I just sent the note below to our colleagues, collaborators, and grantees announcing that we’ve hired Nancy Stoner, Acting Assistant Administrator for U.S. EPA’s Office of Water, as the first director of the Foundation’s water program:
“I am excited to be able to let you know that Nancy Stoner, who has served as the top EPA policymaker on water over the last three years, will join the Foundation in September to direct our water program and serve as a senior fellow. As Acting Assistant Administrator for Water, Nancy has had responsibility for protecting surface water resources and ensuring the safety of tap water across the United States. She’s exceptionally knowledgeable about water and has visited every corner of the country to see new technology, cutting-edge programs, and innovative partnerships first hand. I can’t think of anyone better to join our top-notch team and lead our effort to help support a new, integrated water paradigm—one that places water at the center of community and leverages it to green communities, support nature, and sustain farms and business.
Nancy will work from an office in Washington, D.C. and will spend time regularly at the Foundation’s office in San Francisco.”
This is exciting news for the Foundation. I started here less than two years ago as our first director. I distinctly remember sitting in a quiet, empty office on my first day trying to figure out the phone and the laptop computer I had recently purchased.
Now, about two years later, Nancy’s hire completes a core staff of program officers, associates, and others who, working with a cadre of dedicated consultants, will implement a newly minted strategic plan. We are working to advance environmental literacy, forge new, integrated solutions to protect water resources, and reduce powerful contributors to global warming like black carbon, methane, HFCs and ozone.
I am doubtless biased, but I think we have an exceptional staff of professionals with a broad range of backgrounds—education, anthropology, engineering, dramatic arts, and public policy (with a couple of lawyers thrown in for good measure). Along with our trustees, they bring skill and perspective to our work to advance social change.
Welcome, Nancy, to the team!
