HVG Executive Committee Election 2022

November 30, 2022

The Sierra Club is the largest democratically run environmental organization in the world, with direct election of leaders at the national Board, state Chapter and local Group level each year.  Participation by members in the voting process is crucial for maintaining this structure. The Executive Committee (ExCom) for the Huron Valley Group is responsible for the administration and operation of the group, and does so entirely with volunteers.  This fall, HVG members will be electing three ExCom members for two-year terms beginning in January 2023.  The Nominations Committee has nominated four candidates for the four ExCom positions. 

All Sierra Club members within HVG territory (Washtenaw, Monroe, and Lenawee Counties) at the time the mailing list for the Fall newsletter is generated are eligible to vote. The voting deadline is midnight, December 20. 

Because the decision was made earlier this year to provide the newsletter in digital format only, thereby saving the organization thousands of dollars and minimizing environmental impact, voting is being conducted via a secure online web form. Please review the candidate statements below and vote online by December 20th.

The Candidates
Kyle Martin

My name is Kyle Martin; I'm an Undergraduate Student at EMU majoring in Environmental Science and double minoring in Biology & Zoology. I’m also Secretary for the newly formed EMU Sierra Club chapter. I am interested in joining the HVG Executive Committee because I want to collaborate with other Michigan natives who are passionate about the environment. In addition, I would like to expand my knowledge of environmental stewardship and sustainability on a more localized level.
Christine Kitchens

I am an experienced lab specialist at the Cooperative Institute for Great Lakes Research who specializes in freshwater hydrogeo-
chemistry and harmful algal bloom ecology. I’ve also previously worked at the Ann Arbor Downtown Development Authority analyzing data for changes in yearly and monthly trends, and generating the annual State of the Downtown Report. I’ve volunteered with a number of environmental organizations over the years, including the Huron River Watershed Council, the Matthaei Botanical Garden, and the Detroit Zoological Society.
 Dan Ezekiel

HVG members, I ask for your vote to continue on the Huron Valley Group Executive Committee. I’m a lifelong environmentalist,
a graduate of the National Outdoor Leadership School (twice) and the U of M School of Natural Resources (now SEAS). I’m also a
career science teacher, mostly in the Ann Arbor Public Schools, and I hold a Masters degree in Education Leadership. I helped
found Recycle Ann Arbor, led the fight to save the Ann Arbor school district’s Environmental Education Program, chaired the
city’s Greenbelt Commission, and currently serve on the Washtenaw County Parks and Recreation Commission.

I’ve had the honor to chair the Huron Valley Group’s Executive Committee since being elected two years ago. My team has reinvigorated the Outings program, which should be the base of any Sierra Club group. We have advocated successfully for ambitious climate initiatives by Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County, and the Ann Arbor school district. Currently we are focused on helping elect an environmentalist President, US Congress, and Michigan legislature. We have moved toward refreshing our group into one that reflects our constituency, especially younger folks and people of color. We recently collaborated with two other Sierra Club groups to present a program about Environmental Justice, and we’ve held a series of meetings with opinion leaders in eastern Washtenaw County to discuss the ways we can better serve the environmental needs of citizens of color and
less-affluent citizens.

I look forward to an Executive Committee that will be 3/7 people of color after this election (up from zero two years ago). We
aren’t perfect, and we still have much to do and learn. I’ll appreciate your support and your feedback. Onward and upward,
and let’s keep Exploring, Enjoying, and Protecting the planet!
Jason Frenzel

Hello fellow HVG members. I’m honored by the potential opportunity to serve on the executive committee for another two years, thanks you for taking the time to review all the candidates. For the past 25 years I’ve worked in the Washtenaw/SE Michigan area creating and supporting environmental initiatives. For my first years out of college, as an AmeriCorps worker, I worked with local farmers to install measures that protect environmental resources. I worked for 10 years at the City of Ann Arbor’s Natural Area Preservation, drastically increasing the number of stewardship workdays, Park Stewards, and other volunteer positions.

For the past 10 years I’ve worked at the Huron River Watershed Council. Again, my work has been to increase resident participation in promoting the health of our shared environment, mostly through citizen science.

My volunteer work over the years has included founding and serving on the HomeGrown Food Festival and Local Food Summit, long-time volunteering with the Jim Toy Community Center, and serving as the president of the national association of volunteer managers.

Over the past 4 years on HVG’s executive committee, I have served as Treasurer, Secretary, Vice-Chair and now Chair. In these roles I’ve worked to make the notes and books more transparent and more readily utilized by the leadership team and others. Over the past two years I’ve helped to create an Eastern Michigan University Sierra Club group. I look forward, with your support, to increasing all of these initiatives – diversity, community voice, transparency, impact, and team health – over the next two years.