Alliance for the Great Lakes

It received donations from left-of-center foundations such as the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and grants from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ²

Background

Lee Botts and other environmentalists founded the Lake Michigan Federation in 1970 and renamed the Alliance for the Great Lakes in 2005. ³

It is a member of the left-of-center legal policy coalition Alliance for Justice. ⁴

Advocacy

Water Regulation

In February 2017, the Alliance for the Great Lakes announced its opposition to shipping oil by vessel on the Great Lakes and its support for more regulation on shipping oil by pipeline and railroad ⁵

In April 2019, the Alliance for the Great Lakes’s president and CEO attacked then-President Donald Trump for proposing cuts to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.  He also accused the Trump administration of proposing cuts to clean water and other water infrastructure projects, dismantling the Clean Water Act, cutting the Environmental Protection Agency, and slow-walking U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. ⁶

In February 2020, the group praised Trump for proposing to fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative but criticized him for cuts to the EPA and other environmental programs. ⁷

Environmental Justice

In August 2019, the Alliance for the Great Lakes claimed non-white neighborhoods in Chicago suffered disproportionately from flooding caused by sudden heavy storms, which it claimed would worsen due to climate change. It called for more investments in flood control infrastructure such as better drainage and more open spaces such as parks. ⁸

In June 2020, the group declared that social, racial, and economic justice are inseparable from environmental justice in the wake of the death of George Floyd. It announced its support for the Black Lives Matter movement and encouraged people to donate to environmental, social, and racial justice groups.  It also encouraged people to educate themselves and speak up against what it called systemic racism and injustice. ⁹

On Juneteenth 2020, director for policy and strategic engagement Crystal M.C. Davis wrote an article tying black liberation and environmental justice together. She claimed racial minorities are often unwelcome in white-dominated space and it was unspoken that the outdoors was for white people only. She also claimed that she got cold stares when she mentioned racial equity in big rooms of mostly white environmentalists. ¹⁰

In March 2021, the group’s president and CEO declared environmental justice as the number one priority for his group over more traditional issues such as restoring the Great Lakes, combating invasive species, and algae blooms. He claimed environmental justice connected those issues because non-whites suffer disproportionately from pollution. ¹

In September 2023, it advertised a job listing for director of clean water and equity to promote their water infrastructure plan with starting pay at $100,000 a year. ¹¹

Preventing Water Shutoffs

In May 2020, the Alliance for the Great Lakes joined with Freshwater Future and the Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund to support a bill by then-Ohio state representative Erica Crawley (D-Columbus) which would have banned water shutoffs for nonpayment and forced water companies to create programs to help ratepayers who couldn’t pay their water bills. ¹²

2020 Election and Aftermath

In October 2020, the Alliance for the Great Lakes joined with 14 other environmentalist and left-of-center groups to criticize Republican-backed election-integrity laws claiming they disproportionately harmed non-white voters. ¹³

In January 2021, the group denounced the January 6^th riot at the U.S. Capitol, claiming white supremacy and racism inspired it and that the attack was part of then-President Trump’s attempt to disenfranchise voters. It said that social, racial, and economic justice was inseparable from environmental justice and that democracy was under threat. ¹⁴

Opposition To Plastic

In May 2023, the Alliance for the Great Lakes advocated for a ban on single-use plastics such as plastic grocery bags, foam containers, and straws claiming they harmed waterways. It criticized petrochemical companies for locating their plants in low income and non-white areas and for their pollution. It also advocated making plastic manufacturers responsible for cleaning up plastic pollution rather than local waste management agencies. ¹⁵

Leadership

Joel Brammeier is president and CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes.. He has worked for the group since 2001 and became president and CEO in 2010. He previously worked at the American Medical Association. ¹⁶

Jo-Elle Mogerman is the chair of the board of directors. ¹⁷

Financials

According to the 2021 tax return, the Alliance for the Great Lakes had $5,836,934 in revenue, $1,323,677 in expenses, and $11,314,434 in assets. ¹⁸

It is a member of Patagonia Action Works. ¹⁹

Its major donors in 2021 were the left-of-center foundations Charles Stewart Mott Foundation (which has donated at least $2,915,000 over the past decade), ²⁰ George Fund Foundation, and Joyce Foundation which donated more than $100,000 each, along with the Crown Family Philanthropies and the McDougal Family Foundation. ²

Other donors of note are the Chicago Community Trust, Cleveland Foundation, and the EPA which gave between $50,000 and $99,999. ²