Alejandro Ortiz

Alejandro Ortiz
Residence
Austin, Texas
Nominating committee candidate
Member Since
2019
Occupation
Attorney
Sierra Club Leadership Positions

Lone Star Chapter: Executive Committee, At-Large (2024-present), Chapter Steering Committee (2024-present), Chapter Secretary (2025-present)

Political Compliance Officer (2024-present), Water Resources Specialist (staff) (2019-2023)

Austin Water and Wastewater Commission Commissioner (2025-present) 

Texas Center for Policy Studies, Secretary (2025-present) 

Email
alexortizlaw@gmail.com
Statement

I was ecstatic to join the Sierra Club in 2019 as the Water Resources Specialist for the Lone Star Chapter. It was a dream to be able to use my skills and knowledge while championing protections for water, wildlife, and communities in front of Texas regulatory agencies and the Texas Legislature. After leaving Sierra Club as a staff member, I was lucky to be welcomed back with open arms by our Chapter as I was elected to an at-large Executive Committee seat, where I have continued to serve as Political Compliance Officer, Chapter Secretary, and on the Lone Star Chapter Steering Committee, engaging in the week-to-week activities of our very active chapter.

Outside of my Sierra Club experiences, I have remained active in water and community work through experiences like my time working with the Water Equity and Climate Resilience Caucus at PolicyLink, and my appointment to the Austin Water and Wastewater Commission.

We all know that our organization is at a major inflection point in its history. Now, more than ever, it is imperative that our organization place an emphasis on its members – both our hardworking dues-paying member volunteers, and our stellar Chapter and National staff. We must also rebuild a community and culture of trust and empathy through transparency, accountability, and inclusion. We must elect directors that are ready and willing to actively participate in conflict resolution, and ready to work with both staff and volunteer leadership alike to turn down the temperature across the organization. The board also needs to create pathways for member engagement in areas of work from which they have historically been excluded. This means both ensuring that our volunteer leaders get to participate in development of rules and processes that affect them, as well as ensuring regional and chapter staff have clarity about and input on regional and federal priorities that will have tangible effects for the communities they live in.

As a director, my emphasis will be on ensuring this organization moves forward in a way that is aligned with all of its members, and that we are ready to continue to meet this moment in our country as we resist the destruction of our habitats, peoples, and the fabric of our democracy.

 

Endorsements

Luke Metzger (Environment Texas), Becky Bullard (Democrasexy), Roselyn Poton (Verde), Victoria Howard (Lone Star Chapter Chair), River Hudgins (Lone Star Chapter Political Chair), Ava Ortiz (Texas Center for Policy Studies Board Member), Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter

Election Forum Responses

Candidates were asked ten questions to give voters more information about relevant issues. You can view the responses of all candidates to a question by clicking on the individual questions below.

Question 1

Question 1

Why are you seeking a position on the Board of Directors?

Sierra Club as an organization is near and dear to my heart! I have long been inspired by the impressive work of our organization at both the national and chapter levels across the country. Our organization faces challenging times – whether that is addressing our internal struggles or  our issues of public perception. In my time at Sierra Club, I have noticed that there is a clear need for restoring trust and transparency in our relationships with one another. My background as an advocate, policy expert, and government official make me uniquely poised to support these needs. I hope to bring a perspective that leads with empathy and warmth, while focusing on how we establish processes for including each other along the way.

Question 2

Question 2

What experience do you have that prepares you for the responsibility of helping the Club stay fiscally sound for years to come, including but not limited to experience with internal information sharing and transparency?

I currently serve as a commissioner appointed to the Austin Water and Wastewater Commission. As a commission we are tasked with reviewing and advising city council on all issues pertaining to Austin Water, the city’s public water and wastewater utility which serves over one million residents in the greater Austin area. This ranges from project approvals and rate deliberations to making recommendations regarding the City of Austin’s budget.

As a career advocate, I also understand the importance of balancing transparency with organizational interests, and I have consistently advocated for public transparency efforts in my home state of Texas. Prioritizing and preserving relationships with stakeholders, funders, and each other are all integral parts of ensuring that our organization is fiscally sound into the future.

As an attorney, I also know the importance of protecting sensitive information at all times. I am ready and able to compartmentalize what information is ready to be available at which times, while also nudging those around me to always fall on the side of additional transparency.

Question 3

Question 3

Chapters are forced to wait for national financial data to plan. As a board member, what steps will you take to ensure timely delivery of financial data to chapters and protect their solvency, without burdening them to compensate for national financial shortcomings?

Ensuring that chapters are included along the way to whatever extent we can is paramount. While I know that it may be impracticable to include chapters in every detail regarding budget planning, we need to be able to have regular communication with chapters and their leaders about where we are at. This also means offering support in real time while chapters are dealing with budgetary uncertainty. Whether that is ensuring that they are fully supported in their advancement and membership goals, or offering a listening space to hear their specific concerns. These concerns must inform the national budgetary processes as ensuring that their voices and concerns are elevated to the board of directors is vital. The board of directors must be able to fully understand how budgetary decisions (and budgetary uncertainty) impact each and every one of our chapters while also helping our chapters understand that we must all be in this together, and that at times there are difficult decisions to be made.

As a board member, I will be ready and  willing to spend whatever time is needed with staff and members at any level that will help us get financial information out the door as quickly as possible.

Question 4

Question 4

How do you think that Sierra Club can better recruit and retain staff and volunteers, particularly from underrepresented groups, while prioritizing equity?

Our members and staff expect transparency, consultation, and inclusion. I know that our staff benefits greatly from the protections afforded by unionization. Nevertheless, we must ensure that every staff member at every level fully understands their responsibilities, as well as how and when those responsibilities intersect with national, regional, and state priorities. This will also aid the board in seeing our blind spots as an organization, and giving us clarity on how our organization moves in and out of these places with respect and due deference to people who live and work in these communities across the country, and balance that with deference to the qualified subject matter experts we employ.

There are fewer clear protections and avenues for conflict resolution for our general membership. Over the years I have heard accounts from people at nearly every level of this organization that feel excluded from decision making, or fear addressing any conflict because of the potential ramifications of engaging in an open dialogue. Organizationally, we must stop assuming bad intent in every interaction. Whether it’s among the chapters, between chapters and national staff, or between the board of directors and everyone else, there is a deeply broken culture that stems from many of us starting an interaction by assuming the worst. We need to encourage clear and respectful dialogue between all groups across this organization; and when and if dialogues become inflamed, the board and its members need to be proactively stepping in as facilitator, listener, and de-escalator.

Question 5

Question 5

The Sierra Club has had 4 years in a row, budget deficits requiring layoffs. What can be done to prevent this from happening in the future?

The Sierra Club needs to take a hard look at our work, our structures, and our spending to see what is serving our mission and our members. When I say “our members” I mean every single member – dues-paying members and staff alike. I am certain that each and every staff member in this organization has some idea, concern, or question that could lead to some sort of streamlining, even if that measure is only reducing duplicate work. In addition to hiring freezes and evaluating our structural needs, we also need to be realistic about the work we engage in, and need to take a clear look at our financial sources. This will all eventually lead us to: how do we increase our membership?

We also must support and enable our chapters to the fullest extent possible. Our chapters are how and where our members come into this organization, and member retention and work tends to be guided by what is happening at the chapter level. We need our national campaigns, departments, and staff to create meaningful engagement opportunities for members of chapters across the country to feel part of this club that they pay dues to be in. We also need to be more determined in providing our chapters with the support and resources they need to expand. Our movement only grows as our tent does, and our chapters know that.

Question 6

Question 6

How should the Sierra Club prioritize efforts in the food and agricultural sectors, given that they contribute significant global greenhouse gas emissions and are the significant source of water pollution?

We must rely on our allies and chapters. Our chapters are made up of the people that are the closest to these issues, both communities suffering the impacts of the pollution as well as those actively participating in our agricultural system. Any and all work within the agricultural sector needs to be championed by people who understand those sectors and the countless lives they impact. This is a space where Sierra Club must not shy away from partnerships with other organizations. This should include mapping the nation’s regional and national agricultural interests, and finding ways to support progressive voices in those spaces. I don’t think that Sierra Club should be the primary driver, champion, or focus of any food or agricultural sector policy change, but instead should be a willing and active partner in sharing its enormous environmental impact knowledge with stakeholders and allies across the nation.

As a water professional, I would also be remiss not to point out that this question is the only water-related question and does not speak to some of the most pressing water concerns across the United States including but not limited to: groundwater management, oil and gas pollution, surface water quality protections, crumbling water and wastewater infrastructure, water affordability, data center expansion, and drought and flood resilience. The climate is changing and the Sierra Club needs to put significant time and energy into understanding and supporting work on water across the country in order to mitigate many of those impacts.

Question 7

Question 7

How can we build a culture and set of processes by which the allocation of resources to campaigns and issues be more inclusive of all volunteer leadership perspectives?

We need more spaces for volunteer leaders to be plugged into these processes. This should include creating more opportunities to hear directly from Chapter Chairs and Directors regarding their budgetary needs, as well as ensuring that Chapter interests get to hear about national campaign budgetary development and needs. This is one key area where additional transparency with both our campaigns and chapters would help tremendously. If the board can make clear sense of what its conservation priorities are to our membership, then discussions about how and where funds are allocated can be understood much easier. It’s also important that we hear directly from each of our chapters and campaign regions about what their needs are, and how they have intentionally created alignment with each other. If there are obstacles to finding that alignment, then they should be a primary target of conflict resolution processes for the board.

I can say that I am proud of the way that national campaigns interact with our chapter here in Texas. In the future, we may have disagreements as we have in the past, but that has not and will not prevent us from working together in the future. The national staff that live in or support Texas are integral parts of “Team Texas”. We have created alignment by frequent contact via meetings, brainstorming sessions about Texas-specific campaign targets, and embracing a spirit of collaboration between chapter staff, chapter executive committee leadership, and national staff in Texas.

Question 8

Question 8

What role do you feel Sierra Club should play as threats to democracy and vulnerable communities escalate?

Threats to democracy are threats to the environment. This is one area that we must take more ownership of. If our communities have no access to democratic norms, they almost certainly have no time or energy to care about public health, our lands and waters, or our wildlife neighbors. Democratic principles are what protect our existing environmental enforcement mechanisms. Our members want to see us fighting fascism in real time, not waiting it out for a more friendly administration. Sierra Club needs to position itself as a staunch defender of democratic principles, and a fierce ally of other progressive, democracy-oriented organizations.

Question 9

Question 9

The planet is facing climate change and a mass extinction crisis while the Trump administration is attacking clean energy initiatives and land/habitat protections. How can the Sierra Club effectively support clean energy sources and land/habitat protections?

Our Environmental Law Program is unparalleled in their efficiency, understanding, and abilities. In addition to ensuring that we are providing ELP with every tool they need to continue these legal fights at every level, we also need to check in consistently with ELP leadership and regional leaders to carefully weigh what kinds of impact litigation could still be effective at this point in time.

Aside from prioritizing our invaluable legal resources we must be ready for these fights at state levels. The Trump Administration has shown that all of our core issues can effectively become states’ rights issues in a short amount of time. Many of our chapters already possess relationships and credibility in their states to make meaningful change. As an organization we need to be looking at statewide work across the country to accomplish our goals and building power to win statewide changes in the long term across the country. We must ensure that we equip our chapters with resources to engage in legal or legislative efforts, while also ensuring that our national campaign staff can provide their expertise and guidance for those efforts across regions.

Question 10

Question 10

What does a strong and productive relationship between the Board of Directors and the Executive Director look like to you, particularly in terms of fostering trust and accountability?

The relationship should be one of mutual trust. We should always assume the best intentions in dealing with one another while also being able to realize that we are each fallible and our expertises may differ. To the general public, the Executive Director is the Sierra Club. I have every faith that our current Executive Director knows that. The board’s role is to show up and govern. The board must guide where it sees a potential misalignment, resolve and mitigate conflict to the best of its abilities, and support our Executive Director in making Sierra Club the most effective organization it can be.

We also must all be ready to show humility. It is hard to admit a failure, loss, or misstep. But we must be ready to move forward by admitting those mistakes, offering (and being met with) grace, and getting back to work.

In addition to regular reports and check-ins, I hope that we see a relationship that looks cohesive and supportive to both our members and the general public. We all need to see a collaborative, collegial board of directors that is championing the needs and priorities of our members with the utmost respect while supporting our next leader of the Sierra Club.