Open gallery
Lizzy Potter ’10
Staff Attorney, Advocates for the West
I envision a conservation movement that focuses on reversing and remedying the inequities built into our environmental laws and their implementation. Clean air, clean water, safe communities, and welcoming wildlands must be available to everyone. To make this happen, we must focus on issues affecting communities that are disproportionately deprived of these rights.
I strive to do this by leaning on tools we learned in law school: seeking accountability through the courtroom, reforming unjust laws, and centering marginalized voices—not our own. Through my day job, I work to improve water quality, flows, and habitat for the people and aquatic species that are harmed by dam operations in Oregon’s Willamette, Deschutes, and Snake River basins. Through my service as board member for two statewide organizations, I strive to make Portland a healthy and livable city, to educate the next generation of environmental leaders, and to prioritize equity in conservation work.