Please review carefully this profile and the board member roles/responsibilities when considering these board openings. Latinos LEAD will contact you for a preliminary interview if you meet the qualifications. Applications from strong candidates will be forwarded to the nonprofit organization for consideration.
Los Angeles Waterkeeper’s mission is to fight for the health of the region’s waterways, and for sustainable, equitable and climate-friendly water supplies. We envision the Los Angeles region as an international leader on integrated, sustainable and equitable water management; a region that is water self-sufficient, and where all waterways throughout the county are safe, healthy and accessible to the public.
Organization Description
LA Waterkeeper (LAW) was founded in 1993 as the 10th of what is now more than 300 members of the global Waterkeeper Alliance, and a founding member of the CA Coastkeeper Alliance. At its inception, the organization focused on taking water quality samples from storm drain outfalls into the Santa Monica Bay, employing litigation to target industrial polluters, and utilizing scientific divers to restore kelp forest habitats. Throughout the years, our work increasingly moved farther inland with robust programs that now operate across all of LA County, serving its more than 10 million residents. We’re focused on strengthening our programs with disadvantaged communities that face the highest pollution burdens and health risks, and who often don’t have direct pathways for civic engagement. Our Pollution Prevention programs have helped ensure the strongest water quality standards are in place and have helped dramatically reduce sewage spills, urban runoff pollution, and industrial contamination of LA waterways. Our Healthy Habitats programs have provided hundreds of Angelenos the ability to act as environmental stewards by patrolling Marine Protected Areas and monitoring our inland environment so that everyone has access to living, healthy, and safe waterways. Finally, our Systems Change programs seek to ensure sustainable, equitable and climate-smart water supplies for the region.
Position Description
We seek candidates eager to participate in advancing the mission of LA Waterkeeper (LAW). Our hope is to recruit Board members who will ensure LAW’s financial health and viability, while displaying enthusiasm for directing strategic vision. Because LAW serves the entirety of the LA region, it serves diverse communities in all respects, and as such our staff, board and volunteer leadership must reflect the great diversity of the LA community we serve. . Optimal candidates would proportionally represent the diversity of that landscape, particilarly in regard to race, identity, orientation and geography
Major Responsibilities of Board Members:
Review and understand Los Angeles Waterkeeper’s (LAW) mission, vision, values, programs, and impact.
Provide unique skills, expertise, and resources that add value to LAW.
Regularly prepare for, attend, and actively participate in Board and Committee meetings and special events.
Provide proper financial oversight by assisting in the development of the annual budget and ensuring that proper financial controls are in place by reviewing the organization’s annual financial statements and following conflict of interest and confidentiality policies.
Ensure legal and ethical integrity and maintain accountability.
Take an active interest in environmental, climate change, and other mission-critical issues.
Support advocacy and litigation as tools for environmental change.
Serve as a LAW goodwill ambassador to their individual networks and to the community at large.
