Who we are

We're a team of fresh thinkers with unlikely backgrounds and a track record of getting things done. Together, we're solving the megafire crisis.

Team members

Matt Weiner
Chief Executive Officer
Matt Weiner is the CEO and founder. His experience working in Congress convinced him that the megafire crisis was solvable. He started Megafire Action in 2022.
Eric Horne
California Director
Born and raised in Southern California, Eric Horne serves as California Director of Megafire Action, where he leads our operations in the Golden State. Having seen the impacts of the Palisades fires on his own family and community, he is driven by the thesis that the megafire crisis is solvable.
Kayla Calkins
Chief of Staff and Partnerships Director
Kayla Calkins leads strategy and external partnerships at Megafire Action. With 15 years of experience at Fortune 50 and startup insurance companies, she shifted her attention to working in philanthropy and NGOs on wildfire solutions that reduce risk and increase resilience. She utilizes her cross-sector background to integrate diverse stakeholder perspectives and facilitate effective action.
Molly Hausmann
Chief Operating Officer
Molly is the operations and growth lead of the Megafire organizations. Before this role, she served as the COO at a firetech solutions company. This position provided insights into the challenges and inefficiencies within the end-to-end wildfire system, fueling her commitment to navigating solutions to end the megafire crisis.
Teresa Feo
Research Director & Senior Policy Advisor
Teresa Feo, PhD is the Research Director and leads the work of Megafire Institute to translate science and knowledge into holistic policy recommendations that allow both communities and ecosystems to thrive with wildfire.
James Campbell
Director of Federal Affairs and Strategic Counsel
James is the Director of Federal Affairs & Strategic Counsel with Megafire Action. He engages in direct advocacy navigating complex policy challenges, regulatory law, and shifting political landscapes to advance solutions to the megafire crisis. He earned his J.D. from the American University Washington College of Law and is admitted to practice law in D.C.
Cassidy Geoghegan
Communications Director
Cassidy Geoghegan is a seasoned communicator with a decade of experience in political campaigns, advocacy, and stakeholder engagement. She specializes in breaking through crowded news cycles, crafting impactful narratives, and building trusted relationships to shape public discourse and advance mission-driven goals.
Jay Balagna
California Policy Advisor
Jay Balagna is the California Policy Advisor for Megafire Action. Having worked as a federal wildland firefighter around the West before transitioning to public policy analysis, he's seen the megafire crisis up close and knows the power of policy change in addressing catastrophic wildfire risk.

Board members

Gabe Kleinman
Chairman of the Board
Gabe is an Operating Partner at Emerson Collective, supporting climate and deep tech founders across the EC venture portfolio. Before Megafire Action launched, he made the case that California megafires are solvable. He now chairs the board.
Kate Dargan Marquis
Chair of the Advisory Board
Kate Dargan Marquis is a nationally recognized wildfire resilience leader with more than 50 years of experience across firefighting, government, philanthropy, and innovation. She served as California's first woman State Fire Marshal, helped shape wildfire strategy at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and co-founded the firetech company Intterra.
Kim-Mai Cutler
Board Member
Kim-Mai is a partner at Initialized Capital, an early stage venture capital firm. She has led several deals in proptech, real estate and climate. Among other interests that serve the intersection of industry and public policy, she is a founding member at California YIMBY, leading a decade of public advocacy that changed a number of state laws in California around housing and zoning.
Tom Erb
Board Member
Tom Erb is Head of Federal Affairs at Fervo Energy with a background in climate, natural resources, and energy policy across government and international institutions. He previously served as a Senior Policy Advisor to Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and as Climate Policy Director for Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.), and earlier worked on energy policy at the World Bank and the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES).