Photo Credit: Paloma Ayala
Volunteer Applications Now Open for Columbia Riverkeeper’s Board of Directors
By: Lauren Goldberg, Executive Director
Columbia Riverkeeper’s board of directors oversees the organization’s goals and policies, finances, and public relations. This is a voluntary board where each member brings unique talents and interests. If you have a passion for clean water, climate action, and environmental justice — and time to devote to a nonprofit board — consider applying to join our talented board of directors.
About Columbia Riverkeeper
Columbia Riverkeeper is a successful nonprofit organization that unites communities and works in solidarity with tribal governments to fight for clean water, salmon recovery, and our climate. Our organization advances high-profile campaigns to recover healthy salmon populations and protect the Columbia River from fossil fuels, toxic pollution, the Hanford Nuclear Site, and other threats facing Columbia communities and salmon habitat. Our work is featured in national media, including CNN, the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Los Angeles Times.
Across our campaigns, we lead with our values, including promoting justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion in environmental decisions and our own actions.
Click here to learn more about our 2025 – 2027 Strategic Plan.
Make a Difference for a Nonprofit You Love
Columbia Riverkeeper welcomes board members with a variety of skill sets and experience. Never been on a board? No worries. Our team is open to supporting first-time board members who share a passion for Columbia Riverkeeper’s mission and want to learn more about nonprofit governance. In particular, we are looking for people who represent a diversity of lived and professional experiences and reflect the demographics of river communities.
Columbia Riverkeeper’s board members have fiduciary responsibilities and support the organization in numerous ways. Current areas of professional expertise that our board would benefit from include community organizing, accounting, financial planning, the arts (visual, performing, etc.), journalism or communications, legal, natural resources, social and/or environmental justice, and development/fundraising.
Volunteer Time Commitments, Locations
Columbia Riverkeeper’s board typically holds virtual meetings ten times a year and meets once a year for a weekend-long, in-person board retreat in Oregon or Washington. Prior to each board meeting, board members are expected to review the agenda and supporting materials, which typically takes 30 to 60 minutes.
Virtual board meetings occur the second Wednesday of every month from 5:30 – 7 p.m. Board members are also encouraged to volunteer for a board committee, which meet periodically throughout the year.
Beyond board meetings, board members periodically attend in-person or virtual Columbia Riverkeeper events and occasional staff meetings.
Columbia Riverkeeper works in rural and urban communities throughout the Columbia River Basin and endeavors to have a board of directors who live or work in communities along the river or within the Columbia River Basin. For example, current and past board members live in Portland, the Hood River Valley, Gales Creek, Longview, and on the Yakama Nation Reservation.
How to Apply
To apply to join Columbia Riverkeeper’s board, please complete this short application form by January 16, 2026.
