Lisa Wozniak
Co-host of 1st Friday Focus on the EnvironmentLisa Wozniak is Executive Director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.
I love Michigan because people who have never been here don't believe that it could possibly be this beautiful or that that Lakes could be so vast. I love Michigan because once you've been here and experienced the sugar-sand beaches and sand dunes, the forests, the rocky shores of Lake Superior and the incredible beauty of the Keewenaw Peninsula, the endless and perfect expanse of Lake Michigan while the sun is setting, you wonder why you've ever been anywhere else. And, I love Michigan because I always believed, as a kid growing up in the Mediterranean, that all seas were salty. Not this one.
Lisa comes to the Michigan League of Conservation Voters with a long history in both the environmental and political worlds. Between 1996 and 2005, Lisa served as the Great Lakes Regional Director for the nationalLeagueof Conservation Voters, overseeing programs and projects in Michigan, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, Ohio and Wisconsin, with an enormous focus on keeping the Great Lakes Congressional caucus in check. Prior to that, Lisa cut her teeth on Lana Pollack's1994 heart-wrenching U.S. Senate campaign and on Alma Wheeler Smith's successful campaign for state Senate. Bitten by the political bug, Lisa was destined to deal with Michigan's current political challenges, which includes the world of term limits, reapportionment, and a bi-partisan log-jam.
Lisa is adept at working with a broad array of people and organizations and brings a strategic vantage point to almost any discussion. Although she may deny her expertise (and the years behind her), Lisa is thought of as a key leader within the conservation community in Michigan. With degrees in French and History of Art, Education and Social Work--all from the University of Michigan--Lisa's strong interdisciplinary background clearly influences Michigan LCV's approach to problem solving, collaborative campaigns, and political change.
Many may consider Lisa an extravert, but a deep, dark secret is that Lisa recharges by being alone! Give her a good book, time to tend to the garden or do yoga, a run with her dog, and Lisa is good to go.... peaceful, calm, measured, attentive. And, meshed between the politics and the garden is Lisa's beautiful family: husband Kenny, hip young sons Zachariah and Benjamin, and lovely dog, Santosha.
Lisa serves on the board of a number of local, state and national organizations, including the Advisory Board of Growing Hope, the fundraising committee of Friends of the Rutherford Pool, and the boards of the Michigan Environmental Council and the national League of Conservation Voters Education Fund.
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Voters in Ann Arbor will decide an issue in November that could very well determine the success of the city's A2Zero plan to reach carbon neutrality by the year 2030. WEMU's David Fair and Michigan League of Conservation Voters executive director, Lisa Wozniak, discussed the stakes with Kris Olsson, who is part of a group advocating for passage of the Community Climate Action ballot proposal. -
More than 230 environmental organizations and public interest groups have signed on to a petition asking the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the utility industry for harming the public by putting up barriers to rooftop solar and renewable energy expansion. WEMU's David Fair and Michigan League of Conservation Voters executive director, Lisa Wozniak, took a deeper dive into the effort to reign in the power of America’s utility industry with Matt Kasper. Matt is deputy director at the Energy and Policy Institute. -
Governor Gretchen Whitmer has released her MI Healthy Climate Plan. It is considered by many to be the boldest climate action proposal in state history. On this month’s edition of WEMU’s "1st Friday Focus on the Environment," we look at key components of the plan and its potential impact on under-served communities and the overall health of our air, land, and water. David Fair is joined by Derrell Slaughter of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Michigan League of Conservation Voters executive director, Lisa Wozniak. -
Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, this week, signed a nearly $5 billion dollar spending plan into law that will increase investment in infrastructure, water systems, quality and safety, and a number of other environmental measures. Will the plan create future sustainability? Will it only address short term-needs? Governor Whitmer provides the answers in a conversation with WEMU's David Fair and Lisa Wozniak, executive director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. -
Toxic PFAS "forever chemicals" are a worsening problem in our land and water and, now, our food supply. Beef produced at a small Livingston County farm was found to contain PFAS. How prevalent is the problem? WEMU's David Fair and Lisa Wozniak of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters explore this specific issue in context of the larger PFAS problem with Tony Spaniola, co-chair of the Great Lakes PFAS Action Network. -
Governor Gretchen Whitmer’s 4th State of the State Address is in the books, and she is shifting focus to the new state budget and her re-election… -
October 1st kicks off a new fiscal year for both the state and federal governments. As with any new budget, there are many concerns. Among them is access… -
There were a number of heavy thunderstorms in late July and early-to-mid August. Almost a million Michiganders lost electricity in the worst of the… -
Excessive flooding across portions of southeast Michigan continues to create personal and financial hardship. The solutions aren't easy and are quite… -
The 1,4 dioxane plume in Scio Township, Ann Arbor, and Ann Arbor Township has plagued the area for decades. The state of Michigan has now formally…
