Hello, my name is Veronica Coptis and I am your Chapter Chair. Since the start of the year our Chapter staff and volunteer leadership have been growing, our equity team has been launching new projects, and we have been working to make our Executive Committee meetings more accessible to everyone. Our growth could not come at a more critical time, as our federal and state governments continue to strip away our rights and put our environment up for sale to the highest bidder. Read on below to learn more about our Chapter's growth and how you can get involved
Please join me in welcoming Erin Freeman, our new Outings staff person; Jennifer Quinn, our new Legislative and Political Director; and Rachel Rosenfield, Community Outreach Coordinator in the Lehigh Valley to our Chapter staff. We are thrilled to to have them and look forward to them continuing to support our volunteers across the state.
From top to bottom: Erin Freeman, Jenn Quinn, Rachel Rosenfeld
I also encourage you to learn more about our growing Equity team, led by Equity Chair Robyn Weaver, which is launching two awesome projects this year. The first project is a Grassroots Partner Fund which helps get resources to community groups that typically have a harder time accessing traditional funding sources. It is set up to match donations from local Sierra Club Groups. For more information reach out to Eva Resnick-Day. They have also started an Equity reading group where you can read an article each month on a pressing equity issue and join a video hangout to discuss the article with others across the state. To join us on a futue discussion or learn more about the Equity team, please reach out to Robyn Weaver.
Chapter Equity Chair Robyn Weaver and Chapter Chair Veronica Coptis discussing the impacts of coal mining at Ryerson Station State Park in Greene County.
Lastly, we are trying to make our Executive Committee meetings more accessible and are restructuring our meetings to prioritize important discussions, provide workshops, and learn from each other's work. If you are interested in learning more about our work or have something you want the Chapter Leadership to be aware of, I encourage you all to join us for an upcoming Executive Committee meeting. We have a video call on June 14th and an in-person meeting during our Annual Outing at Hickory Run State Park on August 17th.
I feel honored to be your Chapter Chair during our period of growth and I look forward to growing with and supporting you all in fighting for a cleaner environment and thriving communities in Pennsylvania.
Best,
Veronica Coptis, Chapter Chair
Sierra Club PA Chapter
This article is part of our Summer 2018 Sylvanian Newsletter. To read other articles from this issue, please click here.