Elaine Tholen

Elaine Tholen has a long career in science, environmental education and sustainability management in Wisconsin and Virginia.  Most recently she served as Chair of the Fairfax County Public School Board, where she was  a member of the board from 2020 to 2024.  As a school board member, she served as a member of the Fairfax County Joint Environmental Task Force.  From 2016-2019, she was a Director on the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District board promoting VA watershed education and working to improve state education policy.

For nine years she started and managed the Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) Get2Green environmental education program specializing in student engagement and green/sustainable school infrastructure. Tholen is a founder of NoVA Outside and co-chaired their Student Environmental Action Showcase each year for 10 years.  This event hosted over 1000 students and teachers each year in partnership with George Mason University. She has worked as a consultant to advise organizations on educational innovations to promote student environmental stewardship and civic engagement.  Prior to her work with FCPS, she worked 12 years for SAIC managing a staff focused on large environmental cleanups for the US Department of Energy.  Prior to SAIC, Tholen worked for a Wall Street firm in Manhattan and Tokyo in systems integration and program management.

Tholen has a BS in Science Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a MBA from the University of Maryland-College Park. She taught middle school and high school field biology, life sciences, chemistry and physical sciences and environmental science. She has also worked as an elementary school science specialist. 

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• Richard Moniuszko, President
• Cindy Petitt, Vice President
• John Lang, Treasurer 
• Bill Patterson, Secretary
• Ben Kinnas, Program Chair
• Peter Cooper
• Lynn Cordy
• Clair Goddard
• Elaine Tholen