Who We Are

Doug Linney: President

Doug has served the environmental community of California for over 30 years as an advocate, political strategist, coalition builder, and fundraiser. In 1996, he founded The Next Generation (TNG) in an effort to advance the environmental agenda by offering campaign services and political strategy to nonprofit organizations, environmental coalitions, and progressive candidates.

Doug has run numerous campaigns at the state, regional, and local level and has specialized in water, energy, forestry, and environmental tax reform issues. In 2002, he was recognized with the Mark Dubois River Conservationist Award given by Friends of the River. His environmental service includes past or present membership on the boards of directors for the California League of Conservation Voters, Friends of the River, ecoVenture, Green Capitol, the Planning and Conservation League, and the East Bay Municipal Utility District.

From 1988 to 1994, Doug was the Political Director of the California League of Conservation Voters, a public interest organization that supports environmentally minded candidates for public office. Doug received his Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Public Policy from the University of California, Davis.

Noah Finneburgh: Vice President of Communications

Noah first joined TNG in 2006, after working as an organizer and fundraiser for candidate campaigns and ballot measures throughout the Bay Area.

Since joining TNG, Noah has written direct mail and campaign literature for over 50 candidate and initiative campaigns and issue advocacy clients. He specializes in working with TNG’s clients to develop simple, memorable, and compelling campaign messages that move voters and win elections.

A native of Oakland, Noah is a graduate of the University of California Santa Cruz, where he received his Bachelor of Arts in Film and Digital Media, with a minor in Electronic Music.

Buffy Martin Tarbox: Campaign Manager

Buffy’s career in electoral politics began in 1994 working on a gubernatorial race in Nevada.  Since then she has directed numerous legislative races, public health advocacy campaigns, and served as the Government Relations Director for the American Cancer Society, where she led the victorious ballot initiative campaign to ban smoking in most public places in Nevada.  She moved to the Bay Area in 2007 and continued to work in the public health advocacy arena before she joined TNG.

Buffy specializes in media relations and communications.  She graduated from the University of Nevada, Reno.

Ahmad Chapman: Associate Campaign Director

Ahmad started his campaign career as an intern in a California Assembly race in 2002. Since then he has worked on other campaigns from the local to the presidential level. Most notably Ahmad was an organizer for Barack Obama’s presidential bid and Gavin Newsom’s Lieutenant Governor’s race.

Ahmad’s other political ventures include working on legislative issue campaigns with the Alliance for Climate Protection and TransForm. He also spent a year as a Fellow in the office of California State Senator Elaine Alquist.

Ahmad graduated from San Jose State University with a B.A. in Political Science in 2005, and from The George Washington University with a M.P.S. in Political Management in 2009.

Nidia Mikkonen: Art Director

Nidia works closely with our staff to design original, fresh, graphically striking campaign logos, mail pieces, and campaign literature for our clients, often on very tight deadlines.

Nidia has worked with Doug Linney and TNG for over 20 years.

She has also done design work for The California Bar Association, Alameda County Community Food Bank, Clean Water Action, Fred Finch Youth Center, the Labor Project for Working Families, and the California Child Care Resources and Referral Network.

For examples of Nidia’s work for TNG, visit our Portfolio section. For examples of Nidia’s other work, please visit www.mikkodesign.net.

Nick Sebastian: Staff Photographer

Nick has been a professional photojournalist for over 27 years. He has completed assignments locally, nationally, and internationally, from the San Francisco Bay wetlands, to the White House, to the teeming streets of Ho Chi Minh City and Bangkok, and many sites in between.

Published credits include a cover shot for National Geographic, work in the book To Heal a Nation, and photos in Newsweek, the Washington Post, Esquire, Der Spiegel (Germany), Spectacle du Monde (France), and Friday (Japan). He also served as the Washington Bureau Chief for the Tokyo-based news agency, Fujifotos.

Nick has been working with TNG since 2007.