During her first term as mayor, she appointed a Green Ribbon Task Force that created the city’s first Climate Action Plan. After the plan was adopted in 2009, she helped form the Citizens Environmental Council of Burlingame, which champions a more environmentally and economically sustainable community. Terry worked as a writer and editor at the San Mateo Times, the San Francisco Chronicle and Forbes magazine. After her election to the council, she served in communications roles for various nonprofits, the Skoll Foundation, the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment and Stanford Law School. She has been a Burlingame homeowner and active community volunteer since 1978.