Assateague Coastal Trust

Overview
Headquarters: 
Berlin, MD
Website: 
actforbays.org
Size: 
1-10 employees
Founded: 
1970
Annual Budget : 
$100-500,000
Areas of Focus: 
Environment
Populations Served: 
All Populations
About Us
Mission: 

Working arm in arm with diverse community partners, we protect and defend the health of Delmarva’s coastal waters through advocacy, education, science and the enforcement of just and equitable clean water laws.

Programs: 

ACT is the Waterkeeper Alliance program for the coastal watershed of lower Delmarva.  We are part of a global network of non-profit organizations fighting for every community's right to water that is fishable and swimmable.  

Whether ACT is on the water tracking down polluters, in courtrooms enforcing environmental laws, advocating in town meetings or teaching in classrooms, ACT speaks for the waters it defends – with the collective strength of our local community partners.

Our Assateague COASTKEEPER is the voice for our local waterways, holding polluters accountable and working for clean water, clean air and healthy communities for the benefit of the public. 

The Coastkeeper employs the full spectrum of advocacy activities on issues relevant to our mission.  We are most effective as the conductor for grassroots campaigns where our role is to help focus and amplify the voices of the people directly affected by an issue or environmental threat


The issues may vary, the forums may shift, and the tactics may change, but the underlying goals of ACT’s advocacy efforts stay the same:  to protect our waters and the people, plants and animals that depend on them, and to hold polluters and policymakers accountable for their actions…or inaction.

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Education is the key to all that we do at Assateague Coastal Trust.  It is only by sharing our understanding of the challenges we face in our coastal region that we will be able to engage others to help protect it.

Our Coast Kids program is all about experiential education – exposing our next generation of environmental stewards to the majesty, and fragility, of our coastal ecosystems, and teaching them the skills and behaviors through which they can best enjoy and protect the natural world that surrounds and sustains us. 

The Assateague Coastkeeper spends most of the time as an educator, both to raise public awareness about the threats we face in the watershed, and to guide the public and policymakers toward policies and practices necessary to effectively meet these challenges.​

At ACT, conservation is both an ethic we espouse and a practice we promote.  We encourage and facilitate efforts to practice what we preach, and we advocate for policies that support people and organizations to become active environmental stewards. We don’t engage directly in large-scale restoration or resiliency projects, but we do what we can to fill critical gaps, promote the work of others, and provide demonstration-scale models for others to replicate.
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The Swim Guide water quality monitoring program is an example of stepping in to fill a gap. It provides information to the public on the safety of recreating in popular sites around our bays where other entities are unable to provide that service. Our Water Reporter program enables the public to join us as vigilant monitors of our watershed. 

Why Work For Us?: 

Assateague Coastal Trust, located in Worcester County, Maryland, has inspired and engaged scores of individuals and organizations to fight to protect the Coastal Bays of Maryland watershed and the surrounding Lower Shore region.

The Delmarva peninsula is located along the Mid-Atlantic coast and is comprised of primarily rural landscapes and small urban centers throughout Delaware, eastern Maryland, and eastern Virginia. The Chesapeake Bay borders this region to the west, the Coastal Bays of Maryland, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. It is enriched by diverse communities that are both urban and rural, expansive forested and cultivated agricultural lands, and a network of rivers and creeks that drain to the Maryland Coastal Bays watershed and the Chesapeake Bay watershed.

The five coastal bays behind Ocean City, MD, and the Assateague Island National Seashore were once settled by several indigenous tribes of the Algonquin nation; thus, many of our waterways and Assateague Island (“across the water”) have historical names from that era. 

For over 50 years, ACT has been and continues to be a fearless advocate for our diverse communities and ecosystems. Our board, staff, volunteers, and partners are collaborative, adaptive, bold, and results-driven. We envision a future where our coastal waters and natural areas are clean, valued, and protected by the people who live, work and play in the coastal watershed. Working arm in arm with diverse community partners, we protect and defend the health of Delmarva’s coastal waters through advocacy, education, science, and the enforcement of just and equitable clean water laws.

We believe every community in our watershed has both a right to clean water and an equitable seat at the table to protect that right.

We work in collaboration with community partners to engage communities in protecting these rights, thereby reducing environmental harms for all who live or visit the watershed. Collaboration with community partners is a way to engage communities. It is also a way to amplify the voices of those community members who may not have the resources or the ability to speak independently.

ACT has been the licensed program of WATERKEEPER Alliance since 2002 and hosts the Waterkeeper for our coastal watershed, the Assateague COASTKEEPER.

ACT recognizes that clean water is essential to the fundamental rights of all living things that depend upon the Coastal Bays watershed to exist and thrive in healthy, balanced ecosystems. 

ACT is offering the opportunity for a visionary and strategic leader with the skills and desire to build meaningful partnerships in the community, work with donors and funders to build a fiscal future for ACT, and help staff to sharpen their skills. As Executive Director, you will have the opportunity to build on the successes of an effective environmental organization while nurturing its growth potential and have the satisfaction of knowing you and the ACT team are doing good things for our environment and our community.

ACT is seeking an individual who identifies him, her, their self as a passionate advocate for the Mission and Vision of Assateague Coastal Trust and who will bring a spirit of collaboration and community involvement to the organization, will build on the solid foundation already in place, and help lead ACT into the next fifty years.

Photos
industry: 
Nonprofit