Joanne Marchetta is the Executive Director of the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, a bi-state Compact agency whose mission is to cooperatively lead the work to preserve, restore, and enhance the natural and human environment of the Lake Tahoe Region. Since 2009, she has led the Agency and basin through transformational changes to strengthen the environment, economy, and communities of Lake Tahoe. She came to Tahoe in 2009 to serve as TRPA’s General Counsel before taking on the leadership role as Director.
Ms. Marchetta has always had a passion for combining environmental protection, land use planning, and real estate development in unique and responsible ways. Following graduation from the University of Michigan with a forestry degree and Catholic University with a law degree, she started her professional career in Washington DC as a litigator for the Department of Justice. She led environmental enforcement cases under many of the federal environmental statutes — clean air, clean water, and hazardous waste cleanup actions. She worked for US EPA during the Bush and Clinton administrations where she negotiated some of the largest hazardous waste cleanup agreements in the state of California. Later at the Presidio Trust in San Francisco, she helped to transform the Presidio from an Army base to a financially self-sustaining national park.
Joanne serves on the Board and Executive Committee of the Tahoe Prosperity Center. And she enjoys spending time with her partner, walks with her dog, martial arts, hiking, cycling, reading and experiencing all the best of Tahoe’s out of doors.