Are you looking for ways to help protect our water and the environment in Ontario?
Have you been concerned about the bottling and selling of water?
Do you believe water is a human right?
Are you concerned about the impacts of road salt on our waterways?
Are you concerned about devastating oil spills in the Great Lakes due to aging infrastructure?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you may want to consider being a board member and helping to lead the Water Watchers!

 

We have recently completed a strategic plan for the next 3 years and our focused priorities are:

 



ABOUT US

Water For Life, Not Profit

Water Watchers empowers people & communities to work in solidarity towards social justice through the unifying lens of water.

Water Watchers began as a grassroots organization founded in 2007 to oppose Nestlé Water Canada’s local water-bottling operations in Wellington County, Ontario. Today, Water Watchers is a unique resource to grassroots leaders on the frontlines of water protection throughout the Great Lakes region and beyond.

Our campaign-based approach to mobilizing public support to protect water has helped communities win major victories. These campaigns bring more and more people into the movement to protect water by connecting the dots between local and systemic issues, targeting systemic change through movement-building.

We encourage board members to be on one of our working groups that is of passionate interest to you. Each group has its own meeting schedule and cycle and tasks. Our current working groups are:

  • End Bottled Water Committee - working to end the permit renewals for water taking for bottling.
  • Human Right to Water Committee - advocating for a legal framework to ensure the human right to water for all.
  • Salt Pollution Coalition - to reduce the impacts of winter salts in the Great Lakes region
  • EndLine5 Coalition - to shut down Enbridge's aging Line 5 pipeline that threatens the entire Great Lakes systems and drinking water of more than 40 million people.

Please read our Role and Structure of the Water Watchers Board of Directors here.

 

ABOUT YOU

We are currently seeking dynamic, committed, community-oriented individuals to join the Board of Directors. We encourage board members to join a committee or explore an area of interest to directly support the work of Water Watchers. As such, the time commitment for Board members varies by person. Minimally, board members attend 8-10 meetings a year, which includes about 30 minutes to an hour to review materials ahead of the meeting. Board meetings are typically held virtually due to the geographic spread of board members, although we try to find opportunities to gather in person in southern Ontario annually. 

We encourage applications from persons with experience in the following areas:

  • Activism in environmental social and/or racial justice
  • Fundraising
  • Organizational governance
  • Non-profit management & leadership experience
  • Finance and/or Accounting acumen

Along with the consideration of skills, we are intentional about seeking people who have affiliation or familarity with:

  • Indigenous communities and issues
  • racialized or equity-deserving communities and issues
  • two-Spirit, non-binary, trans, lesbian gay, bisexual and queer people (2SLGBTQ+)
  • disability justice issues
  • the reality of income injustice and poverty

 

THE PROCESS

There is a three-step selection process. Interested applicants will have an informal conversation with a member of the Water Watchers Board or staff. Selected applicants will be invited to an information/orientation session to review and discuss the Water Watchers Strategic Plan. Selected applicants will be invited to join the Board.

Accommodations are available on request for candidates selected for an interview and for all aspects of the selection process. If an applicant or a successful candidate requests an accommodation, we will discuss their needs with them and make adjustments to support them.

To apply for a position on our Board, please submit a short cover letter and resume to [email protected] 

Within the content of your cover letter please include answers to the following questions:

  1. Why is the work of the Water Watchers important to you?
  2. How does your knowledge or expertise, and/or lived experience prepare you for a position on Water Watchers' Board of Directors? Please make reference to your skill set.