Hear from three of our new Team leads at SanDiego350!
Matt Steinsaltz – Co-Lead, Plant Forward Team
How did you first get involved with SD350, and when was that?
I was looking for ways to become more involved locally in a role that could positively impact the community. After giving public comment in support of the Sustainable, Equitable, and Local food sourcing policy, I saw a member from the Plant-Forward Team, led by Abby Crowley, doing the same, and I joined soon after in June of 2025.
What drives your activism?
Too many companies and the policies that support them prioritize profit over people, burdening individuals, especially regarding our food choices. I’m proudly plant-based, and while individual decisions matter and have an impact, policies should make the healthier option easier to choose. The Plant Forward Team serves as my platform for educating the community and pushing policy changes in San Diego, promoting structural shifts that place responsibility on policymakers rather than individuals.
What do you recommend to people who want to have a larger impact through the environmental movement? What do you prioritize in your own activism?
The first step is to show up, get involved, and draw inspiration from those around you, especially during tough times. I am still working to make a bigger impact, but participating in organizations like SD350 that connect you to the community and create opportunities to work with others toward a common goal of improving our world helps expand each person’s influence.
Is there anything else you would like people to know about you? Any fun facts?
Outside of volunteering, I love to try plant-based restaurants wherever I go. Fortunately, San Diego has so many great choices, including pop-ups in North Park, Vista, and Oceanside. Some of my favorites in SD are Yasai, Donna Jeans, and Tacotarian!
Sofia Gombatto – Co-Lead, Transportation Team
How did you first get involved with SD350, and when was that?
I first was involved with SD350 by participating in climate strikes with Youth4Climate in high school (2019-2023), but at the time, this was the extent of my involvement. Two years after my high school graduation, I took a course at SDSU called “Urban Politics,” where I learned about San Diego’s public transportation system and the agencies that influence decision making. Following my final project for this course, where I was tasked to rethink San Diego’s public transportation system, I knew I wanted to get more involved in local advocacy for more progressive transportation in the county, which is when I discovered SD350’s Transportation Team and became an active member in June of 2025!
What drives your activism?
My activism is driven by community impact. Being a student at SDSU, I am surrounded by people who rely completely on public transit to get to campus, work, medical appointments, etc. Seeing students and other San Diegans not have equitable access to transportation is what pushes me to advocate for progressive, reliable, and affordable transit in San Diego.
What do you recommend to people who want to have a larger impact through the environmental movement? What do you prioritize in your own activism?
You have to be loud about the things you care about. We must stand up for ourselves and for the planet if we want to make real, tangible change.
Ryan O’Hara – Co-Lead, Legislative Team
How did you first get involved with SD350, and when was that?
I first got involved with SD350 in the spring of 2025 shortly after finishing my bachelors degree. I spent most of my undergrad years engaged with climate policy through the UNFCCC, which, by its nature, is focused on addressing climate change at an international level. While I got to attend some really interesting conferences and meet some great people, it was tough to feel like I was making an actual impact. I thought SD350 would allow me to continue engaging with climate policy and, by being focused on local issues, would help my work actually move the needle and make a difference.
What drives your activism?
I work in environmental biomedicine, which gives me the opportunity to engage with climate issues at an intellectual level but often lacks a tangible social impact: science is often more focused on the “how does this work?” as opposed to “how can we fix this?”. I take part in activism because it gives me an outlet to use my expertise to actually fix the issues that I study in the lab.
What do you recommend to people who want to have a larger impact through the environmental movement? What do you prioritize in your own activism?
I think that large impacts start small. I’d encourage people to focus on environmental issues in their local community and join up with a group addressing those issues. Solving smaller-scale problems is often a lot more feasible than going directly after large-scale problems and, if we all focus on improving our individual communities, we end up making a big impact anyway. The most important thing is just to find an organization that resonates with you and go to a meeting: it’s easy to scroll on social media and get angry about the state of the world, but passively engaging with issues doesn’t solve them.
Is there anything else you would like people to know about you? Any fun facts?
In my free time, I like to do triathlons, draw, and volunteer with San Diego’s search and rescue corps.