Shore Chamber of Commerce.

Board and Other Affiliations

  • Chair, Board of Directors, Tahoe Transportation District/Tahoe Transportation Commission
  • Founding Board Member and Chair, South Shore Transportation Management Association (SS/TMA)
  • Founding Board Member and Chair (January 1991-April 2013), currently Management and Planning Consultant, Truckee North Tahoe Transportation Management Association (TNT/TMA)
  • Coordinator, Lake Tahoe Partnership (Tahoe advocacy network)
  • Member, TRPA Advisory Planning Commission (APC (January 2012-September 2019)Elected APC Chair (March 2014-September 2019). Currently an Alternate Member representing the Tahoe Transportation District
  • Co-Chair, Community Mobility Work Group, Lake Tahoe Sustainability Collaborative (LTSC)
  • Co-Founder, North Lake Tahoe Truckee Leadership Program
  • Host/Producer, The Regional Report, Douglas County Community Access Television
  • Member, Board of Directors (Immediate Past President) of the California Association of Councils of Governments (CAL COG), representing the Tahoe Transportation District
  • Past Chair, Lake Tahoe Federal Advisory Committee
  • Member, Round Hill General Improvement District Board of Trustees (2002-2014)
  • Member, Nevada Broadcasters Hall of Fame (inducted in 2018 along with his wife, Penny)