The coalition maintains an active presence in Washington, D.C., to help educate elected officials about the importance of Great Lakes restoration investments and policies. In 2020, the coalition is watching and advocating for the following federal priorities:
- Fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the marquee federal Great Lakes restoration program, so that people, communities and businesses can benefit from healthy lakes. Read more >
- Fund the Drinking Water State Revolving Fund to help communities fix drinking water infrastructure to protect drinking water in the Great Lakes region. Read more >
- Fund the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to help communities fix wastewater infrastructure to prevent sewage contamination in the Great Lakes region. Read more >
- Enact policies to stop Asian carp—and other aquatic invasive species—from traveling between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River and colonizing U.S. waterways. Read more >
- Support swift and strong implementation of the Domestic Action Plans for Michigan and Ohio to reduce toxic algal blooms in Lake Erie.
For more information, contact the coalition’s policy director, Chad Lord, at clord@npca.org.

Minnesota State Lead:
Clean Water Action – Steve Schultz
Minnesota Environmental Partnership – Andrew Slade
Wisconsin State Lead:
Milwaukee Water Commons – Brenda Coley
Clean Wisconsin – Ezra Meyer
Michigan State Lead:
Sierra Club – Erma Leaphart
Ducks Unlimited – Kyle Rorah
Ohio State Lead:
Ohio Environmental Council – Pete Bucher
New York State Lead:
Citizens Campaign for the Environment – Brian Smith
National Audubon Society – Erin McGrath

Since 2004, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has been telling the story of the Great Lakes and restoration. We harness the collective power of more than 150 groups representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes. The coalition is a leading voice for Great Lakes restoration and protection in Washington, D.C., and in the Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Please contact our communications staff to arrange an interview with coalition staff or coalition partners.
Jordan Lubetkin
Communications Director
734-887-7109
Lubetkin@nwf.org
Pavan Vangipuram
Communications Coordinator
734-887-7113
VangipuramP@nwf.org
You can also stay informed about the latest developments in the effort to restore the Great Lakes by checking out our resources page. There you’ll find all our press releases, reports, letters to the U.S. Congress, and more! Follow @healthylakes on Twitter or Facebook and help spread the word on efforts to protect and restore the Great Lakes.




Joining is easy! An authorized member of your organization should contact our field director, Celia Haven at havenc@nwf.org to request an application to join. Our board approves new member applications quarterly. All members will be added to the coalition’s email listserv, which is main form of communicating with our members. There is no membership fee associated with joining the coalition.
Thank you to our coalition funders, without whom our work would not be possible.