Meeting/Event Information

The A&WMA Lake Michigan States Section and the Union League Club Environmental Committee are pleased to invite you to join us for a breakfast briefing webinar to hear Joel Brammeier, President and CEO of Alliance for the Great Lakes speak on building a sustainable future for the Great Lakes.

Joel Brammeier oversees all aspects of the Alliance’s work, leading a team of 22 professionals with the backing of more than 20,000 supporters around the region dedicated to protecting clean water. Since joining the Alliance in 2001, Joel has become a leading voice on invasive species and water protection issues across the Great Lakes region. Joel has overseen the longest period of sustained growth in the organization’s history, doubling its full-time staff and quadrupling assets. In addition to his leadership at the Alliance, he sits on a number of boards and councils, including the Healing Our Waters Governance Board and the Governors’ & Premiers’ Maritime Task Force. He aspires to build an organization and Great Lakes movement that fully reflects the people of the region. Joel received his master’s degree from the University of Michigan and his bachelor’s degree from Valparaiso University.

2021 is bringing a renewed federal and local focus on how water issues affect communities across the country. The Great Lakes hold 20% of the world’s fresh surface water, provide drinking water for more 40 million people in the United States and Canada, and support a $7 billion dollar fishery and a $16 billion recreational boating industry. Despite this bounty, lack of reliable and safe access to drinking water, extremes brought about by a changing climate, pollution from agriculture and the threat of invasive species are centering the public’s attention on the challenges to centering our region around clean water. This talk will review the current state of the Great Lakes and discuss critical opportunities to address these challenges in policy over the next two years.