Board

2010-2011 Board of Directors

John Arum, Board Member At-Large
Jabe Blumenthal, Representing Climate Solutions
Rod Brown, Representing Seattle Audubon, WEC President
Margaret Clancy, Board Member At-Large
Marc Daudon, Board Member At-Large
Carrie Dolwick, Representing NW Energy Coalition
John Edwards, Representing North Cascades Conservation Council
Dan Evans, Board Member At-Large
Kathe Fowler, Board Member At-Large
Hilary Franz, Board Member At-Large
Darren Gray, Board Member At-Large
Nancy Hirsch, Representing NW Energy Coalition
Janice Huseby, Board Member At-Large
Ken Lederman, Board Member At-Large
John Littel, Board Member At-Large
Patrick Neville, Representing Washington Apollo Alliance
Claudia Newman, Representing Cascadia Green Building Council
Tony Peacock, Board Member At-Large, Vice-President
Lisa Pelly, Board Member At-Large
Christian Sinderman, Representing Transportation Choices Coalition
Toby Thaler, Board Member At-Large
Jim Timmons, Board Member At-Large

JOHN ARUM, Board Member At-Large

John rejoined the WEC board this year after a hiatus following a previous six-year term. A highly skilled environmental attorney, John is committed to working for water reforms in Washington and to helping create a state where both people and natural fish populations can coexist. 

JABE BLUMENTHAL, Representing Climate Solutions

Jabe serves on the boards of Climate Solutions, the Bullitt Foundation and the Progress Alliance of Washington. He has been active in environmental issues for many years, focusing most recently on climate change. A Seattle native, Jabe worked at Microsoft for twelve years and taught at Lakeside High School for nine years. He joined the board in 2007.

ROD BROWN, Representing Seattle Audubon, WEC President

Rod currently practices environmental law at the Cascadia Law Group PLLC and has spent over fifteen years as a WEC volunteer. In the late 1980s he helped lead the environmental community's successful campaign for Initiative 97, which created our state's Superfund cleanup law. In the 1990s he served as WEC's representative on the Growth Strategies Commission, which led to the creation of the Growth Management Act. He has also served as WEC's representative on the Regulatory Reform Task Force and the Blue Ribbon Commission on Transportation. Earlier this year, Governor Gregoire appointed him as one of the two environmental community members on her Climate Advisory Team. Rod re-joined the board in 2003.

MARGARET CLANCY, Board Member At-Large

Margaret has worked as a wetland scientist and environmental consultant for 20 years. A major focus of her consulting practice is natural resource policy development and she is actively involved in shoreline management, critical area protection, and efforts to restore Puget Sound. She was inspired to join the WEC board by her volunteer work with Earth Share of Washington.

MARC DAUDON, Board Member At-Large

Marc works as a consultant helping public and private sector clients achieve resource conservation outcomes such as eliminating waste, increasing recycling, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, saving water, and conserving biodiversity.  He was on Washington Conservation Voters board for 10 years and board chair for three.

CARRIE DOLWICK, Representing NW Energy Coalition

Carrie is currently works as a Policy Associate for the NW Energy Coalition and her background includes experience with public, private and non-profit entities including, management consulting, biodiesel infrastructure development, solar development in Nicaragua, and community organizing around local land and energy issues. She has a Master’s degree in public administration from the Evans School at the University of Washington and a graduate level certificate in Environmental Management. She currently serves as the Board Chair of NW Sustainable Energy for Economic Development (NWSEED) and is a co-founder of Sustainable South Seattle.

JOHN EDWARDS, Representing North Cascades Conservation Council

John grew up in New Zealand where he learned to love and respect wilderness. He is Emeritus Professor of Biology at the University of Washington, with research interests in alpine and sub-polar ecology. For many years he taught human ecology, aimed at giving basic ecological literacy to non-biology students. He serves on the Board of the North Cascades Conservation Council and is much concerned about the adverse effects of administrative tunnel vision on ecological integrity. John joined the WEC board in 2006.

DAN EVANS, Board Member At-Large

Dan uses his Congressional, legal, and strategic planning background to serve public and private clients. As a senior Congressional staffer, he helped protect such cherished places as the Hanford Reach, Bowerman Basin, Columbia Gorge, and Long Island Cedar Grove. He serves on the board of the Washington Conservation Voters Education Fund and Transportation Choices Coalition. Dan joined the board in 2007.

KATHE FOWLER, Board Member At-Large

Kathe developed her love of the outdoors while spending seven summers on the Madison River outside West Yellowstone in Montana hiking, biking, and floating the river. She has since been biking the islands and back roads of Washington for 34 years. After serving two years on the King County Chapter of Washington Conservation Voters, she joined the state WCV board where she is currently chairperson of the board. She also serves on the board of Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition and the Advisory Council for the Methow Conservancy.

HILARY FRANZ, Board Member At-Large

Hilary is a native of the Pacific Northwest who has always revered the Northwest's majestic mountains, old-growth forests, and beautiful oceans and rivers. Hilary has been a land use and environmental attorney for 8 years, actively engaged in protecting wild salmon and its habitat, our state's shorelines, and agricultural lands. She has served on the board of the Center for Environmental Law & Policy and has been an active member of WEC's Legal Committee. She joined the board in 2005.

DARREN GRAY, Board Member At-Large

Darren is a partner with the Donnelly Group at Merrill Lynch and provides wealth management and investment consulting services to individuals, companies and non-profit organizations based in the Americas and Europe.  He has been involved with sustainable businesses and investing for more than 10 years.

NANCY HIRSH, Representing NW Energy Coalition

Nancy has been working to increase renewable energy and energy efficiency investments and low-income energy services for the past 24 years. As policy director at the NW Energy Coalition, she works with non-profits and businesses in legislative and regulatory forums. She has served four years on the Board of the Northwest Energy Efficiency Alliance and continues to serve as Chair of the Board of the Renewable Northwest Project. Nancy worked with WEC to help pass Initiative 937 - the Citizens' Clean Energy Initiative, the Efficiency First law, and incentives for renewable energy development - successes that highlight the winning combination of technical/policy expertise and political and grassroots campaign power. Prior to joining NWEC, she spent twelve years in Washington, DC working on national energy policy issues for Environmental Action Foundation and the National Wildlife Federation. She received her training in environmental policy from the University of Michigan's School of Natural Resources.

JANICE HUSEBY, Board Member At-Large

Janice moved to Washington in 1991, after 20 years of work at Lockheed, Blue Shield, and Raychem Corporations, focusing in organizational effectiveness. Since moving here, she has served as Board President of The Children’s Museum at Seattle Center and worked extensively with other non-profits such as Washington Women’s Foundation. She joined the board in 2007.

KEN LEDERMAN, Board Member At-Large

Ken’s first job after arriving in Washington in 1993 was serving as a legal intern with WEC.  He has practiced environmental law with government (serving as an AAG for now-Governor Chris Gregoire on behalf of the Washington State Department of Ecology) and now with Riddell Williams P.S.  Ken has been involved with Washington Conservation Voters for the past 10 years, serving as the chair of the King County Chapter, and now as the chair of the WCV State Board.  Ken, along with his wife, Meredith, and his daughter, Alexandra, love to spend their time skiing, riding their bikes, sea kayaking, and enjoying the natural beauty of the Long Beach Peninsula.

JOHN LITTEL, Board Member At-Large

John works for the Seattle/King County Building Trades Council representing twenty-seven construction unions and their members in the area. His responsibilities include administering Project Labor Agreements that govern major transportation projects and he has the opportunity in his role to advocate for sustainable and smart development policies with public entities and private developers. John joined the WEC board in 2005.

PATRICK NEVILLE, Representing Washington Apollo Alliance

Patrick is the coordinator for the Washington Apollo Alliance, a coalition of business, labor, environmental, and community leaders working to catalyze a clean energy revolution. He serves on the Advisory Committee for Environmental Technology and Sustainable Management and Centralia College and on the Advisory Committee for the Renewable Energy Program at Shoreline Community College. He also sits on the Green Jobs panel of Governor Gregoire’s Climate Action Team and the Green Design and Construction Workforce Development Skills Panel.

CLAUDIA NEWMAN, Representing Cascadia Green Building Council

Claudia has been an advocate for the protection of Washington’s natural resources, critical areas, shoreline, and local communities for over fifteen years. As an environmental and land use attorney at Bricklin & Newman, LLP, Claudia represents citizen groups and individuals in broad variety of environmental matters. She has, more recently, immersed herself in the world of green building with the hope that engaging developers in responsible building early in the design and process will go a long way towards improving our landscape. Claudia is a member of the board of the Cascadia Green Building Council and sits on the ASHRAE Standard Committee 189, which is authoring the first comprehensive model green building code in the nation. She is a former board member for King County Conservation Voters.

TONY PEACOCK, Board Member At-Large, Vice-President

Tony is a licensed Land Surveyor and has enjoyed careers in both the public and private sectors. He graduated from the University of Iowa with a degree in physical geography and geomorphology. He's also been active in environmental policy and politics for nearly thirty years, working in both his native Iowa and in Washington.

LISA PELLY, Board Member At-Large

Lisa's family has lived in Washington since the late 1800s and has always been active in fishing, hunting and enjoying the great outdoors. Lisa is constantly energized by the changing landscape and diversity of habitats that make this state so special. She is an active board member of Washington Conservation Voters, the Walla Walla Watershed Alliance, Farming and the Environment, and the Washington Wildlife and Recreation Coalition. She joined the board in 2005.

CHRISTIAN SINDERMAN, Representing Transportation Choices Coalition

Christian is a regional political and strategic communications consultant, working with elected leaders at the federal, state, and local levels as well as non-profits, unions, and other organizations. A lifelong environmentalist, Christian worked for several years as an environmental educator and activist before earning an MS in Environmental Policy at the University of Michigan. He serves on the Transportation Choices Coalition Board and is interested in the overlay of environmental, transportation, and land use policies. Christian joined the WEC board in 2006.

TOBY THALER, Board Member At-Large

As a lawyer and policy analyst, Toby has worked with environmental groups, Tribes, local governments, and others on forestry, fisheries, water quality, land use, and development issues for over thirty years. Toby became the first staff attorney at WEC in the mid 1990s, organizing the volunteer public interest bar to represent WEC and other conservation advocates. From 1998 through 2006, he was staff attorney at the Washington Forest Law Center. Toby is presently a Natural Resource Law & Policy consultant. One of his current projects is serving as faculty on the Model Forest Policy Program's 2010 project, working with six communities around the country on climate change adaptation focused on forests and water.

JIM TIMMONS, Board Member At-Large

Jim has been an Eastern Washingtonian since adolescence, growing up on his family farm near Othello. He's a graduate of UW (Economics) and WSU (MBA) and is currently working for the latter as a data manager of a large education project. Jim also teaches Economics and Computer Science two nights a week at Heritage University in Toppenish. Jim has run for office in his community and has worked with Washington Conservation Voters to elect local and statewide candidates who are environmentally responsible. He joined the WEC board in 2005.