Brian has nearly thirty years of experience in nonprofit environmental advocacy with a focus on advancing inclusive grassroots strategies that lead to lasting nature conservation and the well-being of local communities. Prior to becoming Executive Director of Heirs To Our Ocean, he served as the executive director of the Conservation Lands Foundation and Montana Wilderness Association.
Prior to his executive director roles, he served as the Wyoming Director for the Greater Yellowstone Coalition and Natural Resources Director for the Texas Sierra Club. Brian’s expertise lies in building and scaling durable nonprofit environmental organizations and programs, empowering the next-generation of leaders, and in fundraising. He strongly believes that empowering and supporting emerging leaders is essential for a healthy planet where humanity and all life thrives. Brian is a Texas native and has a B.A. in Geography from the University of Texas at Austin.
In his free time, he loves to explore nature in all forms and enjoys spending time connecting with communities near his Durango, Colorado residence.
Carrie is no longer with our organization. If you would like to know more please contact April@H2OO.org
Since joining the H2OO team in 2019, Emily has supported hundreds of young leaders as they navigate their unique advocacy journeys and connect deeper with themselves, others, and our Blue Planet.
Emily has furthered H2OO’s mission by coordinating its global programs that allow youth advocates to reach their full potential. In 2020, she helped to develop and launch the U.S. Youth Advisory Council for the UN Ocean Decade and has coordinated several of H2OO’s global leadership summits. Emily additionally coordinates H2OO’s communications and mentors youth in best social media practices.
Prior to H2OO, Emily worked with the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales, Australia, to stop degradation of Kosciusko National Park’s water resources, and thereafter she worked as a leader with AmeriCorps, Montana Conservation Corps, and the U.S. Forest Service conserving Custer Gallatin National Forest bordering Yellowstone National Park.
Emily graduated from UCSB majoring in economics and environmental science.
In 2016, after having left her law practice to ensure her children received a meaningful education wherein real-world problems were addressed, April supported her children in starting Heirs To Our Ocean (H2OO) along with 11 other tweens who were concerned about what they are inheriting.
April stepped into the volunteer roles of both Executive Director and Program Director and applied the project-based interdisciplinary, real-world-theme focused learning model she had developed in 2010 to H2OO’s programming. April has worked tirelessly to ensure all H2OO programs have an empathetic leadership foundation, are holistic and comprehensive, connect youth across barriers, and serve youth who are most vulnerably situated and traditionally marginalized.
April believes that the survivability of humanity is dependent upon education — all youth should have an opportunity to understand the value of intact life sources on our planet and human impacts on those life sources today, as well as opportunities to develop essential empowering skills to effectively advocate for themselves and others and solve problems together.