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Thanks for joining us Bryan.

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How did you start at Clean Water Action?

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I started when I was in college.

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I was actually looking for field work,

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because I was studying political science.

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I also wanted to get out of working for a company.

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So I wanted to see what the non-profit world was like,

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and I saw a posting

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so I called and applied and came out.

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Obviously, the environment and water

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has always been important to me.

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So came out, tried it out, and I loved it,

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and that's how I got here.

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And you worked as a canvasser and field manager,

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and now you're working with Senator Peters.

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What do you think was most effective

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about the work we did

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talking to Michiganders about these issues?

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I think actually talking to folks

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is what was most effective.

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I think a lot of people

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of different ideologies

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care about water and the environment.

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And might not really know

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how to get involved and get engaged.

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So talking to people,

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in some instances educating them about the issues,

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in other instances

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just giving them an avenue to get involved.

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I think that was effective,

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just being there, at the door,

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having regular conversations with people.

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What sort of memory sticks out to you,

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having a connection, or a victory,

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making a difference door to door

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and having those conversations?

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Definitely I think the two that I recall

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working on the most

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were the Line 5 oil pipeline

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and the water infrastructure.

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Of course, also, the Flint Water Crisis...

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I think an instance that really sticks out to me

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was when we were up north,

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northern Michigan, Traverse City,

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talking about the Line 5 pipeline.

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Really seeing the difference between

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the opinion of folks down here

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and folks up there.

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Wasn't very different.

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And actually I might've thought that

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people up there would've been

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more opposed to shutting it down.

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But they weren't.

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That's one instance -

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Then I think the campaign

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that I really enjoyed working on

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because it really was bringing up an issue

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that a lot of folks didn't know about

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was - the septic tanks!

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Yep! - Michigan is the only state in the country

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without a statewide septic code.

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Something we're still working on.

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Yeah, that a lot of folks don't know that,

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a lot of people didn't know how much sewage

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is leaking into our groundwater

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and local lakes and rivers.

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Also with the water infrastructure

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it's the same -

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I really enjoyed talking to people about that

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because it's important for people to know,

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and give them a way to get involved.

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I think what I remember most working with you

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was when we went up to Flint

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doing the triage project early days -

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beginning of the water crisis.

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It's good to have the skills to talk to folks

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but that was a lot.

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Yeah - I almost forgot about that.

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When we went up to Flint

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and we were canvassing in Flint neighborhoods

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talking to people.

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You know, that was very important work.

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And it was also I think very emotionally taxing.

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You saw people that really didn't have

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- didn't know, were scared, were worried

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about what was happening

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with their families.

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And also didn't have the means

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to really go anywhere else.

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That was definitely a very impactful moment for me.

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Something I appreciated about that

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we were there supporting

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not barging in saying we knew best.

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Then we went out into non Flint communities

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to get people to show their support.

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I think we got letters

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from every single county in the state.

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to get support there.

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I was trying to remember what my main memory was

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working with Bryan and it was when we went up there.

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To go a little bit lighter -

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What's your favorite memory

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of working with your coworkers specifically?

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The training we did and the priorities we had -

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what did you gain out of the experience

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of working with Clean Water in Ann Arbor?

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I think what I gained most was

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a unique perspective

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that I wasn't necessarily exposed to prior to.

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Lasting friendships, lifelong friendships,

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and of course being able to hang out with people

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at work and after work was great.

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To work with a bunch of young folks,

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you don't really see doing this type of work,

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to see them working hard

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and really committing to organizing

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and getting involved politically

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was very motivating and inspiring.

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Let's talk a little bit about what you've

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been doing since you left Clean Water Action

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and how that experience has influenced you since.

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Right after I left Clean Water Action

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I started working for

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a few different political campaigns

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the organizing skills that I learned at Clean Water

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were extremely beneficial because

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when you're doing campaign work

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but really just any type of work,

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it really teaches you the professionalism,

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confidence, and skills needed to

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succeed I think in any field really.

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I use the organizing skills that I learned

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at Clean Water and took them to

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campaign work, and it went well.

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From there I went and worked for

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Congresswoman Debbie Dingell,

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where I was her Field Representative

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for the Downriver area where I grew up.

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Which was great -

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worked on a ton of environmental issues.

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worked on a ton of issues in my own community,

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water issues.

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Again - the skills that I learned

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really transferred over well

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because to do your job successfully,

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you have to be able to reach out to people.

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After working for Congresswoman Dingell

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I just recently accepted a position

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with Senator Gary Peters

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to be his Regional Director

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for Southeast Michigan.

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To continue the same work,

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working in my community.

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I would consider Southeast Michigan

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my community, really the whole state.

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Continuing to work for the greater good

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and continuing to work

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to protect our environment

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and protect the people.

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Why do you care about Clean Water -

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(and I know saying this as a Michigander

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is a really easy answer but...)

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You know - as a Michigander,

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it's our lifeblood.

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Not only economically

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but that's what we've all grown up on

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Like I said I'm from Downriver,

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I grew up in Wyandotte,

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which is a city on the [Detroit] river.

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A river that years back

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didn't have a great fish population

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there were dead spots.

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Right down the street from the Rouge River

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that caught on fire in the 1970s.

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It's important that we protect

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the beautiful Great Lakes

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but also protect the people

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who live here.

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And the animals who live here,

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and ecosystem.

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In the 50 years since Clean Water Action

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has been founded,

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since the Clean Water Act

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has been passed,

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there's been significant improvements

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but there's a long way to go still.

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The Rouge River isn't on fire,

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but we still have fish advisories

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in the Detroit and everything else.