Our Staff
Sandy Bishop has served as Executive Director of LCLT for over 25 years. She was a founding board member and the first executive director of the organization. She also served as project manager for five out of six CLT neighborhood developments: Morgantown, Coho, Common Ground, Tierra Verde and Salish Way. Her first affordable housing project was considered the premiere community land trust project on the west coast and was featured in the New York Times in 1993. She has 23 years of project management for local community based developments and is the project manager of five affordable housing neighborhoods. She was honored during the 2010 GreenBuild Chicago conference as the winner of the Home Depot Award of Excellence for Affordable Housing Built Responsibly for her first net-zero housing project Common Ground, a net-zero community utilizing earthen plaster, straw bale construction, rainwater catchment, solar hot water, and grid-tied solar. She has been the guest presenter at the National Housing Forum in New Zealand, Affordable Housing Conference on Hornby Island, BC, and the President’s Symposium on Sustainability at the University of Idaho.
Breton Carter, Assistant Director, grew up on Lopez Island, before living in France for a year, and attending Barnard College of Columbia University. She completed her Bachelor of Arts degree with a double major in Psychology, and French Language & Literature. Breton has experience working with International Fulbright Scholars in New York City to reduce stereotypes and prejudice in American High Schools. She has resolved conflict and offered general support to children and young adults while working at a local summer camp, and she has conducted community outreach as a Behavioral Health Specialist on Lopez Island. Breton also maintains and catalogues archives while serving as a Research Assistant at the Lopez Historical Museum. She loves spending time outside, riding her bike or sailing, participating in community theatre, and practicing basketry and fiber arts.
Marly Schmidtke, Administrative & Project Director, has a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice and a minor in Sociology from Washington State University and studied law at the University of Sydney, Australia. Marly has an active notary public commission from the state of Washington and is a proud resident of Lopez Island. She was born in Frankfurt, Germany and grew up in Colorado and Washington State. She has worked in juvenile detention, teaching, business office administration, medical transcription, executive administrative assistance, small business administration including website set-up and maintenance, and bookkeeping. She also worked as a paralegal intern at a county prosecutor’s office, and did title work for a title company. She enjoys spending time with family, friends, four-legged children and loves the great outdoors!
Rhea Miller is LCLT’s Community Liaison. Formerly she filled the position of Assistant Director of LCLT. Prior to her work with LCLT, she served over 10 years as County Commissioner of San Juan County, with an emphasis on environmental protection and sustainability in housing, agriculture, and people. She has a long history as a community organizer with international experience. (See: tedxtalks.ted.com/video/When-we-change-the-way-we-look). Rhea was a founding member of the LCLT, and has provided countless hours of volunteer help, from painting trim for new construction to facilitating Board of Directors meetings. She directed the LIFE farm to school program for a year. She now serves as Assistant Director managing SARD interns, writing for the newsletter and website, and assisting in the purchasing and programing for Stonecrest Farm. She has a special interest in indigenous spirituality, the new sciences and the building of community. Rhea authored the book Cloudhand, Clenched Fist: Chaos, Crisis, and the Emergence of Community.
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