Tom Baxter, Chris McNamara, and Tom Seeliger bring extensive professional experience and deep passion for Lake Tahoe to the board
The Tahoe Fund welcomes Tom Baxter, Chris McNamara, and Tom Seeliger to its Board of Directors. Each of the three bring valuable professional experience plus deep connections to the Tahoe region that will help advance the efforts of the organization to improve the Lake Tahoe environment for all to enjoy.
“I’m pleased to welcome Tom, Chris, and Tom to the Tahoe Fund Board of Directors and excited about the invaluable experience and leadership each brings to our efforts,” said John Jones, Tahoe Fund board chair. “All three have strong histories of supporting the Lake Tahoe environment that will be beneficial as we continue to pursue opportunities aligned with our mission.”
An attorney who specialized in finance and was a partner at O’Melveny & Myers in Los Angeles and New York for 30+ years, Tom Baxter formed several nonprofit organizations for clients and friends. A resident of Glenbrook, Nevada, Baxter’s appreciation for the Sierra and the Tahoe region was fostered through summer visits to his grandparents’ cabin on Upper Echo Lake, built by his grandfather in the 1920s. A lifelong outdoor enthusiast, he has hiked the entirety of the John Muir Trail, climbed the California 14ers, worked summers in Alaska, and taken mountaineering trips to Mexico, Peru and Europe.
“A dedicated trail advocate and outdoor entrepreneur based in Zephyr Cove, Nevada, Chris McNamara has taken a hands-on approach to transformational local infrastructure. His leadership helped bring the Ski Run Boulevard revitalization and Ski Run Park to life in South Lake Tahoe, and he and his wife helped establish the Tahoe Fund’s Trail Endowment to create a sustainable funding model for the long-term care of the region’s extensive trail network. McNamara is the co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of GearLab, the founder of SuperTopo guidebooks, and the President of Orogenesis Collective, which supports a 5,000-mile trail from Cabo to Canada. An accomplished climber, he is a former world-record-holding big wall climber with over 80 ascents of El Capitan, a pioneering wingsuit BASE jumper with a dozen first descents in the U.S. and Baffin Island, and the founder of the American Safe Climbing Association.
Tom Seeliger is a sixth-generation Northern Nevadan who grew up in a multi-generational family business rooted in the Basin and was raised with a deep appreciation for Lake Tahoe’s community lifestyle and natural beauty. Over the course of his career, Seeliger has worked as a geologist, environmental engineer, and in finance for over 25 years. He served as a director of Edgewood Companies for 12 years, as well as an advisory board member and shareholder. His outdoor pursuits include backcountry skiing, mountain biking, flying and traveling—interests he shares with his sons whenever possible.
