Petition Candidate Bios
We are running as a "slate" rather than individually because we need our collective voices to legitimately lift up the diverse grassroots values and voices of the Sierra Club.
As a group, we long-time Sierra Club volunteers are running by petition in order to change the current direction of the Board majority on a number of key issues. Two of us are former Board members; one served as Sierra Club President. All of us are committed to nothing more than to save the Sierra Club from itself for the sake of the grassroots! To become candidates, we were required to submit 398 signatures. We submitted 560 signatures to qualify for the official Sierra Club Ballot! Thank you for the support from all the local Sierra Club members and chapter and group leaders who made our candidacy possible.
The Bios for all 4 candidates are in the one-page PDF file below.
The Bios for all 4 candidates are in the one-page PDF file below.
sc_board_election_petitioners_candidate_bios_jan2022.pdf | |
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Candidate Statements
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Aaron Mair is a retired public health professional who believes in a strong volunteer led Sierra Club that is dedicated to the principles of grassroots movement building. Mair was elected president of the Sierra Club in 2015, and was the organization's first African-American president. Mair has been a life member of the Sierra Club since 1999. He is a founding Environmental Justice pioneer movement leader, and served as past Chapter Chair of the Atlantic Chapter,
"I am a life member who has witnessed and believes in the grassroots transformative power of our organization. Our Chapter, Group leaders, & volunteer membership have been core to our success. Supporting me as a Board member is a vote for continued grassroots leadership and guidance of our wonderful organization. "The SIERRA CLUB IS NOT A PR FIRM. Our grassroots, networks & activists committed to action & driving change have always been the Club’s best asset. The Club I fight for is one of action, not mere clever messaging." |
aaron_mair_short_bio.pdf | |
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articles___media_published_by_aaron_mair.pdf | |
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aaron_mair_responses_to_wildlands_protection_questions.pdf | |
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Aaron Mair was featured on new Podcast April 15, 2022: Considering John Muir with Aaron Mair
Aaron Mair is an environmental justice pioneer who has worked over the last 40 years in the spaces of health, environment, climate change disparities, and wilderness protection. He is an urban environmental activist and a regional and national environmental justice organizer and strategist who has advised two presidents and Congress, served on the national board of directors of the Sierra Club as its 57th president, and as the New York State Atlantic Chapter Chair. Here is the article that Aaron co-wrote for Earth Island Journal: "Who Was John Muir, Really?"
Aaron Mair is an environmental justice pioneer who has worked over the last 40 years in the spaces of health, environment, climate change disparities, and wilderness protection. He is an urban environmental activist and a regional and national environmental justice organizer and strategist who has advised two presidents and Congress, served on the national board of directors of the Sierra Club as its 57th president, and as the New York State Atlantic Chapter Chair. Here is the article that Aaron co-wrote for Earth Island Journal: "Who Was John Muir, Really?"
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Maya Khosla is a wildlife biologist, writer, environmental filmmaker, and forest protection advocate in the Sierra Club'sRedwood Chapter where she fights for the protection of habitat and against public lands logging projects and cutting and burning trees to create energy.
"As a wildlife ecologist, I spend thousands of hours getting to know remote wild places. Just a few weeks ago I walked out into one of the forests in California with a few Sierra Club friends and discovered and filmed a Pacific fisher, one of the rarest animals in western forests, in a place where it was previously not known to occur. If elected, I will bring my on-the-ground experience and knowledge to the Sierra Club Board as I advocate for volunteer leaders, including both conservation and outings, and for bold stances on wildlands protection. "As a woman of East Indian origin, I am eager to join in the Sierra Club’s efforts to build ways to transform the existing power structure, to achieve balance through unique partnerships and collaborations, and most of all to work towards questioning racism in all its forms in the US and also elsewhere in the world. So far, there are few women of color in the United States who pursue field-based biology and documentations, and I am working to change that. My own focus is to reach out and train younger people of color in field-based documentations, most recently in remote trail-camera work. "If elected, I promise to do everything I can to promote productive discussions so we can work on the climate change and biodiversity crises together, protecting the beauty of the natural world around us (https://grassrootschoice.weebly.com/). I am particularly interested in reaching out to other people of color, and other women of color, in ways that can achieve success in addressing the climate crisis and in discovering and protecting the incredible biodiversity of forests and other natural habitats – for the generations ahead of us. Dr. Michael Dorsey is a globally recognized environmental advocate and expert on climate change, climate justice, clean energy (especially solar), and environmental sustainability, as well as a lifelong hiker and backpacker. He is a Life Member of the Sierra Club, and previously served on the Sierra Club Board of Directors. (1997–2003, 2009-2010, and 2014-2017). He has a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in Natural Resources and Environmental Policy, was an Environmental Studies professor at Dartmouth College, and is currently a partner in solar energy company IberSun,
"We must use our limited resources to enhance and support our grassroots, chapters, and groups. Campaigns are most successful if they are part of a broader, inclusive, visionary strategy. Delivering for the Club and our planet means positioning the Club for realities of the 21st century by: • enhancing our grassroots; • supporting sustainability & environmental justice; and • building diverse constituencies, with young people, people of color and new citizens. "We can better articulate how our bread and butter issues—like wilderness & (proverbially) saving and hugging trees—tie into and touch bread and butter issues for everyday people. Research from UC Berkeley reveals how the lack of urban tree cover drives ‘climate racism’. As the only major environmental organization with an outings program (that includes significant outings in and near major urban areas with diverse populations), we have a unique opportunity to ‘connect the dots’ with Americans from all political persuasions and dispositions. With outings, we can connect with issues and people where they are, forging bigger, bolder coalitions that build power, and deliver victories to protect the climate, future generations and quite literally save the planet." Kathryn (Kate) Bartholomew is a life-long environmental activist and environmental science educator.
Kate is currently in her fourth year as Chair of the Atlantic Chapter (New York State), before which she served two terms as its Vice Chair and Conservation Co-Chair before that, along with 2 1/2 years as the chapter’s Council of Club Leader’s delegate. Additionally, Kate is active as Conservation Chair in her local Sierra Club Group (the Finger Lakes Group). In addition to her work in the Sierra Club, Kate serves actively on her county’s Environmental Management Council, currently entering her 12th year as it’s chairperson. "The grassroots volunteers are the foundation of the Club and they must be shown the respect they deserve. They are not assets — they are each unique and infinitely valuable human beings with a wide array of talents and skill sets who lately have felt incredibly marginalized by structural changes planned for the organization... Currently, volunteers feel isolated from the National Club and cut off from the decision-making process. For most volunteers the only communications received are those asking for money or action alert blasts to take actions on particular campaign issues that are often repetitive and not necessarily immediately relevant to each individual member’s locale... One of the primary reasons I am running for the Sierra Club Board of Directors at this time is that life on the planet is in the great peril and the Club is in the midst of many tumultuous transitions. During these structural and philosophical ruminations and shifts, it is vital that the organization not let this mission lose its primacy as the focal point of all of our energy. Unfortunately, many members I have heard from feel that is exactly what is happening." |
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