Meet our team

Anders Engnell

Director of Land Management & Community Partnerships

Anders’s community development journey started in southeastern Michigan. For 5 years, he led a nonprofit called Leaders of the Future that built parks, orchards, and community hubs. There, Anders experienced firsthand how impactful collaboration can be in a community.

For the last five years prior to joining California Forever, Anders led the planning and construction of Culdesac Tempe in Arizona. The completed first phase empowers over 200 residents to live in a pedestrian-friendly neighborhood with an onsite grocery store and next door light rail station.

Andreas Lieber

General Manager, Solano Foundry

Andreas Lieber began his career in London leading product management teams at T-Mobile, before relocating to sunny California in 2005. His journey continued at Yahoo, Groupon, and Pinterest, where he led teams focusing on their mobile technologies, international business growth, and global partnerships. Andreas held SVP / C-level roles at Postmates and Uber and most recently was Chief Operating Officer at Shippo where he focused on operations and revenue. Having made California his home for two decades, Andreas is excited to leverage his extensive expertise for the betterment of the community at California Forever.

Anyé Spivey

Director of Development Planning

Anyé Spivey is a Bay Area native with 20 years of experience directing large mixed-use urban master-planned communities, standalone high-density urban infill housing, and tax-exempt infrastructure financing. Over the course of his career, he has worked on several of the largest developments in the Bay Area including the Hunter’s Point Shipyard, Candlestick Point, and the Oakland A’s Howard Terminal project.

Anyé has served on a number of boards over the years and has chosen to focus primarily on education and affordable housing. He currently serves on UCSF’s Campus Facilities Improvement Association board and is a member of ULI’s Urban Development Mixed Use Council and Lambda Alpha International.

B.H. Bronson Johnson

Head of Infrastructure and Sustainability

B.H. Bronson Johnson is a licensed engineer who sees a more sustainable future through infrastructure. In leadership roles at Next Infrastructure, Sidewalk Labs, Forest City, and Lennar Urban, he has leveraged his technical know-how to direct the planning and delivery of many transformative projects. Bronson holds advanced degrees in engineering and geosciences from Cornell University.

As someone who was a long time renter in the Bay Area with three children, he believes our best hope is to build our way out of both the housing and climate crises. He looks forward to working with the people of Solano County to build the most sustainable city in the world, bringing the mojo back to California, and showing the world a better way forward.

Celina Perez

Community Ambassador

Celina Perez is a dedicated community leader and the founder of First Chance Vallejo, where she provides essential resources to underserved populations. Celina serves as a Juvenile Justice Commissioner for Solano County and as Chaplain for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Vallejo Post 1123, offering support to local veterans.

Celina holds three degrees from the University of Maryland Global Campus and is a proud military police veteran. A devoted mother of two, she brings her passion for service and extensive experience to her hometown of Vallejo.

Gabriel Metcalf

Head of Planning

Gabriel Metcalf is a city planner who has dedicated his career to helping cities become more livable, sustainable, and inclusive. For many years, he served as the President and CEO of SPUR, an urban policy think tank for the San Francisco Bay Area. Most recently, he was the CEO of the Committee for Sydney, a research and advocacy organization that provides vision, strategy, and advocacy for Australia’s largest city.

Gabriel’s work has focused on housing policy, climate change, economic development, transportation, and government effectiveness. He has been interested in new cities as a growth management strategy since first learning about the British new town movement in his introduction to planning history at UC Berkeley, where he earned a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning.

Jan Sramek

Founder & CEO

Jan grew up in a small village in the Czech Republic, son of a school teacher and a mechanic, until a scholarship he found by chance on the early internet landed him in England, where he studied Mathematics and Economics at Trinity College, Cambridge, and the London School of Economics. He started his career in finance, but left after 20 months and founded Better, an education company that helped workers acquire new skills.

Born on the eve of the fall of the Berlin Wall, Jan grew up with the ideal of California as this incredible place of innovation, and creativity, and optimism, of building things, of the California dream, of every generation being better off than their parents. After coming to California in 2013, it quickly became clear that some of that has started to be lost, and Jan wanted to work on bringing those things back.

After a lifetime moving West searching for home, Jan has found it in Solano County, where he now lives with his wife Naytri, two young children, and golden retriever Bruce. Jan is excited to build something amazing in Solano County with our new friends and neighbors, and help make Solano County the place that recaptures California’s pioneering spirit. He also can’t wait to move into the first home in the new city.

Jay Primus

Director of Transportation

Jay Primus is an urbanist and transportation planner focused on reducing emissions, improving economic vitality, and helping transportation – and cities – be more delightful. For seven years, Jay managed parking in San Francisco, including a groundbreaking demonstration of how better pricing and information can make parking work better. SFpark remains a rare example of how cities can use data to make better decisions, improve operations, manage contracts, reduce costs, and deliver social benefits. In an earlier role, Jay led the design of San Francisco’s first bus rapid transit project.

Jay was inspired by early experience in Curitiba, Brazil and Bogata, Colombia, cities that met urgent and overwhelming social problems with creativity, clarity, courage, and respect for people’s dignity.

Jen Fox

Senior Project Manager, Planning

Jen is an urbanist dedicated to building more sustainable, equitable, and resilient communities.

Her work has focused on clean energy, sustainable transport, climate mitigation, and low-carbon development. She studied urban planning and economics at MIT, a short bike ride away from her family in Massachusetts.

Jennifer Chaides

Executive Assistant

Jennifer Chaides is a Solano County native who spent the last 11 years working for some of the largest local healthcare organizations. Most recently, Jennifer was the Executive Assistant to CEO and CFO at Canopy Health. Jennifer graduated with a BA in Business Administration and Healthcare Management and MBA from Western Governors University.

As a lifelong Vacaville resident, Jennifer has witnessed the transformation of Vacaville from a small town to the thriving community it is today. Together with her husband Roberto, they purchased their first home in Vacaville to stay close to family while they raise their own. Jennifer is excited to be part of a team that’s building a better future for Solano County.

Julia Blystone

Head of Communications

Julia Blystone has been working in Communications in the Bay Area for 25 years. She has developed and executed successful PR campaigns for companies ranging from fast-growth start-ups to Fortune 500s. Most recently, she was at Slack, where she was the first in-house PR person, and helped build and lead the Comms team through the company’s Direct Public Listing and eventual acquisition by Salesforce.

Julia was born in Saigon, raised in London, and went to college in Vermont, but she has found her spiritual home in the astonishing natural beauty of California.

Julie Daigle

Community Ambassador

Julie grew up in a small, self-sustainable agricultural town in Northern Maine where there was a strong sense of community. Growing up surrounded by nature’s beauty and in an education model that was the heart of the community helped prepare her to be the pioneer and visionary that she is. She attributes her pioneering spirit to her French Acadian lineage. Her great grandfather was given the first charter of land by King Louis XIV to establish an Acadian settlement in the St. John Valley.

Julie graduated from the University of Maine with a B.S. in Education with a clear intention to move to California and establish intergenerational preschools of her own. Over the span of 40 years, Julie has owned and operated Montessori schools throughout the bay area. She’s excited to be a member of the California Forever team in hopes that she can help design a “new intergenerational education model” for Solano county residents; one that will create a strong sense of community and connection to the beauty that surrounds it.

Justin Esch

Head of Business Development

Justin Esch was raised in a small town in Colorado, the experience of growing up in a rural county (pop 5,204) shaped his perspective on what it takes to build a strong community. Before joining California Forever, Justin led Partnerships and Business Development for some of the fastest-growing companies of the last decade, including Uber, Postmates, and Turo. In these roles, Justin was focused on creating first-of-kind partnerships that created tremendous value for everyone involved.

Justin has negotiated partnerships with dozens of Fortune 500 companies, including Apple, Google, Visa, Mastercard, AEG, HBO, Paramount Pictures, T-Mobile, and Verizon, as well as with major US professional sports leagues and teams, such as the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB). Justin is excited to apply the same win-win mentality to bringing new employers, entertainment, and other key institutions to Solano County.

Matthew Bidou

Ranch Manager

Matthew Bidou grew up in Benicia, California, and graduated from St. Patrick’s High School in Vallejo. Matthew went on to serve two enlistments in the United States Army as an Infantry man and then a career in law enforcement, 26 years with the Solano County Sheriff Office and 13 years as a reserve Police Officer with the City of Rio Vista. Matthew for 4 years was the director of athletics at Vanden HS. Matthew has served on the Rio Vista City Council and is currently serving on the Travis Unified School District School Board as the Board President. Between the City of Rio Vista and Vacaville Matthew has over 25 years as a youth sports coach.

As Ranch Manager, Matthew works with our ranching, farming and residential tenants to steward and protect 65,000+ acres of our lands in southeastern Solano County.

Michael Fortney

Head of Partnerships

As a native to Solano County with over 30 years of experience in real estate and community service, Michael Fortney’s excited to join California Forever.

As the Director of Partnerships, he’ll work with private and public stakeholders to create a dynamic new city with well-paid jobs in new industries and affordable homes in walkable neighborhoods for future generations. He’s driven by a strong sense of purpose and commitment to strengthen communities and improving lives. He’s always eager to learn, collaborate, and innovate with others who share the same vision and love for Solano County.

Naytri Sramek

Advisor

Naytri advises on operations at California Forever including government relations and brand marketing. Most recently, Naytri served on the executive team at GitHub as Chief of Staff to the CEO leading operations and community projects after its acquisition by Microsoft in 2018. Prior to that, she was a product and finance executive in technology companies, including leading international business development and investor relations at Palantir Technologies. She also serves as board director at Grove Collaborative which is creating plastic-free products for a more sustainable future.

Naytri lived the California Dream after her parents came to Los Angeles in the 1980s – when a working family could buy their first home for about $100,000, and access some of the nation’s best public schools. She believes California’s abundant optimism empowered millions of Americans to build a better life and wants to continue that promise for generations to come.

Tanya Marietta Powell

Community Ambassador

Tanya is a 10-year resident of Solano County who relocated here for her career as the CFO at a locally headquartered national distribution company. Born and raised in Chicago, Tanya has lived in New York and San Francisco, and appreciates the best of what a densely populated, walkable city life can offer.

As a foodie, Tanya enjoys ballet, hiking, and yoga for exercise. When it comes to sports, she’s a spectator and loves them all in live action. Tanya’s faith and neighbors are very important to her, and she works with several nonprofits to support faith, healthy outcomes, and cultural arts in the community.

Tanya believes the California Forever project will provide much-needed tax revenue to Solano County, deliver housing at all levels of affordability, support businesses, ensure proper infrastructure, utilize green and environmentally efficient technology, and complement its seven sister cities. The plan aims to provide access to entertainment, food, public safety, recreation, arts, the arts, retail, education, religious institutions, cultural attractions, healthcare, philanthropy, and good-paying jobs, enhancing the quality of life and inspiring community unity.