A civil litigator for 33 years in San Diego, Ms. Mendez is legal counsel to the Save the Albatross and on the Board of Directors of Zero Waste San Diego

Coalition. After obtaining a Master of Advance Studies in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation in 2018 at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, and leading the transformation of that campus and U.C. San Diego to be single-use plastic-free, Ms. Mendez returned to private practice, and continues to work daily with grassroots organizations to reduce toxic, and GHG and methane producing, single-use disposable waste by implementing upstream reduction, extended producer responsibility, Zero Waste and circular economy policies. Currently, she is involved in local policy making with an eye toward litigation as an alternative and effective means toward achieving these same goals.