It is once again time to vote for MEIC’s newest board members. Only MEIC members can vote in the MEIC board election. MEIC members are those who have contributed financially or with volunteerism within the last year. If you have questions or concerns about your ballot or the process of voting, contact Julie at jwintersteen[at]meic.org.
Please cast up to 7 votes at this link: https://tinyurl.com/MEICBoard2023
Learn more about the candidates here.
Gary Aitkin
(he/him, Ovando)
MEIC’s mission is pretty straightforward – to protect our clean and healthful environment. But straight forward doesn’t mean easy. MEIC’s strengths have always been its depth of knowledge, its attention to detail, its tenacity, and its ability to get things right. MEIC has been fortunate to recruit and retain outstanding, competent, dedicated and talented staff. We can do this because what we do is meaningful, important, and successful. The board’s primary job is to help set MEIC’s goals, insure that the resources necessary to achieve those goals are available, and to generally ensure that the organization stays on track. I am interested in serving on MEIC’s board because I believe MEIC’s mission is critical to making life on this planet, in this state, enjoyable, meaningful, and worthwhile.
Dan Belcourt
(he/him, Missoula)
Protecting our homelands and natural resources are of critical impor-tance to me as a Montanan and Chippewa Cree Tribal member in our great State. This has been my journey since graduating from law school in 1993. In my Indian law practice over the last 30 years I have worked to protect tribal natural resources, cultural properties, water rights and our fight for environmental justice in Indian Country. I am honored to be a board member for the Montana Environmental Information Center and will carry out my board duties as passionately as I practice Indian law.
Grace Gibson-Snyder
(she/her, Missoula)
I’m so grateful to have grown up in Montana. As I’ve grown, I’ve also grown more aware of the threats to our home. I’ve become involved with environmental work across the state, including lots of local projects in Missoula, working as an intern with MEIC, and serving as a plaintiff in the Held v. Montana constitutional lawsuit. Now, I’m studying Global Affairs and focusing on environmental policy. By serving on MEIC’s board I will contribute a young perspective to the conversations and decisions that shape the organization’s direction. Perhaps more importantly, it is an opportunity for me to learn from incredible environmentalists, community members, and people who love our state. I would be honored to serve as a member of MEIC’s board.
Madison Hebner
(she/her, Bozeman)
I have been lucky to call Montana my home for the majority of my youth, spending my free time utilizing Montana’s clean waters, endless backcountry, and magnificent peaks for fishing, hiking, and skiing. My time spent as a statewide legislative organizer and lobbyist for climate justice- related issues with Forward Montana during the 2021 Legislative Session only furthered my passion for expanding clean energy and maintaining Montana’s clean air, land, and water. This work shed light on the importance of considering the economic impacts that environmental policies can have on communities and racial inequities that encompass the climate movement. This emphasis is what fueled my work in completing my MS in Microbiology and Immunology in 2022 and my current position as the Program Manager for the Institute on Ecosystems at MSU. I hope to bring a zealous, young perspective to MEIC’s Board and better connect my peers to statewide environmental activism. If you bump into me and my spunky dog on a local trail, be sure to say hi!
Zuri Moreno
(they/them, Missoula)
In 2011, I arrived in Montana to work on a backcountry trail crew. After almost a decade working in environmental education and conservation through community engagement and trail maintenance projects, like working alongside Continental Divide Trail Coalition to help maintain Montana’s section of CDT, I switched to focusing on policy research regarding a variety of issues, from LGBTQ rights to the criminal justice system.
My passion for community engagement around issues of social and environmental justice have allowed me many opportunities to work alongside community members who are pushing for change at the local and statewide level. I believe that environmental health and protection is inexplicably linked with racial and social justice movements, as marginalized communities are often the first ones to lose access to clean air and water. Our policy solutions and community actions must be grounded in this understanding.
If I were selected to serve again on the MEIC board, I will continue to support MEIC in statewide relationship-building across impacted communities, so we can collectively build policy solutions that mitigate climate change and protect our right to a clean and healthy environment.
Jim Sayer
(he/him, Missoula)
I’m excited and honored to be considered as an MEIC board member. I support MEIC’s mission 1000 percent and want to ensure that this essential organization grows even stronger and better-resourced to protect our constitutional right to a clean and healthful environment. As a board member, and as the past director of three good-sized non-profits, I’d like to help MEIC grow its membership and donor base. I also want to do everything I can to support MEIC’s crucial climate work and its new sustainable communities program. With all the new folks moving to our state, we need to advocate for policies and models that reduce the impacts of growth on Montana’s ecosystems and wildlife – and in the process, create good places for people to live. Thank you for your consideration – and if you’d like to know more about me, feel free to check out my LinkedIn profile.
Neal Ullman
(he/him, Helena)
I have a record of protecting clean air and water working in Congress and in Montana. As a congressional staffer, I led efforts to defend the Clean Water Rule and prevent new industry loopholes in the Clean Air Act. In Helena, I work to fund clean transportation technologies including the first-in-the state all-electric school buses and street sweepers and expanding electric vehicle charging infrastructure. I practice what I preach and own all-electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars that both charge up using clean energy from the solar panels on our roof. Ask me how you can reduce your carbon footprint at home or on the road!
