We’ve had some big changes in the Maryland Sierra Club staffing. Earlier this year our long-time policy director David Smedick took a great job at the National Sierra Club. Last month, Beyond Coal organizer Matt Dernoga took a job on Capitol Hill. And this November Conservation Organizer Zack Gerdes accepted a position with National Sierra Clubs New Economy Program! Please join us in congratulating everyone on their new journeys. We wish all of them the best in their transition to new and exciting roles in the Climate Movement! It has been an amazing opportunity to work with Zack, Matt, & David.
In December, Zack Gerdes will become the Campaign Representative for Sierra Club's Living Economy Program in the DC office. In this role, he will be working to halt unjust trade deals and advance state and federal level Green New Deal policies that tackle climate change and toxic pollution, create good jobs, and fight racial, economic, and gender inequity.
Zack has been with the MD Sierra Club for four years, and during that time has made innumerable contributions to our conservation campaigns, including the battles against fracked-gas and gas infrastructure, ban bee harming pesticides, to protect Maryland’s forests, clean water, and public health, and has also played a vital role in managing our Chapter communications across all campaigns.
Please reach him at zack.gerdes@sierraclub.org.
In October, Matt Dernoga began working in the office of Congresswoman Nanette Barragán as her Senior Legislative Assistant on the Energy & Commerce Committee, which deals with climate and energy legislation. As a Maryland resident and longtime Sierra Club member, he will remain involved with many of you as an activist, in the shared fight we're all in. Matt has been a Sierra Club activist from the time he was in college. During his year on staff, he did incredible organizing work, particularly in setting the stage for our 2020 push in the General Assembly to phase out Maryland’s six polluting coal plants and to support impacted workers and communities in the transition.
In September David Smedick transitioned to a new role as a Sierra Club Senior Campaign Representative for the Beyond Coal Campaign for the Mid Atlantic Region. In his new role he supports climate mitigation work in the region, focusing on our move from dirty to clean energy. And the good news for Maryland is that a large amount of his time is still focused here!
David has been with the club for five years, and grew to become a central player and supporter of our conservation campaigns across the board, our lobbying efforts in Annapolis, and advocacy in front of the Maryland Department of the Environment and the Maryland Public Service Commission. He played a key role in many of our environmental victories in recent years, such as the General Assembly’s passage of the Clean Energy Jobs Act in 2019. As the Beyond Coal Representative, David has been our go-to person in analyzing and understanding the many complex questions that arise in addressing energy regulation and clean energy growth in Maryland.
Please reach him at david.smedick@sierraclub.org