President’s Letter
Jeremy Lucas, president of the Eastside Audubon Society.
Greetings to everyone that have been loyal supporters of Eastside Audubon! Many of you know me, and I look forward to getting to know those that do not. I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself as the new President of the Eastside Audubon Society.
For the past four years, it has been my pleasure to serve as a member of the Conservation Committee, Conservation Chair, and most recently the Vice President. In that short time, I have been impressed at what a fairly small network of dedicated individuals can do when they come together as a community. I have had the pleasure of joining existing projects such as the Marymoor Habitat Restoration project as well as the Christmas Bird Count. In that same time, we started new projects like Climate Watch and the Willowmoor Bird Survey, both of which have been successful in gathering important data about birds and habitat. Training new folks to be bird trip leaders in our Apprenticeship Program will help our mission in connecting people to nature by continuing and even expanding our bird trip offerings. Our organization has some keen equity goals and have created a EDIB (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging) Chair position on our Board to help reach new members of the larger community.
As I write this note, I can’t help but think of the challenges we, as a society, face. We are starting to see the predictions of climate change be realized as sea levels change and more extreme weather events cause damage to our planet. Additionally, all anyone has to do to feel like we are becoming more and more divided as a people is to watch the news. The dividing lines of race, religion, and political views are prevalent. And of course, there is Covid...
With all of that said, I feel energized to be part of a great group of like-minded people that want to tackle these issues at a grassroots level. True, the Audubon network is first and foremost a group of folks that are interested in protecting birds. However, it has been rewarding to see how we have blossomed into an organization that also focuses on climate change, protecting habitat, and connecting more and more people to nature. Over the next two years as the chapter President, I intend on focusing on these issues and continuing this great work where our previous President left off.
There are many people that have helped me learn about Eastside Audubon and the nonprofit world and to thank each one of them by name would be a list too long. However, I would like to shout-out to Lori Danielson, Tim and Jan McGruder, and Andy McCormick who have been some of the best mentors someone could ever have. Amanda Leon, our Executive Director, has provided a great deal of nonprofit business leadership experience in answering my questions.
Finally, I would like to thank each and everyone of you who have supported Eastside Audubon. Without you, our organization simply does not work. I invite everyone to email me with any questions or comments they have. We also have a need for several volunteer positions, including Board positions. If you would like to explore any of these opportunities, please let me know.
Cheers!
Jeremy Lucas