Eight candidates have submitted ballot statements to serve on the 2017 NCRA Board of Directors. There are six positions to fill. Voting is open from January 9 – January 18. The election results will be announced January 19 at the Annual Members Meeting. Custom voting links will be emailed to members on or after January 5. If you do not receive our email but believe you should (i.e. your membership is current as of January 11, 2017), please email the office and we will email the link again.

CANDIDATES 2017: Arthur Boone, Douglas Brooms, Rebecca Jewell, Laura McKaughan, Hilary Near, Jessica Robinson, Steven Sherman and Mary Lou Van Deventer.

ARTHUR BOONE, INCUMBENT (LinkedIn)
I became a professional recycler in 1983 and have served on the NCRA Board for most of those 34 years (no term limits here). I have served in all Board positions but am best known as founder and for 17 years director of NCRA’s well-known Recycling Update. I have taught NCRA’s Introduction to Recycling class twice a year for newcomers, and am now co-chair our Zero Waste Advocacy Committee. Your vote will assure my continued Board membership. Seventy-nine in March but going strong; a little crusty at times but usually for a good cause. Thank you.

DOUGLAS BROOMS, INCUMBENT (LinkedIn)
I’ve served on the Board for three years, and would be honored to serve another term. I look forward to Board meeting deliberations, and helping with and participating in NCRA events. I’ve represented NCRA at each annual “Oakland Green Expo” and other similar events.

I’m a co-chair of the ZW Advocacy Committee. I’ll continue with the evaluation and selection of new CA legislature Bills, and drafting of support letters. I’ll promote greater Bills support collaboration among environmental organizations in areas of common interests. I’ll continue with timely updates to the ZWAC Webpage, and work towards increasing its appeal and usefulness.

I’ll continue promoting awareness about the annual America Recycles Day, and other means to encourage greater recycling participation. I’m still the volunteer recycling coordinator at my apartment building. I enjoy work doing sorting at public fairs and events.

I have sustaining commitments to climate protection and other environmental stewardship causes. However, Zero Waste and recycling advocacy are my stronger passions, making NCRA my favorite place. I would appreciate your vote.

REBECCA JEWELL (LinkedIn)
I respectfully submit my name for your consideration for the NCRA board. My pragmatism and experience will help further NCRA’s work as I will focus on professional development and information sharing for NCRA members.

My work for the organization over the past decade has included a job-seekers series, jobs board and Recycling Update CoChair. I will continue to work on these projects and help the Board to continue its work on formalizing procedures and policies.

NCRA has made some significant strides in these past years. I look forward to helping it’s continued development.

LAURA MCKAUGHAN, INCUMBENT (LinkedIn)
I have been honored to serve on the NCRA board for the past 6 years and as President since 2012. This along with 12 years working in Zero Waste has provided me with the background to bring leadership and experience to the NCRA board. In my professional career outside of NCRA, I founded Envirolutions Consulting in 2014 to promote recycling, composting, Zero Waste and resource recovery for private industry, government and non-profits, and prior to this, I worked for nearly 8 years for the San Francisco Conservation Corps, first as Recycling Manager and then Associate Director of Green Programs.

NCRA has grown in membership and achieved much in the past few years and I believe we are now gaining momentum rather than reaching plateaus. My goal in continuing to serve would be to help build upon these successes and shepherd in new leadership. If re-elected, I would seek to accomplish this through continued initiatives and events that engage our membership, re-building our curriculum offerings and continuing to advocate for resource recovery, recycling, getting organics out of landfills and promoting resource recovery over burning or burying.

I humbly ask your vote to continue to serve on the NCRA Board of Directors.

HILARY NEAR (LinkedIn)
I am submitting my candidacy to join the NCRA board in 2017. I have worked in the Zero Waste field for a decade, primarily in program management and outreach related to municipal residential and commercial Zero Waste programs. I consider it my turn to serve. I am grateful to many past and present NCRA board members for their training and comradery over the years. I particularly recognize the legacy of NCRA’s training and conference coordination; NCRA’s Intro to Recycling course was a highlight in my early career, and the Recycling Update, of course, continues to serve my professional development and our larger community.

I currently serve the City of Oakland as a recycling specialist. I am passionate about expanding participation in our current curbside collection programs, particularly organics and bulky item collection. As a board member, I am interested in supporting the new mentorship program. I also enjoy event coordination that could benefit the tours committee and RU event. I would join the NCRA board as an experienced, passionate, creative and open servant to our NCRA membership and our aspirational goals.

JESSICA J. ROBINSON, INCUMBENT (LinkedIn)
I am a passionate environmental advocate, who would like the opportunity to continue as a board member. I have served as Treasurer for 4 years and would like to carry on as I have discovered more ways I can better serve.

NCRA has been a huge support of my endeavors and educational outreach. NCRA was the first vehicle for me to introduce, “Miss Alameda Says Compost!” to the recycling/sustainability community back in 2010. My M.A.S.C. program recruited over 150 restaurants in Alameda to compost and recycle, helping the city address it’s Zero Waste and Climate Protection Plan. NCRA funded my short film, “Recycle Woman,” which educates and inspires people to take action in helping the planet by maximizing on recycling and composting. NCRA co-produced my Resilience Climate Change Expedition documentaries, which I hope NCRA will get more exposure as the series expands.

I’m also a Climate Leader under Al Gore, educating the public about global warming and how recycling and composting are part of the solution.

I hope I will be given the opportunity to share my energy, creativity and innovative ideas with the board for many more years to come.

• STEVEN SHERMAN (LinkedIn)
  NCRA inspires me by advocating for waste reduction, source separation and leading-edge materials management policies. I am grateful that NCRA annually hosts the best one-day conference on recycling, which features our members’ activities. I joined NCRA in 1990. It remains the heart and soul of the recycling movement. I share NCRA’s passion for its mission. My own path on the journey toward Zero Waste includes:
  • Past or current board service: California Organics Recycling Council; San Francisco League of Urban Gardeners; Cooperative Center Federal Credit Union; Upstream; Berkeley Zero Waste Commission; Alameda County Recycling Board
  • Recycling and compost consulting for 20+ years, including 14 years as managing partner and president of Applied Compost Consulting, Inc.;
    Compost program development courses taught via CRRA, UC Extension and ABAG;
  • Bridger of wastewater and recycling industries (work with EBMUD anaerobic digestion).I will advocate for environmentally sustainable approaches to organics management; product quality, end uses, and behavior change all matter tremendously. I will help NCRA to participate effectively in coalitions to address the scourge of plastics, which ends up in our oceans, our soil, and in our bodies. I will work to ensure that NCRA’s financial footing remains steady.

I respectfully ask for your vote.

MARY LOU VAN DEVENTER (LinkedIn)
I want to rejoin NCRA’s Board of Directors because I’m afraid for recycling’s future and want to participate actively in defending it. NCRA thinks big, thinks forward, and sticks to its guns. That stick-to-it-iveness will be required in the next few years.

NCRA’s job is to grow and protect the recycling industries. Recently in an email thread, an advocate for systemic replacement called today’s recyclers “the previous industry.” Some powerful forces share that view. They walk next to waste-to-energy advocates. Even President Obama’s energy plan calls WTE “sustainable.” What will the new administration say?

Some vulnerabilities are visible. In the last 18 months 850 recyclers have gone out of business in California, and pressures will soon increase.

But recovery industries have achieved so much, and the promise of Zero Waste is huge!

In this new period of uncertainty, our large creation will endure only if we defend it. I have served in every office on NCRA’s board, including three terms as president. If I can rejoin the Board I will contribute practical experiences gained in fighting off threats while maintaining a holistic, developmental vision.

If you share the fear, the hope, or both, please vote for me. Thank you.