Copenhagen — One Very Long Day

I spent most of the past 230 hours in Copenhagen, as part of the Sierra Club delegation to the COP15 — the United Nations Climate Change Conference. This adds up to 10 days, but in practice, it was more like one very long day with intermittent naps. And I probably got more sleep than many.  

Sierra Club Delegates to COP15

Officially, there were 49 of us, including 18 members of the Sierra Student Coalition. Additional Sierra Club leaders attended who were credentialed through other organizations. (We have lots of information about the process for selecting delegates and the corresponding responsibilities before, during, and after attendance at COP15 available on Clubhouse.)

Daily Briefings

There was too much going on to stay away from the Bella Center, the conference site on the edge of Copenhagen, longer than needed to recharge. For the Club delegation, a typical day consisted of several briefings from Climate Action Network-International, USCAN (the U.S. block of CAN), and the Sierra Club. The student arm had additional briefings for youth. CAN is a global network of over 450 non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including the Sierra Club, from more than 80 countries working to promote government and individual action to limit human-induced climate change to ecologically sustainable levels. Every other evening Jonathan Pershing, the U.S. State Department Deputy Special Envoy for Climate Change, gave a briefing for U.S. NGOs.  Kudos to Sierra Club D.C. staff, who received a shout out at the first of these briefings.   

The purpose of the briefings ranged from sharing updates on the "state of play" to strategizing how and when to influence the next steps of the informal negotiations process. Information sharing occured all day (and night) long via email.  At 11 p.m. one evening I gave up waiting for one working group to convene (and learned that it had finally reconvened at 4:45 the following morning!). You may have heard the talks at COP15 characterized as a roller coaster and, indeed, the situation often went from better to worse and back again several times throughout the day.

Here's Fred Heutte (right), illustrious head of the Club delegation, with Frank Lorberbaum from the Missouri Chapter.

Here are delegates multi-tasking — certainly they’re all listening to Fred, too! — during one of our daily briefings.

Working Groups, Educational Sessions, and Creative Messaging

Throughout the day there were multiple programs running in parallel at the conference center — working groups focused on specific issues, educational sessions, information booths, side events and exhibits, and any number of ways to get your message out.

Glen Besa (Virginia Chapter Director), Polar Bear, and Joan Saxe (Maine Chapter).

Time to pay the bill!

Impromptu Meetings

Anywhere you could assemble could be a meeting place. A queue (and there were a lot of them) was a really good excuse to talk with your neighbors and find out what brought them to COP15.

...on the floor between booths

...atop a bench in the main hallway.

100,000 Participate in Climate Rally and March on Dec 12

Joan Saxe surrounded by  Friends of the Earth international delegates.

The march ended with a candle light vigil at the Bella Center.

Anxiously Waiting

Worldwide interest in COP15 led to accreditation of supposedly 45,000 delegates. Logistics for managing this crowd became overwhelmed and led to limited access (for NGOs beginning on Dec 15 the Bella Center has a maximum capacity for 15,000). The Club delegation had to coordinate shared access, which worked fine on the 15th.  On the 16th, this fell apart when demonstrations inside and outside the Bella Center resulted in further restricted access. Maybe it was just as well that I headed home on the 16th, but it was also hard to leave the team.  

Like so many others, I am anxiously awaiting the outcome of these last couple days of negotiations. You can follow some of this on live webcast. 

Highlights of the November Board Meeting

The Board of Directors (BOD) met in San Francisco on Nov 19-20. Due to scheduling constraints, board members arrived prepared for two long and jam-packed days. Reminder that agenda and supporting materials are available on clubhouse in advance of each meeting. It was mostly work , with only a little play. We met with our colleagues on The Sierra Club Foundation Board for a brief joint session and then greeted some Bay Area friends of the Club for dinner. Carl Pope spoke about the Club's effort to address climate change with a positive impact on our economy. This waslikely Carl's final address to both boards as Executive Director.

Executive Director Search Update

The Board of Directors interviewed three candidates with strong qualifications. We are moving forward with additional due diligence and reference checks. Interviews went well - board members engaged in robust dialogue and deliberation. The search is open until a new ED is hired - the search firm has been instructed to continue to receive and follow up with interested applicants. We hope to make a decision by end of year or early in 2010.

2010 Budget Approved - Chapter Funding Changes and LeConte Lodge

A primary focus of the November Board meeting is adoption of a budget for the upcoming year, which is the culmination of several months of work by many club leaders - staff and volunteers. Derivation of the 2010 Budget that was approved was every bit as difficult as anticipated. The biggest change to accommodate was the shift to an increasing proportion of restricted revenue streams, as we have been discussing throughout the year. Two areas I want to specifically touch on are chapter funding and LeConte Lodge.

Funding for chapters comes from a variety of sources - membership revenue, bequests sharing, life member dues allocation, the field recruitment inceptive program, and the state lobby program. We have previously addressed why the chapter allocation from membership is reduced next year and how the allocation formula has been changed. The 2010 budget includes restoration of the chapter share of the c(4) bequest pool. Additionally, the BOD has approved "bridge" funds to soften the allocation reduction for chapters. A memo summarizing chapter funding support in 2010 is posted on clubhouse (12-1-09: Chapter-Affecting Memo), along with details for the new chapter funding allocation (Worksheet A), chapter bequest revenue sharing (Worksheet B), and chapter bridge funds (Worksheet C).

The 2010 budget includes funding for the LeConte Memorial Lodge Program. The BOD also passed a resolution to set a $50,000 fundraising target for LeConte. Board members will be looking for volunteers to lead this fundraising charge, from among the 130+ club leaders who expressed strong support for the LeConte Lodge; many of whom also made funding pledges. Thank you for speaking up!

Apprenticeship Program

A defininte bright spot in an otherwise densely packed agenda was a brief Q-and-A session with the second class of Sierra Club Apprentices.

Clockwise, starting from the front left position: Alda Chan, Kesaaraa Wijeyewickrema, Lisa Fouladbash, Jeff Speir, Debbie Chong, and Justin Guay.

Thankful For Your Support!

On Thanksgiving, I will sit with my family and reflect on all the things for which I am so thankful.  I am thankful for family and friends, I am thankful for my health, and I am thankful for you.  Thanks to you, the Sierra Club presses forward on its mission:

To explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth;

To practice and promote the responsible use of the earth's ecosystems and resources;

To educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and to use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.

Our work is tremendously challenging and deeply rewarding, and only made possible by your support. As we press forward for sustainable solutions on renewable energy, resilient habitats, and safeguarding communities thank you for your commitment, tenacity, and collaboration at so many levels. 

 Have a Safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Chapter Funding Changes

As we near year's end, the Club is facing continued shifts in our funding. For some time now, unrestricted contributions to the Sierra Club, such as membership revenues, have declined. This has largely been off-set by significant new, but restricted, funding. The shrinking of unrestricted membership revenues has already brought major changes to the way our conservation work is funded and implemented, including downsizing of our national staff.

In 2010 these funding shifts will significantly impact chapter allocations, which for the past four years have been supplemented as net membership revenue fell. The Club cannot continue this supplement. As a result the chapter allocation pool will shrink by approximately 40%-50% from 2009 levels.

Keep in mind that the national allocation to chapters is just a percentage of a chapter's overall funds; across all chapters the median is 38%.  Still, a 40%-50% reduction even to a percentage of a chapter's budget is significant.

The overall Sierra Club financial situation was reviewed with the Board of Directors and Council of Club Leaders during the September Annual  Meeting. Two conference calls have been scheduled to help grassroots leaders who were not at the annual meeting review these data:

• Wednesday, Nov. 4 —
  3 pm Pacific / 4 pm Mountain / 5 pm Central / 6 pm Eastern
• Thursday, Nov. 5 —
  5 pm Pacific / 6 pm Mountain / 7 pm Central / 8 pm Eastern

866-501-6174  [1892 - 005]

RSVP here.

In anticipation of a dramatic decrease in the chapter funding allocation pool, the Board of Directors (BoD) initiated a process in July 2008 to consider changes to the allocation formula. Two task forces have wrestled with this task.

As a chapter leader these changes are going to require difficult decisions in the weeks and months to come. To help you understand the changes, why they are happening and how they might shape your chapter’s choices, we’ve set up a new web page on Clubhouse.

http://clubhouse.sierraclub.org/administration/chapter-funding/changes-2009-2010/default.aspx

This web page is divided into three sections.

1. Chapter Funding Allocation — This section addresses changes in the chapter funding allocation process.
2. Chapter Fundraising Support Task Force — This section address work happening right now on a Board established task force to identify ways to better supper chapters’ own fundraising efforts.
3. Climate Recovery Partnership — This section addresses the work that the national Sierra Club is doing to combat climate change, how chapters can engage in that effort, and steps the CRP campaigns are taking to provide funding to targeted chapters to help win.

As you will note, this is still very much a work in progress. All of these sections are incomplete – reflecting the fact that many decisions are yet to be made. Please bookmark this page and check back regularly for updates.

There are many unanswered questions, including "How will this smaller allocation pool be distributed to chapters?" and "How can chapters increase their own fundraising efforts to help mitigate the impact of these cuts?" and "How will the restricted funding raised for the Climate Recovery Partnership campaigns impact chapters?"

Finally, the work that chapters do is at the heart of the Sierra Club’s strength and efficacy. These funding changes are painful for everyone involved. It’s the hope that sharing this information as completely as possible, even before final decisions are made, will help you and your chapter to make the best decisions possible in a difficult time.

Updates on Board Projects

Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet Around the Corner 

Club leaders will gather in San Francisco on September 25-26 for the Annual Meeting, which is a time when the Board of Directors and Council of Club Leaders (CCL) come together for dialogue on key organizational concerns. Tina Schulstad, CCL Executive Committee Chair, and I have been coordinating with others to develop a very full agenda. Council delegates have been working on compiling a report on the Financial State of the Chapters for presentation during the meeting.

Topics for the three discussion forums are:

• Core Chapter Function,
• Fundraising, and
• Climate Recovery Partnership – Coordinating National and Local Efforts.

Check for updated agendas and materials for Council and Board meetings. We’re looking forward to engaging discussions! 

On September 26 (Saturday evening), the National Sierra Club Awards Banquet will be held at Cathedral Hill Hotel (also in San Francisco). Please join us to celebrate and recognize Club and community leaders who have made outstanding contributions to protecting the environment. (It’s not too late to purchase a ticket!)

Board Task Forces Hard At Work – Thanks for Your Input!

The Board of Directors has appointed a number of Task Forces to address conservation and organizational policy. Task forces are task- and/or time-limited to provide advice to the Board on focused, specific topics. The recommendations may, in some cases, be in the form of alternatives. Task Forces are volunteer-driven and led. The Board Executive Committee appoints a lead volunteer who will chair the Task Force. The Executive Director appoints a lead staff to participate on the Task Force. The composition of task forces can vary according to need and can include a mix of volunteers along with chapter, regional and national staff. A link to all current task forces may be found here. 

Thanks to the efforts of the National Parks Task Force, a new National Parks Policy was recently approved by Board of Directors. Look for Ken Burns' PBS documentary on the history of the national parks starting in September. Burns recognizes the prominent role the Sierra Club has played in that history, a role we can all be proud of. Consider hosting a house party to share a sneak preview of the documentary!

The Natural Gas Fracturing Task Force is soliciting comments on a Draft Unconventional Natural Gas Policy. Reminder that you can read the proposed policy here and comment here. Comment period ends October 12, 2009. 

Chapter Funding Allocation and Chapter Fundraising Task Forces will be looking at the discussion forums during the Annual Meeting (above) as a dynamic way to solicit input.

Interim Policy For Walk-A-Thons and Bike-A-Thons

The Board’s Finance & Risk Management Advisory Committee (FinCom; ) recently became aware that several Club entities had conducted and/or were planning some outings-like events with the potential for a large number of participants, like walk-a-thon, bike-a-thons, hike-a-yhons. After reviewing the Club’s outings policies and the scope of the Club's training for outings leaders, and consulting with the Sierra Club General Counsel, FinCom concluded that conducting these events is an unreasonably high risk activity. The Club is not in the business of staging such events, lacks experience in doing so, and could not do so at industry standard without a significant investment of resources to develop appropriate protocols and training.

Accordingly, FinCom has established an interim policy, effective immediately. It will become final Sierra Club policy if and when ratified by the Board at their Annual meeting in late September.

I Went To Camp!

I had “up close and personal” experiences with three fabulous Sierra Club Programs earlier this month.

Operation Purple Camp

August kicked off with a visit to one of the Operation Purple Camps with Brittany McKee, Sierra Club Representative for the National Military Family Program. At this particular camp in Pennsylvania, there were 90 youth, 7 to 15 years old. In 2009 there were 64 Operation Purple Camps and after the first two years of this program, we have helped to provide outdoor experiences for 23,000 military family members!

Here are some photos from camp:

(1) Campers untangling themselves from a human knot

(2) Me with kids and camp staff

(3) Kids climb in the obstacle course

Sierra Student Coalition Shindig

Next stop was the Sierra Student Coalition Shindig, at Catoctin Mountain Park in Maryland. This was their annual leadership forum where a new executive committee is seated and youth activists from many high schools, college campuses and recent graduates gather to celebrate our victories, strategize, prioritize, and set the goals and direction of the organization. The week is filled with leadership skills trainings, planning sessions, visioning exercises, and informative issue panels from guest speakers. It takes stamina to survive a Shindig, with daily schedules that run from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. (that’s an “early” end of day). Randy Downs attended a Sprog (SSC training) earlier in the summer and volunteered as chef for Shindig, creating delicious vegetarian meals for 110 hungry activists. At Shindig, everything is “optional” but nobody wants to miss anything!

(1) SSC Power

(2) Small Group Breakout Session

(3) “Trust” comes in all forms

(4)  It takes a lot of pizzas to feed 110 hungry activists

Clair Tappaan Lodge Gala Celebration

There was a splendid turnout last weekend for the 75th anniversary of the Sierra Club’s Clair Tappaan Lodge and 85th anniversary of Hutchinson Lodge. Multiple generations of loyal visitors showed up to enjoy hikes, music, arts & craft workshops, great fellowship and, of course, raise funds. Special guests included Milton Hildebrand, who helped build the lodge in the early 1930s! The first CTL Music Festival was held on Sunday, which featured four local ensembles and brought in new visitors from the neighborhood. Hats off to the CTL committee and staff for a glorious celebration!

(1) Clair Tappaan Lodge

(2)  Milton Hildebrand

(3)  The Lost Quartet

Executive Director Search In Full Throttle

The Executive Director Job Profile was posted earlier this week on both the Sierra Club and Isaacson, Miller web sites. The profile was shaped by input provided to the transition committee and search firm through emails, a survey, individual interviews with current and past directors and senior staff, and group interviews with Club and Foundation boards and the Council of Club Leaders Excom. Many thanks for the thoughtful input.

With climate change now broadly recognized as an imminent threat to wild places and to humanity, and with unprecedented interest in acting to address it, the Club needs a passionate and savvy executive to play a pivotal role in leading the transition to clean, sustainable energy sources.

The Club is simultaneously undergoing its own evolution and adaptation to the dramatic changes impacting environmental advocacy. Digital technologies have profoundly changed how citizens take action, communicate with one another, and relate to organizations. Grassroots groups now inform and mobilize their supporters through the web, and younger generations are typically found to be more responsive to specific calls to action than to invitations to join organizations as dues-paying members.

So the new Executive Director, working with the board, will be the "architect" who will gather the Club’s powerful grassroots resources, talented volunteer leadership, and professional staff to transform the Sierra Club as it responds to this highly dynamic landscape.

Here are the key opportunities and challenges we have identified for the executive director:

• Provide Strategic and Visionary Leadership for the Sierra Club
• Leverage, Engage, and Grow the Volunteer Base
• Serve as a Unifying and Decisive Staff Leader
• Generate Diversified Funding
• Continue to Raise the Profile and Build the Positive Reputation of the Sierra Club

Here are the main steps in the hiring process:

• Understanding the Challenge (May, June) — Isaacson, Miller and Transition Committee [DONE]
• Networking and Screening (Summer 2009) — Isaacson, Miller [IN PROCESS]
• Narrowing the Field (Fall 2009) — Transition Committee
• Selecting Finalists (Fall 2009 - Winter 2010) — Transition Committee
• The Final Choice ("Early" 2010) — Board of Directors, with input from the Cabinet

Please pass or point prospects to the job profile or forward names and contact information for prospects to the Isaacson, Miller team at sierra@imsearch.com.

You can see the full job description here and more detail on the see the remaining phases of the search here.

P.S. Fellow Director Dave Scott is seeking comments on the Club proposed new National Parks Management Policy.

Kudos to Staff!!!

I was particularly pleased that six board members could attend the 16^th annual Employee Recognition Awards Ceremony. Larry Fahn, Robin Mann, Rafael Reyes, Chris Warshaw, Nathan Wyeth, and I helped honor and celebrate this year’s recipients…as well as make a presentation on behalf of the Board. I’ll just tease you with a snippet of the stories that exemplify these remarkable Sierra Club staff. You can read more here.

YuYu Thein received the Community Service Award in recognition of her efforts over the past 15 years on numerous humanitarian causes related to her native Burma. YuYu and her husband, Coban Tun, have raised public awareness, raised funds, and help reconstruct school for those oppressed by military junta and Cyclone Nargis.

Adrian Cotter received the Behind the Scenes Hero Award for both his design and technical leadership for the makeover of the Club’s public website, which has received praise both within and outside the Club. He has also been instrumental in development of the Club’s social networking effort to foster an expansive community of activists. 

Oliver Bernstein was honored with the Virginia Ferguson Award for demonstrated consistent and exemplary service to the Club. As our Deputy Press Secretary of Diversity Programs, Oliver excels at being able to “work with peoples’ personalities to craft a message that fits them and their work.”

The Coal Team (Bruce Nilles, Jesse Simons, Sarah Hodgdon, Pat Gallager, Virginia Cramer, Mary Anne Hitt, and Heather Cusick) was recognized with the Larry Mehlhaff Award for Excellence. Coal plants stopped – 99 and counting!

Bill Corcoran received the Special Achievement Award for the pivotal role he played in crafting the Tejon Ranch conservation agreement, which resulted in setting aside 270,000 acres of wildlife habitat in southern California.

Dave Muhly is the Mike McCloskey award winner and recognized for serving with distinction always – whenever and however called upon.

Vicky Barrett-Putnam received a Special Recognition Award from the Cabinet for work over and beyond the call with a crucial assignment assisting the Political Team in negotiating with mail and other vendors, saving the program hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Board of Directors awarded the John Muir Award to Greg Haegele.  This award established in 1961 is the Sierra Club's highest award and honors a distinguished record of leadership in national or international conservation causes. Greg brought to the Club an extraordinary ability to turn strategic thinking into organizational form and habit.  Although the award is usually (and will be) presented at the National Awards Banquet in September, we could not pass up the opportunity for staff to participate in celebrating and congratulating Greg.

You can learn more about the annual staff awards and submit a nomination here.

Faces of the Sierra Club

A volunteer recently asked me, when I spoke about our search for a new executive director, "who's the face of the Sierra Club?"

My view is that every Sierra Club member or activist is one of the faces of the Sierra Club. For a number of years we had a regular page in Sierra magazine highlighting a Club member, one who didn't fit the media stereotype of a Sierra Club member — and it was called "Faces of the Sierra Club."  Kim Haddow, our former Communications Director used to wish she had the budget to do something as high profile and ubiquitous as the American Express "membership has its privileges" ads.

While we lack that advertising budget, we can and should seize every opportunity to show as many faces of the Club as we can. That's one major benefit of Club t-shirts and calendars and backpacks — they show the world just how broad and diverse the Club is.

Obviously, some Club leaders and staff are more visible in their roles than others. Sometimes this is because they have created their own megaphone — former Georgia Chapter Chair Sam Booher knew how to get the message out.

Some see the executive director as the face of the Club since, in Carl’s case, he is blogging or tweeting  almost daily, is regularly quoted in press releases, and engages more frequently in media events. For example, last night he debated Chevron CEO Dave Reilly in San Francisco.

The Club president changes every year or two and, in my case, maintaining biweekly messages, monthly open house conference calls, and averaging a couple engagements a week in addition to visits with Club leaders is a pretty full plate. There are lots of opportunities for all of us and more than enough to go around.

In fact, all of you who make a commitment to a Sierra Club role — as staff or volunteer, as an ongoing responsibility or a one-time task, with local focus or national scope — are the face of the Club when you engage with others.

An outings leader is the face of the Sierra Club to those hikers or backpackers on the outing. An activist who asks someone to contribute financially to a local conservation effort is the face of the Sierra Club to that donor. Staff are the face of the Sierra Club to everyone they connect with in the course of their daily work. You are as much the face of the Sierra Club when you speak to an audience as is Carl or me. We are all the face of the Sierra Club. That's what makes us strong.

You can see many faces of the Sierra Club here in Scrapbook.

I'd like to invite you to the Open House Conference Call this coming Tuesday, June 16. I'll be sharing the hosting with Council of Club Leaders (CCL) Chair Tina Schulstad — we'll be focusing on the Board and CCL Executive Committee's commitment to opening up the channels of communication, efforts that are already underway to prepare for our joint meeting in September, well as taking questions. RSVP here.

Speaking of faces of the Sierra Club — on June 30, you'll have an opportunity to "meet," if you haven't already, our new Conservation Director Sarah Hodgdon. Sarah has the distinction of being the first woman to serve in this role. She will introduce herself and together with Club Vice President Robin Mann, they'll give an update on the Climate Recovery Campaign. RSVP here.

Update from May Board Meeting

First, happy birthday to the Sierra Club — 117 years old, 117 years strong!

(The Club was founded on May 28, 1892 in San Francisco, California.)

May Board Retreat and Meeting

Two weeks ago, the Board of Directors convened a marathon meeting, which included a changing of the guard to seat new Directors and elect officers. I am grateful to Board members (and staff) who were unwilling to compromise the agenda and committed five days to tackle Club work.

First, I want to congratulate and welcome newly elected Board members Lane Boldman, Dave Scott, and Chris Warshaw. (Incumbent directors Robin Mann and Rafael Reyes were elected for a second three-year term.)

Some highlights:

• The Board started its May meeting with a day and a half retreat — an offsite working session that facilitates the transition between outgoing and incoming boards. The outgoing executive committee members describe and reflect on their performance over the past year and Board members discuss and decide on officers for the new term. We also spent several hours with Carl discussing emerging issues for the Club. (FYI: Since we all are very conscientious about expenses, the cost for the retreat was comparable to what it would have cost for us to stay in the city.)
  

  Here's a photo from Lane from the retreat. From left, that's Sanjay Ranchod, Bernie Zaleha, Michael Dorsey, Robin Mann, Dave Scott, and Robbie Cox.

  

• We devoted the first day to a facilitated learning session on diversity, inclusion, and cultural competency. One key objective was to increase our shared understanding of how these factors impact organizational productivity, performance and achievement of the Club’s mission. Many of the learning modules we walked through will form the basis of a Diversity 101 Training that the Club’s Diversity Council hopes to launch later this year.
• We paid tribute to outgoing directors Marilyn Wall and Bernie Zaleha, who were at this meeting, for their great service to the Club as board members. Director Ellen Pillard had been toasted at the February meeting and we still look forward to catching up with past president Lisa Renstrom.
• Four members of the Board Executive Committee were re-elected to their positions (Robin Mann as vice president, Joni Bosh as treasurer, Dave Karpf as fifth officer, and me as president). Rafael Reyes was elected board secretary.
  
• The Board took action on recommendations from three of its Task Forces. We adopted new policies on Landfill Gas to Energy (pdf) and Business Partnerships Policies. The report from the Chapter Funding Allocation Task Force was accepted and spawned the establishment of two new task forces — one to work with chapter leaders on the next phase of chapter funding allocation and a second to make specific recommendations on augmenting chapter fundraising efforts.Huge thanks to the members of these three task forces for their diligent and thoughtful work.
• The Board of Directors and Council of Club Leaders Executive Committee shared a productive working lunch and agreed to: (1) take measures to reduce expenses for the annual meeting; and (2) task Tina Schulstad, Council Chair, and myself to collaborate in planning the joint session, with an eye to ensuring the right leaders are present for the scope of discussions that will be undertaken.  Much more on this in the weeks and months ahead.
• Sunday morning was focused on the executive search process. Board members began a discussion with Carl on the chairman role. The Board also spent time with the recruiters to further define the executive director role. These position profiles will be refined over the next few weeks.

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My latest forays have included invitations to provide key note addresses during the month of May, which is also Asian Pacific Heritage month, to EPA Region 9 in San Francisco and to SEIU in Washington, D.C. I am looking forward to meeting up with Sierra Club California leaders this weekend at their Convention and celebrating with Santa Lucia Chapter leaders at their Annual Banquet.

Reminders:

• Survey for input on the executive director search closes on May 31.
• Deadline to nominate someone deserving for National Honors and Awards is June 1.
• Council of Club Leaders Chair Tina Schulstad and I will co-host an Open House Call on Tuesday, June 16.

Here are some more photos from the retreat by Michael Dorsey -- more of the beautiful Marin Headlands than the meeting. Enjoy.