​Bob Wenzlau

President Emeritus

Bob has served on the board of Neighbors Abroad since 2015, most recently as President. Under his leadership, Neighbors Abroad expanded its focus on cross-border environmental initiatives, including the first carbon offset purchase between California and Mexico.  His engagement with Neighbors Abroad began with a family trip to Oaxaca in the 1990s, after which he volunteered to help facilitate the donation of fire trucks from Palo Alto to Oaxaca. Since then, he and Neighbors Abroad have seen 15 fire trucks and ambulances delivered to Oaxaca for a second life.

Bob is the founder and CEO of Palo Alto-based Terradex, which promotes land stewardship and sustainability through the use of proprietary technology to monitor for new or proposed land uses, and to give notice of unsafe activity near contaminated land to nearby vulnerable community members.

He earned his B.S. in Engineering and his M.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Stanford University. He founded Pacific Environmental Group, serving as Director of Engineering, and participated in the sale of the company. Among other prior positions, he served as Manager of Environmental Compliance for National Semiconductor.

Bob has been working on groundbreaking environmental issues since the 1960s when he was on the forefront of the recycling movement. At Stanford, he created a prototype curbside recycling system that later was launched across the City of Palo Alto. Bob also founded the first Repair Cafe in the United States, a volunteer-run, community service dedicated to encouraging the repair and reuse of goods. He continues to advocate for the proper management of plastic and paper wastes exported internationally. He serves on Palo Alto's Stormwater Management Oversight Committee and led a ballot measure to secure funding for sustainable stormwater management.

​With his son and other friends, Bob has created a mezcal brand, Huxal Mezcal, proceeds from which support firefighters in Palo Alto’s Sister City, Oaxaca.