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1st Friday Focus On The Environment: Women's History Month-Honoring Lana Pollack And Lisa Wozniak

Lana Pollack
International Joint Commission
/
ijc.org
Lana Pollack

WEMU's Women's History Month coverage continues with two giants in the world of environmental advocacy.  David Fair caught up with Lana Pollack and Lisa Wozniak to discuss their work and the women who preceded and worked alongside them.  Pollack is a former State Senator from Ann Arbor who, among other things, authored Michigan's short-lived 'Polluter Pay' laws.  Wozniak presently heads up the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, which continues to positively impact policy and protections. 

Lisa Wozniak
Credit Michigan League of Conservation Voters / michiganlcv.org
/
michiganlcv.org
Michigan League of Conservation Voters executive director Lisa Wozniak

ABOUT LISA WOZNIAK:

Lisa Wozniak is the Executive Director of Michigan LCV Education Fund.  Her career spans over two decades of environmental and conservation advocacy in the political arena.  She is a nationally- recognized expert in non-profit growth and management and a leader in Great Lakes protections.  Lisa is a three-time graduate from the University of Michigan, with a bachelor’s degree and two ensuing master’s degrees in social work and education.  Before becoming Executive Director in 2006, Lisa was a member of the Michigan LCV Board and today serves on the boards of Voters Not Politicians, Huron River Watershed Council, Washtenaw Environmental Council, and National League of Conservation Voters Education Fund.  She has also served on the Friends of the Rutherford Pool and the UM President’s Carbon Neutrality Commission boards.

Lisa serves a co-host and content partner in 89.1 WEMU's '1st Friday Focus on the Environment.'

ABOUT LANA POLLACK:

Lana Pollack was appointed Chair of the U.S. Section, International Joint Commission, by President Barack Obama, effective June 26, 2010 and retired from the position in May of 2019. 

Throughout a diverse career in public office, education and the public interest sector, Ms. Pollack has demonstrated leadership on a range of public policy issues.  She served from 1996-2008 as president of the Michigan Environmental Council, a coalition of 70 environmental organizations working to protect the Great Lakes and Michigan's environment.  She was elected three times to the Michigan legislature, serving as a state senator from 1983-1994.  As a state senator, Ms. Pollack became a leading advocate for women, children and the environment.  In this capacity, she earned praise as the architect of Michigan's landmark 1990 polluter pay statute which, before it was substantially amended in 1995, saved taxpayers $100 million by requiring proven polluters to pay for the cleanup of toxic waste.

In addition to these roles, Ms. Pollack was a Fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, taught at the University of Michigan and was an elected trustee of the Ann Arbor Board of Education.  Other professional experiences included co-founding a statewide general interest magazine, and co-directing a school for elementary education in Lusaka, Zambia.

She served on a number of educational, non-profit and corporate boards, including the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund Board, which annually directed $35-50 million in discretionary public funds to protect, purchase and enhance parkland and open space for preservation and recreation.

Ms. Pollack, who grew up on the shore of Lake Michigan in Ludington, earned a BA in political science from the University of Michigan (U-M) in 1965 and an MA from U-M in 1970.  She is married to Henry Nathan Pollack, with whom she raised two children.

RESOURCES:

Michigan League of Conservation Voters

International Joint Commission

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— David Fair is the WEMU News Director and host of Morning Edition on WEMU.  You can contact David at 734.487.3363, on twitter @DavidFairWEMU, or email him at dfair@emich.edu

Contact David: dfair@emich.edu
Lisa Wozniak is Executive Director of the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.
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