WaterLegacy’s Board
WaterLegacy has an active board with seven members, two-thirds of whom live in Northeastern Minnesota.
- WaterLegacy’s President now lives in Minneapolis, but he grew up downstream on the St. Louis River, where his family still resides. His education includes global politics, communications and global environmental policy, and he has led service learning overseas as well as organizing to increase renewable energy. He now serves as a program coordinator/organizer for the Land Stewardship Project, working with the Community Based Food Systems Program.
- WaterLegacy’s Treasurer lives near the North Shore of Lake Superior and is the owner and operator of an off-grid organic vegetable farm. She is an educator and consultant in the areas of sustainable living and agriculture. She also has an accounting degree and specializes in government and nonprofit financial management.
- WaterLegacy’s founding board member lived in Inver Grove Heights, MN. She was a business consultant, specializing in start-up and expansion planning and a former Bush Leadership Fellow. She was involved in citizen activism related to sulfide mining in Minnesota for three decades, serving as an active member of several leading environmental groups seeking stronger laws and regulations to protect Minnesota waters from sulfide mining pollution.
- WaterLegacy’s board also includes a Duluth, MN resident retired from the University of Minnesota Duluth and the College of St. Scholastica, where he supervised the Center for Just Living and coordinated the service learning program. He is a community activist and organizer in his Duluth neighborhood and is involved through faith communities in work to secure social and economic justice.
- WaterLegacy’s newest board member lives in Finland, MN. He is an angler, wild rice harvester, and supporter of indigenous struggles who makes his living as a forestry consultant and DNR approved Forest Stewardship Plan writer. He also has expertise in GIS analysis, wetland ecology, writing, database design, and web development.
Our Advisors
WaterLegacy relies on a network of citizen scientists and activists to develop and implement our strategy. These advisors include:
- A core group of 10 family doctors and child psychiatrists in Duluth, MN, concerned about potential effects of sulfide mine pollution on health, particularly the brain development of children.
- A retired nurse and long-time environmental activist in Cloquet, MN, concerned about mercury and sulfate pollution impacts on health and wild rice.
Retired staff from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Department of Natural Resources living in Stacy, MN, with expertise about mining wastes and discharge, clean-up of superfund sites, and effects of mining pollution on fish and aquatic life.- A retired miner and retired teacher living in Sudan, MN, with expertise on the history and economics of mining in Minnesota and the social context of Minnesota’s Iron Range.
- A Finland, MN, campaign coordinator at Organic Consumers Association, a national grassroots organization working for social justice, abundant clean water, and sustainable foods.
- Leaders from other environmental groups in Minnesota and Wisconsin with long-time expertise in protecting wetlands, surface waters and tribal resources from pollution and destruction.
- Additional citizen volunteers across Minnesota and in Wisconsin and Canada with expertise in geology, hydrology, engineering, wetlands and statistics who have generously donated their time to provide expert reports and review WaterLegacy advocacy documents for technical accuracy.
WaterLegacy’s most important strategic advisors are tribal staff and consultants. We consult with tribal staff prior to every strategic decision made by WaterLegacy, share work product and drafts, and make every effort to understand and respect tribal independent goals and priorities
Our (Contract) Staff
Paula has 35 years of experience in public interest law, policy, advocacy, communications, campaign strategy, and tactics. She has served as litigator for Dalkon Shield defective product cases, as Special Assistant Attorney General coordinating task force on preventing sexual violence against women, and as St. Paul City Council Member. Since 1994, her public interest firm, Just Change Law, has counted among its clients the Sierra Club, Environmental Justice Advocates of Minnesota, and the City of Minneapolis, as well as organic farmers, wind developers and diverse citizens’ groups. In 2010, Minnesota Lawyer named her one of its Attorneys of the Year for her public interest work. Jewish Women’s Archive has honored her as one of America’s 15 Jewish Women in Environmental Activism. In 2015, based on the nomination of Duluth area doctors working to prevent sulfide mine health effects, she was awarded the Harvey G. Rogers Environmental Health Leadership Award by the Minnesota Public Health Association.
Emma Schurink
Engagement Coordinator
emma@waterlegacy.org