Alliance for the Great Lakes

To protect, conserve, and restore the Great Lakes, ensuring healthy water in the lakes and in our communities for all generations of people and wildlife. We advance our mission as advocates for policies that support the lakes and communities, by building the research, analysis, and partnerships that motivate action, and by educating and uniting people as a voice for the Great Lakes.

A thriving Great Lakes and healthy water that all life can rely on, today and far into the future. W

Goal One: Water Advocacy - Protect safe, clean and affordable drinking water, reduce agricultural pollution, stop invasive species, restore health and resilience of the lakes, and safeguard protections

Goal Two: Local Partnerships - Improve Great Lakes protection in communities using our skills, resources, and expertise in support of community leaders and networks

Goal Three: Engagement - Grow a credible and lasting voice for the Great Lakes by motivating tens of thousands of people each year to take action to protect the lakes

Each new hire attends a 1-2 day training on “Managing To Change The World” that ensures a shared vocabulary on adherence to our values, project management, interpersonal communications, and prioritization. We conduct annual individual staff assessments that include feedback from direct reports, peers, and supervisors. That feedback informs performance development planning to enhance strengths and bolster opportunity areas. Since 2021, we have engaged coaching on leadership, living our values, strategic planning, feedback, and building a thriving organizational culture. In 2022, the Alliance is assessing our organizational culture and developing an annual action plan for support and improvement. All staff and board members have an opportunity to provide candid and confidential feedback to an external consultant.

The Alliance spends significant time convening community groups, other environmental nonprofits, municipal representatives, and elected officials to advance our clean water initiatives. Many partners and groups shifted priorities during COVID from long-term environmental advocacy to providing relief and essential services for their neighborhoods. Therefore, those groups did not have the capacity to work on Alliance-led issues. We also faced challenges scheduling meetings with city leaders on clean water policies that took a backseat to other City priorities. And when government offices were forced to take cost-cutting measures, funds committed for water protection work became temporarily unavailable. The necessity of clean water for all residents of the Great Lakes created a new urgency in light of COVID-19, as clean water is essential to reduce the spread of the virus. Staff pivoted to advocate for restoring water service and imposing moratoriums on water shutoffs during this crisis. We worked to bridge from the COVID crisis to more lasting water infrastructure policy reforms in the coming years. More broadly, we realized the essential need for our programs to confront racism in environmental outcomes, and our operations to advance an equitable working and advocacy environment for people and communities of color.