There are many different people who make the work of the Sierra Club happen. Please see the list below to identify the correct person to contact with your question or concern.
Wisconsin Chapter Staff
Sierra Club - Wisconsin Chapter
754 Williamson St., Madison, WI 53703
Phone: (608) 256-0565
wisconsin.chapter@sierraclub.org
Elizabeth Ward
She/her/hers
Chapter Director
elizabeth.ward@sierraclub.org
As the Chapter Director, Elizabeth works with the Chapter's Executive Committee to ensure the Chapter is making progress on our goals to ensure everyone has access to clean air, clean water, and our public lands. Elizabeth has the pleasure of working with hundreds of volunteers and leaders across the state. Prior to assuming the role of Chapter Director in December of 2020, Elizabeth directed the Chapter's conservation programs since 2010. She enjoys hiking and biking in Wisconsin's beautiful places.
Jacinda Tessmann
She/her/hers
Chapter Coordinator
jacinda.tessmann@sierraclub.org
In her role as Chapter Coordinator, Jacinda Tessmann oversees operational aspects of the Wisconsin Chapter. In this role, she also contributes to the fundraising, finance, membership development and volunteer programs. Jacinda has a degree in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Over the course of her career she has worked in the private and non-profit sectors but has always been drawn back to the non-profit world. Her interest in pairing her business background with an environmental career was sparked during her time with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources-Forestry Division. She has been with the Wisconsin Chapter since October 2010 and is pleased to use her business experience in support of the Sierra Club, its volunteers and Wisconsin’s air, water, and wild places.
Cassie Steiner-Bouxa
They/Them/Theirs or She/Her/Hers
Senior Campaign Coordinator
cassandra.steiner@sierraclub.org
In their role as the Campaign Coordinator for the Chapter, Cassie Steiner-Bouxa coordinates online and print communications and serves on priority issue campaigns including public lands access, equitable transportation and the beyond coal campaign. They supports volunteers and members of the public in engaging in decision-making processes and grassroots activism. Cassie has a degree in International Studies with an emphasis in Public Diplomacy and minors in Spanish and Peace and Social Justice from the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater. In their free time, Cassie enjoys reading, crafting and foraging.
Jadine Sonoda
She/her/hers
Campaign Coordinator
jadine.sonoda@sierraclub.org
As the Campaign Coordinator, Jadine works on and supports a variety of campaigns. She is primarily responsible for supporting the Tar Sands Team and our pipeline work, the Water Team, and the Chapter’s support of the Oak Creek and NTEC campaigns. Jadine has a degree in Biology with a minor in Anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis. She is excited to explore Wisconsin and enjoys running, reading and experimenting with new recipes in her free time.
Sierra Club - National Headquarters
2101 Webster St, Suite 1300, Oakland, CA 94612
Phone: (415) 977-5500
www.sierraclub.org
- Membership questions: membership.services@sierraclub.org
- Changes of address: address.changes@sierraclub.org
Wisconsin Chapter Executive Committee Members
Leadership of the WisconsinChapter of the Sierra Club is entrusted to a 15 member volunteer Executive Committee, selected by and representing our membership. Nine Executive Committee members are elected by the Chapter membership at large and serve staggered 3-year terms. Each of our six Local Groups annually appoints a delegate to represent them on the Chapter Executive Committee. Elections are held annually. Details and schedule can be found here.
Gail Syverud, Co-Chair
She/Her/Hers
Gail joined the Sierra Club because she is against oil and gas projects in ANWR. Locally, she is a member of organizations that advocate for sustainability, natural resources, wildlife, and national carbon fee and dividend legislation
Don Ferber, Co-Chair
He/Him/His
Four Lakes Group Delegate
d_ferber@sbcglobal.net
Don is an avid outdoors person with an appreciation for nature. As a fan and advocate of Aldo Leopold and his Land Ethic, he believes we need to live in an ethical manner as a member of the land community and in concert with nature and other people. He believes that currently, much of what we are doing is either unwise or unsustainable, it doesn't bring us happiness, and we need to take a different direction. Climate change and energy policy are key areas in determining our future direction and that of the planet. He works actively on climate and energy to set us on a different course. He also enjoys outreach and communications to engage people and educate them about the environment. Since there is no planet B, he figures we have to figure out how to explore, enjoy and protect this one.
Committees: Fundraising, Legislative, Personnel
Laura Lane
She/Her/Hers
Laura started volunteering with the Sierra Club out of an extreme concern for environmental issues, especially climate change, and because she wanted to be an advocate for things she cares about - such as clean energy, mass transit, full funding for state parks, and clean water. Laura studied environmental law at the University of Colorado and passed the Wisconsin Bar in 1999. After her first child was born, she became a full-time Mom and freelance writer. She specializes in writing about science, nature, and social studies and has written three books for children with a fourth coming out this fall. In addition to the Executive Committee, Laura is also a member of our MG&E Beyond Coal team.
Linda Frank
She/Her/Hers
Great Waters Group Delegate
linda.m.frank@icloud.com
Linda’s deep concern about climate change and rapid species extinction prompted her to engage on these issues as a community activist. As a core member of the Milwaukee Equity & Climate Alliance, Linda and her colleagues have successfully advocated for the newly passed resolution committing the city and county to 100% carbon neutrality, along with strong action on racial economic disparity. In this effort, she saw the value of persistent local advocacy and collaboration. In addition to this community work, she serves as president of the Milwaukee Area Land Conservancy, ensuring the preservation and restoration of precious natural landscapes acquired through fee title or conservation easement. She is also a lawyer and member of the American Bar Association. Linda also serves as a member of our Water Team, advocating for stronger factory farm protections.
Committees: Executive, Nominating
Peter Skopec
He/Him/His
Peter has been a member of the Chapter's Executive Committee since the start of 2024. For a decade before that, he worked closely with the Chapter’s outstanding staff, leaders and volunteers on a number of issue campaigns while at a partner nonprofit organization. Peter is particularly passionate about supporting the Chapter's Moving Beyond Coal and advancing Clean Transportation because our continued use of fossil fuels in the energy and transportation sectors is detrimental to public health, the global climate, and current and future quality of life in Wisconsin. Peter lives in Madison and, during his time off, enjoys the city's wonderful lakes, parks and bike trails (and Madison's great food scene!).
Peter Jobe
He/Him/His
After learning about ground water contamination from CAFOs in Kewaunee County, Peter became motivated to get more involved in environmental issues. He and his wife installed and operate their own solar panels in addition to having a “farmette” for raising chickens and their own organically grown food. Peter has been a member of the Sierra Club since 2017 and active in the Fox Valley Group since 2022. For fun he enjoys motorcycle camping trips and is developing an interest in kayaking.
Amy Mueller
She/Her/Hers
Amy’s professional background of roughly 20 years in corporate Marketing and Communications helps bring a creative and promotional mindset to her advocate work. Recently, Amy’s focus has been partnering with others to reform wildlife policy. It was this passion that helped her earn the "New Activist" award for the Wisconsin Chapter in 2022!
Throughout the year she also focuses on the Wisconsin Conservation Congress (WCC) efforts for the Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter by helping write resolutions, attend and speak at committee meetings and most importantly, educate others on how to participate in this unique statutory group. She also represents the Wisconsin Chapter within the National Sierra Club - Council of Club Leaders (CCL) functioning as a liaison between the local chapter and the National Organization.
Sarah Marie Streed
She/Her/Hers
Sarah attributes her roles as a wife, mother and grandmother to her passion for sustainability and environmental pursuits. Over the decades she has worked to this end, in both paid and volunteer positions, while raising five children – all of whom are now contributing in their own ways to protecting the planet. Sarah was a journalist writing Family and Consumer news, taught journalism at the UW-Madison and has published fiction and nonfiction in journals and magazines. In addition, she is the author of a book of creative nonfiction, Leaving the House of Ghosts: Cambodian Refugees in the American Midwest, published by McFarland & Co. Currently, and once again after 20 years, Sarah serves on the chapter Executive Committee. Sarah has been involved in communities of faith for all of her life and works toward environmental justice both in her home city of Milwaukee and throughout the Midwest.
Gloria Randall- Hewitt
She/Her/Hers
Southeast Gateway Co-Chair, Group Delegate
evegardener@gmail.com
Gloria currently serves as co-chair of the Southeast Gateway Group and group delegate to the chapter Executive Committee. Her husband, David Hewitt, was instrumental in establishing that very same group in Southeast Wisconsin over 40 years ago. With an MBA and business background, Gloria is now happily retired and devoting more time to causes that are important to her. Causes such as defending nature, helping her neighbors to understand the critical nature of the current environmental crisis and the inequities of the impacts, and empowering them to be involved in meaningful ways wherever they are. Gloria enjoys gardening, and in addition to tending to their vegetable garden, is systematically converting their yard to native plants. She also loves hiking, especially in our national and state parks and has recently picked back up drawing and painting with nature as her favorite subject.
Caryn Treiber
She/Her/Hers
Chippewa Valley Group Chair, Chippewa Valley Group Delegate
treibercaryn14@gmail.com
Caryn Treiber has been a member of the Sierra Club since 1982. In addition to serving on the Executive Committee, she is active with her local Chippewa Valley Group, and she serves on the Fundraising Committee of the Wisconsin Chapter. In her role as a member of the Fundraising Committee, she was instrumental in planning an event to highlight our work for renewable energy at a house party held in 2011. Caryn is also a passionate supporter of progressive politics, and she has helped the Sierra Club make the difference to elect environmental candidates for years on the Chapter's Political Committee.
Committees: Fundraising, Political
Pat Wilson
He/Him/His
Coulee Region Group Delegate
pbwilson@centurytel.net
Pat joined the Sierra Club in 1976 because he enjoyed hiking on trails the club had built in the Baraboo Hills. 1980 Coulee Group canoeing outings got him started on paddling. Pat’s environmental ethic began through outdoor recreation. Hiking and paddling sparked an interest in birds, plants, and wildlife, which led to concern for ecosystems. The world has changed since 1976, and his current efforts include climate, energy, and water quality. Pat is also the board president of Friends of the Blufflands, a group working to protect and preserve bluff prairies and forests in the La Crosse area. He has an MSEE from UW and is a retired engineering manager who worked on energy efficient controls for commercial air conditioning equipment and systems.
Angie Hougas
She/Her/Hers
Angie grew up along the shores of Lake Michigan where clean water and maintained natural areas were part of her childhood and teenage years. She has extensive governance experience and served two terms on the Amnesty International USA Board of Directors. Angie has supported the Sierra Club for many years and is pleased to be able to contribute to the Executive Committee and the Finance Committee. Angie enjoys birding and knows we must have natural areas with native plants and clean water for all wildlife to not only survive – but thrive.
Committees: Finance
Scott Coulthurst
He/Him/His
Scott’s interest in volunteering is an important aspect of his life and in seeking opportunities that are consistent with his interest in conservation and the outdoors, volunteering is a way to balance his professional and personal life. Previously, Scott served as the chair of the Village of Germantown, WI Park & Recreation Commission for 8 years. Currently, he is a member of the Executive Committee for the Wisconsin Chapter and Great Waters Group. He enjoys working with the Wildlife Team and believes coordinating with groups which have overlapping goals, like hunters and mountain bikers, can help support our causes. In his free time, Scott likes to ski, hike, and mountain bike Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula.
Leland Pan
He/Him/His
listentothefascistsing@gmail.com
Leland is deeply passionate about the intersection of environmental issues and racism and classism, such as the proposed I-94 expansion, which threatens multiple majority non-white working-class neighborhoods for the supposed benefit of middle- and upper-class white suburbs. Leland got involved against the I-94 expansion as a resident of the Piggsville neighborhood in Milwaukee and as the then-president of Friends of Valley Park neighborhood group, which joined the Fix at Six Coalition alongside Sierra Club Wisconsin. Currently, Leland serves on the chapter Executive Committee. Outside of the Sierra Club, Leland is also a school social worker in the Madison Metropolitan School District and enjoys trying new foods and utilizing public transportation.
Richard Spindler
He/Him/His
Richard has been a Sierra Club member for 35 years and a life member for 30 of those years. Early on Richard began attending outings and met many of his primary friends and social group through his engagement with the Sierra Club. Since then, Richard has moved around, raised a family and returned. He is currently serving as the Secretary for the chapter Executive Committee and also leads outings and helps on issues. In addition to birding, playing the piano, and working on home renovations - Richard finds joy and spirituality in hiking and enjoying the Adirondacks and northeast mountains, which he returns to as much as possible.
Schedule & Nomination information
Watch the October Sierran for your ballot and candidate information for the Chapter Executive Committee! The Nominations Committee will produce its slate of candidates from the names previously submitted for consideration. Please note that candidates can also run for election as petition candidates, on written petition of at least 15 Chapter members. Candidate petitions are due by September 10. Members can also submit ballot petitions by September 10 with the signatures of at least 15 Chapter members.
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