For eight years Michigan Chapter Director Gail Philbin has led the Michigan Sierra Club with quiet grace. The Chapter’s successes during her tenure speak volumes about her skill and passion for protecting the Great Lakes state. As Gail prepares for her retirement we look back at her impressive career at the helm of the statewide chapter, managing 10 talented staff members, working with hundreds of volunteers and overseeing Michigan’s 100,000 plus Sierra Club members and supporters.
“When Gail became director she brought a level of continuity, stability and professionalism that allowed Sierra Club in Michigan to prosper and grow,” explained David Holtz, former chapter chair. “She did a masterful job managing and guiding staff and prioritizing fundraising. I will always be grateful for Gail's thoughtful and wise leadership style, a no-drama approach that steadily moved us forward."
Perhaps Gail’s strongest successes came from her ability to fundraise for the small but mighty chapter. From 2015 to 2022 the Michigan Chapter’s budget doubled to more than $1 million per year. Gail ensured that the Detroit-based Sierra Club Rain Gardens to the Rescue and Green Stormwater Infrastructure programs were able to continue after they were imperiled by a loss of national Sierra Club funding. In 2017, Gail led planning and execution of the successful 50th Anniversary celebration for the Michigan Chapter that included raising $50,000 to establish the Anne Woiwode Fund honoring the Chapter’s first director. Gail’s work in collaboration with national Sierra Club’s Beyond Coal Campaign and associated climate and energy programs has ensured an excellent working relationship between these national programs and the state chapter, including continued funding for key Chapter staff on these issues.
Other successes are best measured in the remarkable advances Gail fostered in the Michigan Chapter’s commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion and the transformation to embody those values. Working closely with past chapter chair Deitra Covington and dedicated volunteers and staff, Gail personally committed to bringing equity values to life in the Michigan Chapter. Her support helped to establish the chapter’s Environmental Justice Action Group and the Race & Privilege Group, and she has continually shepherded staff growth and training on equity issues.
Perhaps the work closest to Gail’s heart is the fight to address the hazards posed by CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations or livestock factories). Gail has brought her passion for animals and protection of Michigan’s water and air to this fight throughout her tenure as both a volunteer and staff member. Gail helped create and lead the Great Farms, Great Lakes coalition of national and state partner organizations working to improve and strengthen Michigan’s 2020 CAFO water quality permits. “We were successful in getting several changes for the better,” Gail observed, “but administrative and legal maneuvering by the Farm Bureau has kept the better permit from being implemented yet.” In addition, Gail established the Less=More coalition which shone a spotlight on the lack of support for sustainable agriculture compared with industrial-scale operations. Gail oversaw the research (2012, 2015 and 2017) about the impacts of CAFO animal waste runoff on water quality and algae blooms in the Great Lakes. Work to address the enormous water quality threats posed by these operations continues, including revelations of the application of PFAS-contaminated sludges to farms made by Michigan volunteers and staff in 2022.
Gail will be missed but we know she will stay engaged in this critical work. Meanwhile, we look forward to her sharing photos of her extraordinary garden which provides a gorgeous array of flowers and vegetables on a corner lot in Grand Rapids. We also encourage readers to build on Gail Philbin’s extraordinary tenure by making a donation in her name to the Michigan Chapter fund.