The Board of Directors

President Claudia Sall
csall@mojavedesertlandtrust.org

Claudia Sall has been a resident in the high desert for 49 years. She is a business owner, and has owned property and lived in Pioneertown for 30 years. She is President of the Pioneertown Property Owner Association and a community activist in rural conservation and water management issues. She is a founding member of Pioneertown Mountains Conservancy. Her areas of special interest are: protection of rural conservation (RC) lands and open space especially in regards to urban sprawl, and conservation land planning and resource based development.

Director Danny Sall
danny@mojavedesertlandtrust.org

Danny Sall is the first natural born citizen of Pioneertown and a resident and property owner in the area for 57 years. He is a business owner, licensed contractor and developer. He is an original member of Pioneertown Mountains Conservancy and a founding board member of The Wildlands Conservancy. He is a community activist in open space protection. He has a B.S. degree in Entomology from U.S. Riverside.

Director John Simpson
john@mojavedesertlandtrust.org

John Simpson holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA and began his career in commercial real estate. His experience includes market research and reporting, valuation, consulting and sales. He has worked for Cushman & Wakefield, CB Richard Ellis (CBRE) and First Interstate Bank. John is presently a real estate agent in Joshua Tree while developing the eco-friendly Joshua Tree Recreational Campground. John's love of nature has inspired him to work in every way he can to preserve the natural environment.

Treasurer Jane Grunt Smith
jane@mojavedesertlandtrust.org

Jane Grunt Smith is the owner of the 29 Palms Inn in Twentynine Palms, California. She grew up there and the Inn has been in her family since 1928. In addition to running a most successful inn in the California Desert, Jane serves as President of the Copper Mountain College Foundation and is on the board of the Action Council of Twentynine Palms, a nonprofit public art charity.

Director Gasper Patrico

Gasper Patrico is a strategic management, marketing, and creative executive with proven ability to build the competencies that take aspirational growth strategies from fiction to fact. At Intersection Studio, Mr. Patrico directs the Brand Strategy and Development practice using proprietary processes to leverage the nexus of strategy, brand, marketing, and organizational development disciplines. Currently his love finds expression as Co-Creative Director of the Autry National Center Magazine, Convergence, a publication he helped found while managing the brand creation of this new national center.

Prior to Intersection Studio, Mr. Patrico spent 20-plus years as a Creative Director, Writer, and Producer in the large international advertising agency. He has created award-winning television, radio and print communications for national consumer, business-to-business brands, and nonprofit organizations.

Mr. Patrico holds a BA in Journalism from the University of Michigan. He studied screenwriting in both the UCLA and USC programs and is an expert in story development.

Director Mindy Kaufman

Mindy Kaufman has lived and worked in Joshua Tree for 10 years. She owns and runs Spin and Margies Desert Hideaway, a small boutique Inn in town.

She is currently the president of the Joshua Tree Chamber of Commerce and a past president of the Joshua Tree Municipal Advisory Council serving San Bernardino County. Prior to living in Joshua Tree, Mindy and her husband, photographer Drew Reese, resided in San Francisco where she owned a successful home accessories design firm.

Mindy holds a BFA from Parsons School of Design in NYC.