Meet Our Community: Zainab Chehime
- Paige Combs - KCCB
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
As part of our seasonal spotlight series, we’re celebrating our incredible employees, partners, and volunteers who help make the work of Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful (KCCB) possible. In our Earth Day Blog, we talk about the ‘Ripple Effect’ and how all it takes is one person to inspire many to make a change in their community. Today, we’re excited to introduce Zainab, who has been involved since 2025. She’s a San Jose State University student pursuing her degree in environmental studies. Zainab shares with us her dedication to involving her community, educating others, and getting off our phones and getting outside!
Role: Volunteer BioBlitz Docent, Naturalist Intern
With KCCB: Almost 2 years!
Fun Facts 🌟
Happy place: Mori Point in San Francisco 🏞️
Unusual creek sightings: Markings on the ground from a hog 🐷
Favorite hobbies: Fortnite, gaming 🎮
Favorite place to eat: Fro-yo 😋
Favorite color: Light blue 🌈
When asked about her favorite moments around the creek, Zainab expressed, “We saw this little snake, and we were like, ‘there’s no way - that’s so awesome,’ because I had never seen a snake in person before.”
How it All Started 🌱
Zainab’s journey with KCCB began in the classroom when she was first introduced to the organization during a guest lecture from Deb Kramer. What started as curiosity quickly turned into action.
“I got introduced back in the winter of 2024 when Deb came in as a guest speaker for my class… that was the first time I got introduced to the organization, and I thought, ‘oh, that’s so awesome.’”
A few months later, she applied for KCCB’s Naturalist Internship, and from there, her connection deepened.
“My end goal, [is] going into sustainability or green tech… I had to actually sit with the basis of life and our environment. And I think KCCB gave the perfect opportunity to do that.”
Impact on the Community 🌎
For Zainab, the impact of KCCB is rooted in access, curiosity, and shared experience, all while creating a space where people can engage with nature in a meaningful way. She examined it in several significant ways.
She expressed, “We get to be the person that opens the door to the [natural] world for people and see families and everyone get to explore what is so crucial and is getting ignored nowadays.”
In the time that she’s been there, Zainab has witnessed this impact grow over time, especially through increasing participation and engagement.
“With every BioBlitz, I noticed groups getting bigger… There was even a group of 20–25 people from another organization that came out. I thought that was so awesome.”
At its core, the work that KCCB fosters is something deeper than just participation; it builds genuine curiosity.
“When they start talking, they start asking questions, that’s exactly what we want them to do, because naturally we’re curious.”
Looking Ahead: The Future of KCCB ☀️🌳
Zainab is especially thoughtful about the intersection of environmental work and the future, particularly as technology continues to evolve.
“I think it’s going to keep pursuing the same goal, to teach, restore, and protect the creek… almost like being a protector of the environment.”
Here she begins to build connections on a really important component that KCCB values, which is creating future stewards of our environment. She also reflects on the importance of balancing innovation with real-world connection.
“With AI and everything, I think we can’t just follow it blindly… when you’re actually sitting within the environment and the problem, it allows you to really think and want to help.”
Her vision is one where technology is used ethically, without losing touch with the environment itself. As we become further integrated into a world of technology, Zainab unveils and understands the importance of using AI in a collaborative, respectful way that can be shared with the parts that are important to our humanity: nature and curiosity.
Final Thoughts ✨
What stands out most in Zainab’s experience is the sense of community, something she describes as both rare and deeply meaningful.
“It [is] so rewarding… even if it was a 30-minute drive, I would be so excited the whole time just to go and see everyone again.”
That connection goes beyond obligation; it’s intentional, shared, and deeply human. What Zainab has found is that when community is discovered, even with time being such a precious commodity, individuals are willing to share it in these kinds of places.
When talking about KCCB and the events that folks attended, she shared, “They weren’t here because they had to, they chose to want to come. They chose to want to learn.”
And ultimately, that’s what makes the experience so powerful.
“It almost felt like there was a string attached between every single participant… everybody came with the same purpose.”
Zainab's reflections highlight how KCCB has built something special, and that’s building a community of learning, growing, and reviving places that we love together.
Comments