Adam.Beitman@sierraclub.org
OAKLAND, CA - The Sierra Club is proud to announce the results of it’s National Board Elections, as well as a new slate of National Board Officers for 2021. The National Board of Directors is democratically elected by the organization’s membership and serves its 3.8 million members and supporters.
The five Directors elected in 2021 are: Tony Fuller, Chad Hanson, Debbie Heaton, Ross Macfarlane & Meghan Sahli-Wells.
“Our democratically elected Board is the highest expression of the Sierra Club’s greatest strength - our powerful collective of nearly 4 million changemakers dedicated to making a better tomorrow for our families, our friends and our planet,” said Sierra Club Board President Ramón Cruz. “I’m so happy to welcome our new and returning Directors to the Board as we mobilize and fight for a bold, transformational environmental agenda that recognizes the intersectionality between our planet, our humanity, and our democracy.”
SIERRA CLUB’S NATIONAL BOARD OFFICERS FOR 2021 INCLUDE:
Ramón Cruz, President
Ross Macfarlane, Vice President for Conservation
Rita Harris, Secretary
Mike O'Brien, Treasurer
Patrick Murphy, Vice President for Chapters, Groups, and Volunteers
ADDITIONAL MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR 2021 ARE: Oliver Bernstein, Tony Fuller, Brian Gomez, Chad Hanson, Debbie Heaton, Marion Klaus, Natalie Lucas, Aaron Mair, Meghan Sahli-Wells, David Scott.
ABOUT THE DIRECTORS:
2021 ELECTED DIRECTORS:
Tony Fuller:
Sierra Club Leadership Positions: Council of Club Leaders, Vice Chair ExCom (2016–present); Sierra Club Political Team (2014-present); Climate Movement Next Steps Team (2015); Illinois Chapter Excom (2009-Present); Chicago Group Excom Co-Chair (2016–2018); John Muir Chapter Secretary (1999-2000). Other Leadership Positions: Board Member, Wisconsin’s Environmental Decade (now Clean Wisconsin) (2000).
Chad Hanson:
Chad Hanson is a member of the Sierra Club’s national Board of Directors, and a forest ecologist with the John Muir Project, located in Big Bear City, California. Dr. Hanson co-authored the book, The Ecological Importance of Mixed-Severity Fires: Nature’s Phoenix (Elsevier, Inc.) and has published dozens of scientific studies and articles in peer-reviewed journals pertaining to forests, wildland fire, and climate change mitigation. He joined the Sierra Club after hiking the Pacific Crest Trail from Mexico to Canada in 1989 with his older brother, and seeing firsthand the devastation caused by commercial logging on our National Forests.
Debbie Heaton:
A volunteer with the Sierra Club for over 29 years, Debbie served in numerous roles within the Delaware Chapter from newsletter editor through to chairing the chapter, as well as the conservation and political committees. Her work at the local level led her to getting involved at the regional level and eventually on national teams and committees. Her career as an art director/graphic designer transitioned to working with nonprofits after she accepted a position as Delaware Chapter staff.
Recently retired from raising money for several conservation nonprofits, she serves on the Board of the Sierra Club and Delaware Humanities, as well as treasurer of GreenWatch Institute, and chairs the Delaware Natural Areas Advisory Council. She lives with her husband in Middletown, DE and enjoys travel, hiking, reading, and learning to cook.
Ross Macfarlane:
Ross is a climate and clean energy advocate and Director for the Clean Energy Transition Institute and Climate Solutions. He teaches at Western Washington University’s Institute for Energy Studies. Ross was Senior Advisor at Climate Solutions, where he engaged businesses, advocated for strong climate policy, and helped lead the successful campaign to stop coal export facilities. He was a partner at K&L Gates and enforced environmental laws at the US EPA. A passionate hiker, climber, skier, and sea-kayaker, Ross draws inspiration from wild places in his native Northwest and around the world.
Meghan Sahli-Wells:
Meghan Sahli-Wells has spent nearly a decade in public service, championing environmental justice and building progressive power both locally and nationally. As Mayor of Culver City (CA), Meghan led the city’s transition to 100% renewable energy and phase-out of oil drilling. Known as the "Biking Mayor,” Sahli-Wells helped craft Culver City’s first bicycle and pedestrian master plan, established a robust Safe Routes to School program, and served on the Metro E Line (light rail) Construction Authority. In 2014, she joined President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Community Challenge, and launched Culver City’s equity and youth empowerment initiatives. She also helped lead regional efforts to ensure equitable housing policies in transit and jobs-rich communities, and passed groundbreaking tenant protections in Culver City.
Today, Meghan is a strategic policy consultant for Los Angeles County Supervisor Holly J. Mitchell, where she works at the intersection of mobility, housing, and environmental justice, with a particular focus on urban oil drilling. Sahli-Wells holds two bachelor’s degrees from UCLA where she majored in World Arts and Cultures, and in French.
2021 BOARD OFFICERS:
Ramón Cruz, President
Ramón Cruz is the first Latino President of the Sierra Club in the organization’s 128-year history. Cruz holds degrees from American University in Washington D.C. and Princeton University in New Jersey. He has over 20 years of experience in advocacy at the intersection of sustainability, environmental and energy policy, urban planning, and climate change. He has worked as Deputy Director of the state environmental regulatory agency in Puerto Rico, and held senior positions at the Environmental Defense Fund, the Partnership for New York City, and the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy.
Rita Harris, Secretary
Rita joined Sierra Club 21 years ago and has served in numerous capacities such as Environmental Justice Organizer, Beyond Coal Organizer, diversity & anti-racism trainer, and environmental conference coordinator. Her work has revolved around working with neighborhoods seeking a healthy community, clean air and water, and adequate green spaces free of toxic hazards. Current volunteer activities have included serving as co-leader of the Organizing Department’s Leadership Team and co-facilitating anti-racism training workshops. In Sierra Club’s early efforts around diversity and inclusion, she served on the original Diversity Council (2006-2009) that was the catalyst for the establishment of the Office of Equity & Inclusion. Ms. Harris has worked with several other non-profit organizations and has advocated for a variety of environmental causes.
Mike O'Brien, Treasurer
Sierra Club Leadership Positions: Washington State Chapter Chair (2006-2009), Chapter Excom (2004-2009), Chapter Political Committee co-chair (2005-2006), Leadership Development Program participant (2006-2007), Chapter Political Committee Treasurer (2003-2008), Seattle Group Treasurer (2006). Other Leadership Positions: Sound Transit Regional Authority Board (2014-2016), Founding Member of the Leadership Alliance Against Coal (2013-2016), Water Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 8 Salmon Recovery Council (2010-2013), Cascade Bicycle Club Advocacy Leadership Institute trainer (2012-2014
Patrick Murphy, Vice President for Chapters, Groups, and Volunteers
Patrick’s 25-year background includes the Board’s Finance & Risk Committee (2019–); Chapter Support Team (2015–); Chair, Austin Group (2018–) and Chicago Group (2002-2003); National Conservation Chair, Sierra Student Coalition (2000-2004); Conflict Resolution Team (2003-2012, Chair 2010-2012); Outings Leader (2002–) and Outings trainer (2015–). Other Leadership Positions include: EDF Climate Corps Fellow (2012); VP, University of Notre Dame Net Impact (2011-2012); Board of Directors, Save Our City Coalition (2002-2004)
ADDITIONAL BOARD MEMBERS:
Oliver Bernstein:
Oliver joined the Sierra Club when he was 12 to stop a proposed airport near Everglades National Park. He later spent nearly 10 years on Sierra Club staff based in Austin, Texas as a community organizer and communications professional. Since 2014, Oliver has been Communications Director at the Center for Public Policy Priorities. He lives in Austin with his wife and two children.
Brian Gomez:
Brian Gomez joined Sierra Club by chance, through an online search and attended the Summer Program (SPROG) run by the Sierra Student Coalition in 2013. Since then he has been involved in the Illinois Chapter through college, and later worked for the Sierra Student Coalition in a variety of training and operational roles. Brian is passionate about financial systems, youth involvement, and equity in the environmental movement.
During the day Brian is the Finance Director at the Sunrise Movement. He lives in Chicago, Illinois and likes traveling, reading, and exercise.
Marion Klaus:
Marion’s primary conservation interest is the nexus between climate disruption and lands, water and wildlife; specifically the national priority to conserve 30% of our land by 2030 that tackles both climate disruption by sequestering carbon dioxide and addressing the joint crises of loss of habitat and extinctions.
Sierra Club Leadership Positions include: Co-Lead Land Water and Wildlife (2018-present), Structural Assessment Team (2019-2020), Co-Lead Our Wild America (2013-2017), Co-Lead Wildlife Conservation Taskforce (2014-2015), Resilient Habitat Leadership Team (2009-2012), UT Chapter ExCom (2009-2014); Vice Chair, 2010; Chair, 2011 & 2012), Chapter National Planning Taskforce (2012-2014), Mission Strategies (2013-2014), UT Wilderness Grassroots Team (2014-present), Ballot Statement Review Committee (2012-2013). Other leadership positions: Salt Lake County Environmental Quality Advisory Commission (2010-2011); Wyoming Air Quality Advisory Board (1989-1997)
Natalie Lucas:
Natalie lives in Cleveland, Ohio. She joined the board in 2016 as quite possibly the youngest woman to ever serve on the board. She started as a youth leader with the Sierra Student Coalition (SSC), and led the delegation to COP21, the Paris climate negotiations. Additionally, she has served on the Excomm of the Rincon Group, as the membership chair of the Grand Canyon Chapter, and as the equity chair for the Missouri Chapter.
Aaron Mair:
Aaron Mair was the Sierra Club’s 57th president. Mair became a Sierra Club member in 1999, following a decade-long battle that he led to shut down a polluting solid waste incinerator in an inner-city community in Albany, New York. Mair was also a key figure in leading the fight and securing the Sierra Club’s participation in the Clean Up the Hudson campaign, which resulted in a settlement between the EPA and General Electric to dredge toxic PCB’s.
David Scott:
Dave Scott came to the board after years of working to protect Alaska wilderness, wild animals and forests, the Great Lakes and our climate. He’s served as Sierra Club President, Vice-President and Treasurer and held many leadership roles at the regional and state level. He’s had a long legal career, starting as a poverty lawyer in Appalachia, later focusing on civil rights protection. He lives in Ohio and loves dogs.
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.