David Scott

David Scott
Residence
Columbus, Ohio
Nominating committee candidate
Member Since
1990
Life member
Occupation
Attorney
Sierra Club Leadership Positions

Board Director (2009-2015, 2016-2022, 2023-2026); President (2013-2015); Vice President (2010-2013); Treasurer (2018-2020), Secretary (2024-2026); Conservation Policy Chair (2016-2018, 2021-2022); Mission Strategy Advisory Committee (2009-2013); Conservation Governance Committee (2005-2008); Sustainable Planet Strategy Team (2002-2005; Midwest Vice-President (1999-2001); Ohio Chapter Chair (1999-2002)

Website
davescottsc@gmail.com
Statement

“For decades, Dave has fought for wilderness and wildlife, with a special focus on Alaska lands. His depth of knowledge and passion for our wild places are invaluable for the Club."  -- Vicky Hoover, California. John Muir Award winner

“We need Dave’s experience, wisdom, and leadership on the Board.” -- Rita Harris, Tennessee. Board Director, longtime Environmental Justice organizer

“I enthusiastically endorse your board candidacy and thank you for your willingness to continue serving.”  -- Allison Chin, California. Five-time Sierra Club President

With our nation in crisis, experienced Sierra Club leadership has never mattered more. I bring it. In my 15 years on the Board, my colleagues have elected me to the Board’s Executive Committee eight times, including the past two years.

As a lawyer, I’ve enforced federal civil rights laws. Won access to health care and housing for low-income people. And as an Executive Committee member, I’ve had final approval authority for Sierra Club’s environmental litigation docket. 

As a board director, I’ve strongly supported our wilderness and climate campaigns. I’m honored to have several campaign leaders endorse my re-election, including leaders of our Beyond Coal Campaign, which journalist Michael Grunwald called “the most effective campaign in the club’s history, and maybe the history of the environmental movement.” 

Here’s what I will work to do:

  • Engage activists in mass, peaceful protests, as the First Amendment allows;
  • Expand the Political Program and campaign organizing we must excel at if we’re going to win;
  • Strengthen our chapters – with a hostile President and Congress, state and local advocacy matters more than ever;
  • Support our Environmental Law Program, 
  • Build trust with employees;
  • Secure more funding for climate, lands and wildlife protection, and ensure our financial health – a primary board responsibility.

We’ve met challenges before. Together, we will rise to meet this moment, too. I’d appreciate your vote.

 

Endorsements

Patrick Murphy, Sierra Club President. Allison Chin, Rita Harris, and Vicky Hoover (above). Former Vice Presidents Ross Macfarlane (WA), Susana Reyes (CA), and Marion Klaus (UT). Dick Fiddler (WA), Beyond Coal Campaign Team. Former Western Regional Director Bill Arthur (WA). Board Director Clayton Daughenbaugh (Illinois). Board Director and Conservation Policy Chair Cynthia Hoyle (Illinois). Joan Taylor, Chair, California-Nevada Desert Committee

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?

We have a nation and planet in crisis. I am one of only two directors on the Board with over six years experience – I have fifteen. My colleagues have elected me VP for Conservation, President, Treasurer, and I now serve as Secretary. I have the institutional knowledge, skills and experience to help the Board navigate these unprecedented challenges, and I want to do that.  I also bring valuable knowledge from my work as a civil rights lawyer and a poverty lawyer before that.

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’ve served as Sierra Club President and Treasurer, served for many years on the Finance and Risk Advisory Committee, which I serve on now. I've chaired a committee that reviews major gifts to assure compliance with our policies. The current board has taken steps to assure an improved budget process, with check-ins during the year. Of course we can always do better, and I am open to suggestions from chapter chairs and other representatives.

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?

A few years ago, I chaired a Chapter Funding Task Force and worked with staff and chapter directors to assure a base level of funding. As a director, I will work with our current Treasurer, a former chapter chair herself, and our Chief Financial Officer, who are best able to assure timely delivery and advise the board on assuring adequate funding.

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?

One place this conversation starts is with data on recruitment and retention, which I know we have access to as a board.  Another key part is ongoing consultations with our employee unions, including our Labor Management Team with board representation. 

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?

We need to raise more money. In the last few years, fundraising has not kept pace with the annual expense increases that our bargaining contract creates. I want good salaries and benefits for employees – absolutely. And of course we need a budget process that reviews all expenses. But the solution here really is at the fundraising level. We have a new Executive Director who is committed to fundraising, and staff who can help. The board must closely monitor our progress.

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?

Important as they are, we have never had enough funding for substantial work in those areas, even when I was on the Conservation Governance Committee 20 years ago. However, our Environmental Law Program and some chapters have successfully fought ag pollution over the years, and we need to expand funding for ELP and better support state-based chapter work.

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 can assure opportunities for volunteer leadership input through several means. Some of those exist now: there are three CCL chapter reps and three Grassroots Network reps who are officially liaisons to the board. We can empower those reps more by assuring they are part of budget and allocation discussions. Volunteer co-leads provide a forum, and the Volunteer Leadership Advisory Committee is strong and active. But we need to create a regular sequence of volunteer leader  listening sessions, and there is support for doing that.

Question 8

Question 8

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

I support greater involvement in well-planned, peaceful protests that the First Amendment allows for. The well-planned and peaceful parts are critical, given the risk environment we face. We have a history of Environmental Justice work, much of it through our Law Program – protecting sacrifice zones like the lower Mississippi and the Gulf Coast. We need to raise money and fund that work.

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?

Two things we must do are to better fund our strong Environmental Law Program as a means of countering Trump attacks, and focus on clean energy and lands/habitat protection at the state level in places where wins are possible. We need to emphasize that renewable energy lowers costs for consumers, as our Beyond Coal Campaign has successfully argued to state public utility commissions for many years now. We also need a strong Political Program to help elect a friendlier Congress in 2026 and elect better officials: even one House of Congress would give us far more leverage to block bad actions.

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?

I have worked with four Executive Directors, starting with Carl Pope. Any strong and productive relationship starts with people: an organization having the right fit with its Executive Director and the strongest possible Board. After years of her own board service, Loren Blackford knows this organization very well. A productive relationship requires respectful, candid conversations, which we build into our meetings, and a good goal-setting and evaluation process for accountability. A productive relationship with the Executive Director also requires a Board that is not torn by factionalism – we have made enormous progress this year. In the next two years, the board is likely to hire a long-term Executive Director. It is imperative that the board has the best possible search and decision-making process. That is the most important choice any board makes.