Hello everyone!
My name is Zach, and I couldn’t be more excited to be joining IRWA as the Advocacy Program Manager. Ever since I was a kid I’ve loved being outside, and whether it was on hikes through Shenandoah, exploring the Chesapeake Bay, or taking in New England’s numerous stunning natural landscapes, I’ll take any excuse to be in the open air. Getting to spend quality time in nature is like spending quality time with an old friend. I am incredibly grateful and eager to make a career out of advocating for a region and an issue that are both so close to home.
My career, while inspired by a passion for environmental conservation and curbing climate change, started in a very different place. Realizing that change would need to be a global effort, I took my love of conflict resolution and coalition building to Washington, D.C. in pursuit of a career in foreign policy. I found a job with the House Armed Services Committee and for two years I worked on arms control, low intensity conflicts, security cooperations, missile defense, and space policy. While in Washington, I was also fortunate enough to have the opportunity to explore my passion for the Northern Ireland Peace Process; I was invited to join the Ad Hoc Committee to Protect the Good Friday Agreement, a group I am still a proud member of and continue to engage and work with in tandem with partners both at home and overseas.
As I felt my career drift farther from foreign policy and closer to national security spaces, I sought a hard reset in my career, taking a policy job with a small trade association just outside of Boston. I moved to Salem to be closer to my chosen family in Ipswich and to engage in the work that made me so excited about policy in the first place. IRWA’s mission is the embodiment of a think-globally-act-locally mindset, and when the opportunity to work with IRWA came up, I didn’t think twice. I cannot wait to meet and work with you all to advance the policies and practices that protect our river for generations to come.