2022 WI Chapter Executive Committee Elections

Coulee Region Group Election click here 

Current members of the Coulee Region Group please click here to access candidate and ballot information. Deadline to vote in the Coulee Region election is December 30, 2022.

Wisconsin Chapter Elections:

Sierra Club, the nation’s largest and oldest grassroots environmental organization, is proudly democratic and member-driven. Nine at-large delegates along with six appointed Group delegates direct the work of our chapter here in Wisconsin.

This year four individuals have been nominated to run for three open at-large seats. Those elected will start their three-year term in January 2023.  Read the candidate statement's below then cast your vote here. Only Sierran's with an active membership on September 30, 2022 are eligible to vote in this election. Deadline to vote is November 11, 2022.

Candidate Bios:

LAURA LANE 
of Waunakee, Dane County

I started volunteering with the Sierra Club because I'm concerned about climate change and want to advocate for clean energy, mass transit, and clean air and water. I'm in my third year serving on the Wisconsin Chapter's Executive Committee. Last year, I chaired the Committee and this year I am a co-chair. I am also an active member of the Beyond Coal and fundraising teams. 

I studied law at the University of Colorado and passed the Wisconsin bar in 1999. Although I am not currently practicing law, I have experience researching and analyzing complex issues. I also worked in the non-profit sector and have experience with fundraising, managing volunteers, and grant writing. After my first child was born, I became a full-time mom and freelance writer. I have written four books for children with a fifth one due out this fall. 

I believe limiting climate change is a top priority for the Wisconsin Chapter. We need as many Wisconsinites as possible to advocate for clean energy, an accessible mass transit system, and clean air and water. There is power in numbers, so recruiting, training and supporting new volunteers is important to me. A strong and strategic fundraising plan is also key, and I'd love to recruit more people to the Chapter's fundraising team. 

All of these issues are important, but the one I'm most passionate about is moving beyond coal to clean energy. In 2021, utilities announced the retirement of 4 out of 8 coal plants in Wisconsin. This was a tremendous victory for Sierra Club staff and volunteers! Unfortunately, in 2022 the utility companies are trying to push back these retirement dates. I know the Chapter's Beyond Coal team will continue to tirelessly fight for clean energy, and I'm excited to be a part of it.

AMY MUELLER 
of Dousman, Waukesha County 

I’ve worked on the Wildlife Team and Equity Committee while also helping with chapter-wide Wisconsin Conservation Congress (WCC) efforts. I have partnered with organizations like Wisconsin’s Green Fire, Project Coyote, and The International Crane Foundation to get over 300 eco-friendly WCC resolutions submitted in March. I’ve helped develop blog posts, author newsletter updates, create the Sierra Club WCC voting guide, write scripts for the text and calling campaigns, and lead the Chapter Volunteer night in April. 

I have a background of roughly 20 years in Marketing and Communications with knowledge leading and organizing team efforts, strategic planning and managing budgets. Beyond my BBA in Marketing from the University of Wisconsin - Whitewater, I am also a Certified Meeting Professional (CMP). As such, I have managed complex conferences where I led project teams of over 50 people and was responsible for corporate events with budgets over $1M. 

We need to put an emphasis on fostering and keeping a sense of belonging and purpose. I propose to define a role within each issue team to help keep people engaged such as an “Action Ambassador”. They are responsible for highlighting a “bite-sized” action for each meeting with a defined goal and an outcome that has a positive effect on an overarching issue. We also need to continue to build and strengthen our partnerships with other organizations, even when we don’t “totally agree” but can find common ground. 

Of all the Chapter’s priorities, I am the most passionate about protecting native forests and wildlife. But, I understand that everything is connected. As John Muir said, “When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the universe.” All our priority issues have an interconnectedness that require us to be a group of strategic advocates.

TIM KARASKIEWICZ
of Glendale, Milwaukee County

I have been a member for more than twenty-five years and have worked, hiked, and paddled with people who have become friends and with whom I share common values: a fundamental respect for the environment, a desire to preserve native habitats, environmental justice, access to clean water, and the conservation of natural resources. Most of all I have found a shared sense of respect for the environment in the Sierra activities that I have participated in or led. 

I have practiced law for more than 35 years -- at a large law firm, as a civil rights trial attorney with the US Department of Justice, and as General Counsel at Mitchell Airport where, among other things, I became familiar with and addressed environmental issues. I have been a member and chairperson of two national airport lawyer organizations and served on several boards of public organizations and nonprofits. 

Attitudes toward the environment have changed over time, but we are witnessing an era of unparalleled environmental threats from human activity. Growing up in the era of Rachel Carson, I cannot remember anyone who was not optimistic about the prospects for the environment under the nascent Environmental Protection Agency. But in the last forty years there has been a steady decline in the environment and attitudes about protecting it. It is almost inconceivable that in 2022 access to clean water is threatened or that we have reached an environmental tipping point regarding climate change. Although the courts have provided some relief, a renewed emphasis on political change is necessary. The Sierra Club must rise to this new challenge and seek additional solutions to protect the environment.  

The Chapter’s priorities for the environment are deeply interrelated. I am particularly concerned about threats to water resources from PFAS contamination and CAFOs.

GAIL SYVERUD
of Ashland, Bayfield County

I originally joined the Sierra Club because of concerns about oil and gas exploration on public lands. By late 2019, the environmental threat of Enbridge Line 5, an aging tar sands oil pipeline in northern WI and MI, near Ashland, Lake Superior, and the Bad River Reservation was front and center. I was happy to learn Sierra Club had a national campaign focusing on tar sands oil pipelines and a track record of success on the Nebraska Keystone XL Pipeline. 
I joined the WI Chapter Executive Committee in 2021 and will complete a 2-year term in December. I serve on the Tar Sands Team, Line 5 Coalition and the Finance Committee. During that time, I learned the WI Chapter is an effective non-profit environmental organization successful in fundraising, providing information on issues and encouraging average citizens to take action at the local, state and national level. 

I am a long-time member of state and national organizations that advocate for sustainability, natural resources, wildlife and taxing carbon. I have experience organizing educational events, publicity, fundraising, advocacy, lobbying, partisan get out the vote activities and Membership Chair of my local political party. Skills from my professional background in human services administration include budgeting, strategic planning, program evaluation, hiring and supervision of staff. 

The Wisconsin Chapter should focus on the climate crisis, advocate for broad policies to reduce carbon emissions and support no new fossil fuel infrastructure. 

My priority issue is Moving Beyond Coal to Clean Energy. I feel that we need to hold WI coal powered plants accountable for closing on schedule and not allow them to convert to gas.

Schedule & Nomination information

Watch the October Sierran for your ballot and candidate information for the Chapter Executive Committee!  The Nominations Committee will produce its slate of candidates from the names previously submitted for consideration. Please note that candidates can also run for election as petition candidates, on written petition of at least 15 Chapter members. Candidate petitions are due by August 30.  Members can also submit ballot petitions by August 30 with the signatures of at least 15 Chapter members.