Category: Elections

2024 BOD Election Results!

Congratulations New Board Members!

  • Randy Russell, Incumbent, Zero Waste Planner, WSP
  • Sarah Koplowicz, Consultant
    R3 Consulting Group, Inc.
  • Reka Abraham, Recycling and HHW Program Manager
    RecycleMore/West Contra Costa Integrated Waste Management Authority
  • Jack Johnson, Waste Management Supervisor,
    City of San Mateo
  • Christopher Slafter, Senior Sustainability Specialist
    County of San Mateo Office of Sustainability

Thank you, Max Wechsler, Shane Magennis and Kristina Bolam for running. We invite you to get more involved at the committee level and with Recycling Update planning, and join the ballot again next year.

Also thanks to the Nominations Committee – Bailey Hall, Alina Bekkerman, Naama Brenner-Abramovitch, Susan Blachman, Xinci Tan and Freddy Coronado, which did a great job recruiting worthy candidates! This was the first year in almost 50 that we held a Meet the Candidates event. It went very well! Next year, it will be held soon after the Candidates are announced.

The 2025 Board will be seated at the January Board Meeting, and officers elected at the Board Retreat.

 

Election Extended to Friday, December 6, 11:59pm

Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the 2024 Board of Directors Election has been extended to Friday, December 6 at 11:59pm.

If your membership was current at the start of the election – on November 15 at 8am, and you have not yet submitted your ballot, please do so ASAP. They were resent on December 3 at 8am to all eligible members that have not voted, with the subject line: 2024 NCRA Board of Directors Election (For 2025-2027 Term).

If you are unsure as to the status of your membership, please review your record before contacting the staff.

Video Recording and Written Statements

2024 Board of Directors Elections – Candidate Statements

Nine NCRA members – including 2 incumbents, have been nominated to serve on the 2024-2025 Board of Directors. There are five two-year positions to fill.

Voting opens Wednesday, November 15 and ended Thursday, November 30 at midnight. Due to the holiday the balloting has been extended to December 6 at 11:59pm.

Results will be presented to the board for ratification, then to the candidates via email and later to the membership via the December newsletter.

Early November 15, custom voting links will be emailed to current members. If you do not receive our SimplyVoting email that day, but believe you should –  your membership is current as of November 15, 2024, please contact the office.

NCRA BOARD OF DIRECTOR CANDIDATES, 2024

Click each picture for the candidate statement.

Christopher Slafter

Member since 2016

My name is Christopher Slafter and I am nominating myself as a candidate for Board membership because I want to give back to the organization of my peers that has generously supported me throughout my career. I have been a NCRA member for eight years, I have attended several Recycling Updates, presented at the 2024 Recycling Update and recently joined the Zero Waste Action Committee.

Professionally, I serve as a Senior Sustainability Specialist for the San Mateo County Sustainability Department where I organize and facilitate a Regional Foodware Ordinance Working Group, manage programs that support the County’s Disposable Foodware Ordinance, and am a member of our Equity Team.

Prior to my current position, I worked for Clean Water Action’s ReThink Disposable program, where I successfully transitioned numerous businesses from single-use disposable foodware to reusable alternatives.

I got into this work because, while surfing, I was disgusted by the plastic pollution I saw on our beaches. The San Francisco Bay Area is my home where I am currently raising a family in Oakland, NCRA is my professional home, and I want to take care of where I live. As a Board member, I will bring my experience creating coalitions and working with diverse stakeholders to help NCRA achieve our waste reduction and resource and energy conservation goals.

LinkedIn

Sarah R Koplowicz

Member since 2022

Hello fellow NCRA members! I started my journey working in trash in 2007, when I worked as Zero Waste Coordinator at the UC Davis R4 Recycling Program. As a lifelong environmentalist, that experience galvanized my interest and led me to work in Zero Waste event management for more than a decade, managing crews for events with up to two million attendees. Along the way I spent two years at the SF Green Business Program, obtained an M.S. in Environmental Management, and now work as a Senior Consultant at R3 Consulting Group, where I assist public agencies in all aspects of solid waste programs.

In addition, I serve as a board member for the nonprofit Race to Zero Waste and have been on the Zero Waste Youth USA planning committee for 7+ years starting in 2014. I started volunteering at the NCRA Recycling Update in 2015 and have attended almost every year since. I’m also an active member of CRRA, including moderating a panel at the 2023 CRRA conference.

If elected to the NCRA Board, I would be pleased to contribute my extensive experience and knowledge of the industry and my passion for Zero Waste. It would be my honor and great pleasure to work more closely with NCRA to provide the best possible programs at the Recycling Update and throughout the year.

LinkedIn