We’re grateful for your continued support as a Clean Water Action member. Now is your opportunity to have a direct impact by voting on the proposed board slate. Your vote helps guide the leadership and future direction of our organization, ensuring it reflects the voices, values, and priorities of our members.
TWO WAYS TO VOTE:
- Approve the full slate as presented
- Vote on each candidate individually
BOARD SLATE
Colron Chambers – Jersey City, NJ
Colron Chambers serves as the National Board Chair of Clean Water Action. Based in Jersey City, NJ, Colron brings a powerful combination of high-level operational discipline and deep community roots to the fight for environmental justice—the principle that everyone deserves clean, safe water and a healthy environment, regardless of race, income, or zip code. As a former Director of Operations, Colron managed high-volume supply chains and strategic execution for a diverse portfolio of partners.
His professional background includes driving operational engagement for global brands such as Google, The Economist, and Amex Open (Small Business Saturday), as well as optimizing complex logistics within the Amazon and Walmart ecosystems. Additionally, Colron champions organizational modernization, collaborating with the leadership of tech platforms like Recapped to implement AI-driven efficiencies in complex workflows. He has now translated this private-sector rigor into the "logistics of democracy," scaling how environmental campaigns are executed.
Mary Ann Fake – Boulder, CO
Mary Ann has held senior finance, accounting, and audit positions in a variety of organizations, including Funding Circle, a UK based peer-to-peer small business lender, Barclays Global Investors, Wells Fargo Bank, Bank of the West, Bank of America and the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. Mary Ann became engaged with environmental conservation through her interest in creating incentives to encourage sustainable business behavior through transparency and disclosure. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Community Initiatives, a non-profit fiscal sponsor based in Oakland, CA and the Colorado Chorale in Denver.
Kate Reid Koeze – Grand Rapids, MI
Kate first got involved with Clean Water in 1983, working as a canvasser in the Washington D.C. office. She held several different jobs at Clean Water Action, including Field Manager, Assistant to the Director David Zwick, and Canvass Administrator. Moving to Grand Rapids in 1996, she works for a small software company and is active with Clean Water Action’s Michigan office. Kate served as the chair of the Clean Water Action Board from 2018 to 2025.
Randall Walsh – Pittsburgh, PA
Randall's connection to Clean Water Action began in Pittsburgh, PA in 1985 when he participated in the field canvass for the Pennsylvania Alliance for Jobs and Energy, a partner organization with Clean Water Action. He rose through the ranks, opening and running Clean Water Action’s Pittsburgh phone canvass, and then transitioned into a program role. As a Clean Water Action organizer, he led the coalition for Pittsburgh’s Earth Day 1990 event, attracting an estimated 70,000 attendees. Randall then moved to New Hampshire to establish a Clean Water Action office, focusing on coastal and mercury issues through the New England Coastal Campaign.
After two years in New Hampshire, Randall returned to school and earned a Ph.D. in Economics from Duke University. He became an assistant professor at the University of Colorado and later a full professor at the University of Pittsburgh, where he currently directs the master’s program in Quantitative Economics. Throughout his career, Randall has remained committed to environmental and racial justice, integrating these passions into his research and contributing to initiatives like the USEPA’s Environmental Justice Guidance for Rulemaking and Allegheny County’s Air Toxics Regulations. He also has over 15 years of non-profit board experience, including work with Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services and the Pittsburgh Park’s Conservancy.
Marisa Perales – Austin, TX
Marisa Perales is a partner in a small environmental law firm that advocates against polluters and in favor of the public's interest throughout Texas. The firm addresses all sorts of environmental issues that arise in Texas, including municipal, hazardous, and radioactive waste storage and disposal; water quality and air pollution; endangered species protection; and incompatible land uses. Ms. Perales also serves as board president of Texas Campaign for the Environment Fund. Believing that environmental advocacy must lead with equity and justice, Ms. Perales was a founding member of the Undoing Racism Austin coalition and is currently a member of Communities of Color United for Racial Justice (CCU), a grassroots coalition of people of color organizations and individuals working for racial equity and social justice.
Tonyehn Verkitus – Scranton, PA
Tonyehn Verkitus is the Executive Director of Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, the Northeast Counties Medical Societies and host of Keystone Edition Health on WVIA TV. Her work in the nonprofit world has mostly centered on health and food though she also spent many years training organizations and communities on fundraising and telling their mission-based stories.
In 2007, Tonyehn along with other family members and friends, started Africa Community Exchange, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to support an effective model of education for youth and educators. Currently their work centers in Liberia with plans to expand to neighboring countries. Tonyehn also sits on the boards of the Lackawanna County Arts, Culture and Education Department; WVIA Community Advisory Board; NEPA Health Care Foundation and leads professional education programs for the Luzerne County Opioid Task Force through the District Attorney’s Office.
As a Wholistic Life Coach and writer, Tonyehn is interested in the intersection between personal stories and community activism. As a person with many personal stories that shatter and empower, she has developed and facilitated workshops on healing and reducing personal trauma through self-care and shared stories.