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2008 Election Candidate Forum:
The Candidates
Matt Urban's responses to the 16 questions of the candidate forum:
Candidate responses were limited to 150 words per question.
1: What leadership positions have you held in the Sierra Club and what have you accomplished in those positions?
Vice President for Organizational Effectiveness (2005-present); Chair, Delaware Chapter (2002-2006); Co-Chair, National Electronic Communications Task Force (2005-2006); Chair, Mentor Program (2005-2007); Lead Facilitator, NPLA project (2004-2005); Delaware CCL Delegate (2002-present); Delaware Fundraising Chair (2002-2005).
As chair of OEGC, my primary personal focus has been: helping to ensure the success of the Leadership Development Project, developing a leader mentoring program, co-leading a task force to recommend changes to the Club’s electronic communications technology, and working closely with Club staff on the redesign of the Clubhouse web site.
As Chair of the Delaware Chapter I created a fundraising program that resulted a nearly 300% revenue increase to the Chapter for four years, allowing the chapter for the first time to hire and sustain a full-time chapter Conservation Coordinator. This position brought significant credibility and visibility to our chapter throughout the state, and resulted in a number of new activists and leaders.
2: What, if any, endorsements have you received from Club chapters or leaders?
I am endorsed by former President and current Director Lisa Renstrom, Directors Rafael Reyes and Dave Karpf, and the Sierra Student Coalition.
3: The Board of Directors has appointed the Organizational Change Steering Committee to come up with recommendations for making changes to the organizational structure of the Club. The OCSC has come up with a draft proposal called Project Renewal which will be acted on at the February Board meeting. Please present your thoughts on Project Renewal and, in particular, whether you, given the opportunity, would vote in favor of the OCSC's current recommendations.
In February, the board adopted the recommendations from the Organizational Change Steering Committee. Had I been a director at the time, I would have likely voted in favor of the recommendations.
I was skeptical of the process at the outset. I was deeply concerned that this large-scale change to the Club’s structure would be very divisive and cause extreme chaos in implementation. I was concerned concerns from a number of respected Club leaders were not being addressed respectfully. And I was particularly concerned with the potential impact on the Club during an election year.
However, as the process unfolded, I became increasingly impressed with the level of care OCSC took taken to understand objections, then revising their proposal accordingly.
I now look forward to assisting in whatever way I can to make the transition to the new structure a smooth one, and helping to create the most effective Club possible.
4: What special abilities would you bring to Sierra Club leadership?
I have strong “high-tech” expertise, and for the past 12 years I’ve been CEO of Mobius New Media, a respected and growing interactive marketing firm. From that experience I bring both an understanding of new media communication technologies, but also a solid foundation in financial management and what it takes to run a successful business.
On a personal level, I don’t push my personal agenda over the views and wishes of the group, and I really do believe in the strength of group over personal views. I have a strong sense of integrity and people can count on me to deliver. Finally, my natural instinct is to always look at the big picture and understand all facets involved in any decision.
I think those are all very positive attributes that I would bring to the Board of Directors that would positively impact the Club and our work.
5: What do you view as the most important responsibilities of a Sierra Club Director?
Directors need to be stewards and evangelists. Stewards mean monitoring and maintaining the financial health of the organization. Evangelists means living the role of Sierra Club Director everywhere, participating hands on in Club fundraising and donor development, and continually looking for new ways to raise funds to support our work.
Specifically, Directors should:
1) Understand the current state of the Sierra Club, how it fits into the larger environmental movement, and how to best capitalize on our capacities to affect meaningful change in the world.
2) Understand the financial workings of the Club in such a way as to be able to effectively participate in budget setting and financial development opportunities.
3) Provide leadership to the organization – modeling effective governance, leading by example, communicating effectively within and outside of the organization.
4) Work well with other directors and senior staff.
5) Commit the time necessary to accomplish these items.
6: Having prioritized energy and climate work with the Smart Energy Solutions conservation initiative, what do you see as the most important things that the Sierra Club must do to respond to the urgent threat of climate change and win victories on this issue in the coming years?
The key is changing the public’s perception of what it will take to solve global warming.
We have to quickly move from trying to convince others that global warming is real, and transition into a role of offering a solid portfolio of solutions that shows the public a hopeful and prosperous future. The Club’s Climate Recovery campaign is a very exciting step along these lines.
I think the Sierra Club is perhaps uniquely positioned to do this due because of our history and credibility, and also because we have such a wealth of talented, insightful, and committed activists.
We need to show clearly that solving global warming does not mean that our economy will suffer, and that instead it’s a huge opportunity to re-think our economic model in a way factors in the cost of environmental degradation.
7: Many people feel that the environment is not an important factor in deciding federal elections. Why do you think this is, and what strategies should the Club pursue for electing pro-environment candidates to office?
To some degree this is our fault, and to some degree it’s a due to a very effective, organized, and long-term campaign to marginalize the environment as a critical election issue.
For too long, environmentalists have focused about what’s wrong with the world, but offer few practical solutions. While that approach plays well with our inner circle, it doesn’t work well with the bulk of Americans who prefer a more pragmatic approach. As a result, even the term ‘environmentalist’ is viewed with suspicion among many.
Transitioning into a more positive and hopeful ‘solutions-based’ way of communicating along the lines of what I’ve alluded to in #6 above will be critical to regaining the public’s trust.
But beyond just regaining trust, our challenge is to recapture the public’s *imagination* with a hopeful and forward-thinking vision.
Once that’s accomplished, the public will simply demand more of their elected leaders.
8: The environment is sometimes an important factor in deciding local and state elections. What strategies should the club pursue for electing pro-environment candidates to local and state offices?
See #7 above.
On a local level, it’s also critical to clearly follow voting records of local and state officials, and communicate that to the public. It’s important for people can clearly understand who is truly looking out for their best interests so that they can make informed voting decisions.
9: What do you feel is the image of environmentalists in general and of the Sierra Club in particular, and how would you change or reinforce that image?
See #7 above.
I do feel that the Sierra Club is generally viewed with great respect and admiration by a significant percentage of our country. This is show in the fact that we have more than 700,000 members, but we can point to over 1.3 million people as Sierra Club supporters.
A lot of it is our history, but it’s also due to the incredible work happening within chapters and groups around the country, who continue to gain respect and admiration in their local communities.
In addition to what I’ve stated in #7 above, I’d reinforce our image by continuing to support and empower our grassroots structure through funding, training, and organizing assistance.
10: What do you see as the role of outings in the Club, both National outings (including international) and those organized by chapters and groups? What changes would you like to see in these programs?
The outings program is critical to the mission of the Club, as it is one of the best ways to provide a direct connection between people and the outdoors. Whether a conservation message is overtly embedded into an outing or not, getting people outdoors has them “get it”, and once they see and understand the natural world, it’s natural to want to protect it.
This was Muir’s vision, and what resulted in the formation of our National Park system. It’s embedded in our Club DNA. It just makes sense, and it works.
The outings program in the Club is one of the most well-run facets of our organization, but we must continue to strengthen our outreach to diverse communities – through our inner cities outings program for example, and other programs of its kind.
Reaching our broader goals requires we reach beyond our ranks, and outings are key to that.
11: The Club is structured with a Board of Directors, governance committees, Council of Club Leaders, chapters, groups, and sections as the prominent entities. If you could change this structure or how it functions, how would you change it?
Much of this question is largely moot due to the Board’s adoption of the Project Renewal recommendations.
But the thing that was missed in that process is how we can continue to build bridges between national and local entities, so that there is true partnership throughout the organization.
I believe that shortly after the changes from Project Renewal are implemented, we need to take an equally in-depth look at how we can restructure the relationship between the board and chapters and groups to empower the chapter and group structure within the club. We need to be providing Chapters and Groups with the resources and tools and resources they need to be successful, enhanced communication with and support from the National club, and board-level acknowledgement of the continuing importance of our local entities to the success of the Club at achieving it’s mission.
12: What, if any, are the key differences between 21st century grassroots organizing and 20th century grassroots organizing, and how might the Sierra Club change in response?
20th century organizing was largely face-to-face. Our current national Club structure reflects this, and our structures follow a very hierarchical form. This form demands a certain degree of central control.
21st century organizing is much quicker, involves more distributed communication. It requires a more nimble responsiveness. It is often self-organizing. At the most basic level, it is networks rather than committees.
The Club has already started to change in response, and the new national model the board has chosen through Project Renewal reflects this, and should empower more 21stcentury organizing models.
But we need to continue to explore new electronic/online organizing and communication tools. We’ve taken some steps so far on updating our communication structures, but this area hasn't gotten the support it needs. Effective internal and external communication is a critical component of what’s needed to improve the Club’s strength, and I'd make that a major board priority.
13: What new technologies, and what new organizational processes should the Club adopt to improve the connection between National operations and grassroots leadership?
See #11 and #12 above.
In addition, we need to figure out how best to empower the role of the Council of Club Leaders. This is an essential bridge between national and grassroots, and although a review/reform process was done a few years ago, much remains the same. The CCL needs a true position of responsibility/accountability within the Club’s structure, and we need to continue to take all steps to strengthen its role.
14: What are some measures the Club should take to improve leadership development? What other grassroots capacity-building actions, if any, would you recommend?
I’d keep the board’s focus on the supporting and enhancing the current Leadership Development Program. We need to insure its effectiveness, and find ways to integrate key concepts and principles from the program into other areas throughout the Club.
I’d also keep connected with the Grassroots to learn what they need to be effective and work to create new programs to meet those needs.
We also should look to the current Cool Cities campaign as a model of capacity building, and continue to refine and expand the concept of a ‘campaign toolkit’ that can be distributed throughout the entire organization. Programs like Cool Cities, if organized correctly, provide the opportunity for training and leadership development at the same time they offer positive environmental solutions.
15: The Sierra Club has limited resources. Where is it most important for the Club to focus its volunteer and financial resources over the next four years?
I’d work first to ensure that we have sound programs that provide real measurable results that are easy to understand and therefore more likely to attract outside funding and support. I’d work to continue to empower the Club’s Development staff to raise funds around those programs in the ways that we’ve been successful in the past. And I’d encourage the board and senior staff to continue to explore and develop new and innovative funding methods.
We also have to place a strong focus – both programmatically and financially - on finding, training, and retaining qualified leaders throughout the Club.
16: The club is undertaking work to bring more youth and diverse cultures into our membership and leadership. What specific strategies would you suggest?
I’d keep our focus on the work of the Club’s Diversity Council – but not just in an academic / “this sounds good” kind of way. What we really need to see are tangible actions to reach beyond our ranks, so I’d support programs and activities that do exactly that (see #10 above).
I also think that one thing that is missing now is broader communication of the successes that can be had when we reach out to communities that are not typical Sierra Club communities so that our leaders can see the real opportunity that’s presented by working with diverse groups.
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