Our Team

David Hertz, Executive Director

David is an architect, inventor, educator, and founder of David Hertz Architects and the Studio Of Environmental Architecture. He is a LEED-accredited professional and a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIA). With over four decades of expertise in sustainable design, disaster recovery, and fire rebuilds, David is one of the pioneers in environmentally conscious architecture.

His lifelong passion for surfing fostered a deep connection to environmental issues, which he carried into his studies at the Southern California Institute of Architecture, where he focused on ecological design. David has been a trailblazer in green architecture, creating innovative, sustainable buildings using unconventional materials, including a decommissioned Boeing 747 airplane.

David serves on the Board of Directors of Heal The Bay. The Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum awarded him the National Design Award for Climate Action. David is a Class 1 Wildland Firefighter and a Los Angeles County Fire Brigade member. He lives in Malibu with his wife, Laura, and their beloved rescue dogs.

Laura Doss-Hertz, Chief Impact Officer

Laura is an Advertising and Lifestyle Photographer with a background in photojournalism, having worked for renowned outlets such as The Detroit News, The New York Times Company, The Miami Herald, and the Associated Press.

A native of California, Laura is deeply connected to the ocean and the environment as a lifelong surfer and sailor. She is a storyteller, environmentalist, and humanitarian, committed to inspiring others to leave the world better than they found it.

Laura serves as vice president of the board of The Bay Foundation. Together with David, she founded Skysource, a social impact enterprise focused on creating deployable atmospheric water solutions that address all aspects of global water issues. Their efforts culminated in winning the Water Abundance XPRIZE, where they created a self-contained and sustainable energy-water generator that can produce over 528 gallons of water a day for about 8 cents a gallon. After winning the XPRIZE, Skysource has won multiple awards (including Time's Best Inventions, Fast Company's World Changing Ideas Awards, and World Technology Network's World Technology Award) and has been focusing on developing its award-winning device, WEDEW.

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