As of April 29, President Biden will have been in office for 100 days, a traditional marker for assessing a new president’s first few months in office. We laid out an ambitious agenda back in January for President Biden as his team took office. Our policy team identified five policy priorities for the new administration:  

• prioritize environmental justice, 
• increase drinking water & wastewater infrastructure funding & stop water shutoffs,
• fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative & restore and strengthen clean water protections
• fund efforts to stop invasive carp
• address agricultural pollution that drives harmful algal blooms

At the heart of this list was a call to address the harms caused by systemic racism, addressing climate change, and ensuring that everyone around the lakes has access to safe, clean, and affordable drinking water.

So, at this 100-day mark, how are things going? What progress has been made on the Alliance’s list of priorities? Although there is much more work to be done, we’ve seen some encouraging progress. The President has signed a flurry of Executive Orders, nominated his cabinet, appointed other high-level officials, and proposed significant legislation. Several positive themes have emerged, including a focus on racial and social justice, climate change, and investing in core public benefits like water infrastructure. Here are a few highlights.

First, the Biden administration has made racial equity, including environmental justice, a cornerstone of their policy decision-making. On his first day in office, President Biden signed an Executive Order that repealed a ban on racial sensitivity and diversity and inclusion training for federal agencies and contractors. We specifically called for this action in our list of priorities and applaud this step. Ensuring that federal agencies have the training to ensure policies and services are provided equitably to all Americans is critical. The President also appointed Micheal Regan as Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA). Regan has specifically noted that justice and equity will be key to his leadership of the agency. Back in January, we called on President Biden to “ensure that environmental justice is centered in the work of all federal agencies and administrative decisions that impact the Great Lakes and the communities and residents that are dependent on them.” We see this in action already. 

Second, President Biden has proposed significant legislation to address the nation’s outdated infrastructure, including drinking water and wastewater infrastructure. We are encouraged to see that President Biden’s proposal, called The American Jobs Plan, includes major water infrastructure commitments to the tune of $111 billion. Specifically, the proposal includes replacing all lead pipes and the modernization of America’s drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure. The proposal also prioritizes natural infrastructure investments to better protect Great Lakes communities against some of the worsening impacts of climate change. 

President Biden’s Fiscal Year 2022 budget also focuses on infrastructure by proposing reinvestments in core public service programs, including a 21 percent proposed increase for the U.S. EPA, which will benefit the Great Lakes.  In our list of federal policy priorities, we called on President Biden to dramatically increase funding and other federal support to fix our failing water infrastructure. His legislative and budget proposals are an important first step.

Third, we have seen a renewed focus on climate change. The Great Lakes region is already feeling the impacts of climate change, from rapid swings in water levels to heavier, more frequent storm events. The President has appointed a high-level team of climate advisors and, on his first day in office, re-committed the United States to the Paris climate agreement. And, climate change has been a top focus of his appointees to federal agencies. In January, we called on President Biden to recognize that “a changing climate will make existing Great Lakes problems worse for the foreseeable future,” and his focus on climate change is encouraging. 

Summary

Our ideal Finance Manager is someone with around 5 years of experience supporting nonprofit grants administration and finance functions, and a working understanding of GAAP. The ability to track budgetary compliance and spending of restricted grants is essential (primarily foundation grants). As a part of our operations team, you’ll wear a lot of hats. The primary responsibilities are to monitor project and grant budgets and to manage our accounts payable and receivable functions. You’ll also help analyze our financial information so that we can use it more effectively in making decisions. This position reports to our Finance & Operations Director.

A typical week might include reviewing a project budget with development staff, recording and depositing checks, processing bill payments, drafting financial reports for a funder, and collaborating with the operations team to test out potential software. At the end of our fiscal year, you’ll be a big help in working with our auditing firm by providing accurate, organized information. Throughout the year you’ll also work on various other projects. Some examples could include evaluating and overhauling internal workflows and participating in the annual budget process.

The Alliance for the Great Lakes sets a protection agenda for the Great Lakes, a resource of global significance and the world’s largest source of surface freshwater. The Alliance seeks to protect the Great Lakes from their greatest threats, build a resilient future for communities and instill the value of clean water throughout the region. Learn more about the Alliance at www.greatlakes.org.

Responsibilities

Accounting Administration

• Process deposits of checks and cash, communicate all receipts to the development staff.
• Receive and enter all payables and expenses, ensuring accurate coding and timely payments.
• Coordinate with relevant staff to ensure high quality internal coordination of financial processes
• Create reimbursement requests for funders and track receivables
• Assist Finance & Operations Director in forecasting expenses and revenue based on program budgets and work plans
• Resolve accounting and reporting issues as necessary; prepare monthly budget-versus-actual status reports for use by program officers, directors and staff.

Grants & Contracts

• Monitor finance-specific grant requirements and ensure compliance
• Coordinate the budgeting process and detail for grant proposals
• Communicate with development and program management to resolve issues in a timely and professional manner.
• Develop and implement strategies to optimize the grants and contracts administration process
• Prepare and reconcile required financial reports for all assigned grants before the required due dates.
• Conduct quarterly check-ins with program and development managers for governmental grants and private grants to ensure appropriate spend-down and monitoring of grant.
• Take accountability for ongoing learning and development; maintaining current knowledge of funder processes and compliance requirements.

Knowledge/Skills

• 5 years of experience in accounting support and/or grants administration.
• Proven commitment to timely and accurate performance.
• Approach work with optimism and candor.
• Knowledge and ability to proactively anticipate, identify, and define problems; seek root causes; and develop timely and practical solutions.
• Demonstrated initiative and motivation while working independently and in teams
• Well-developed communications skills to serve all staff members as both a primary source of information and aid in keeping internal processes on schedule
• Experienced in utilizing financial, reporting, and fundraising software for both extracting and analyzing data on a regular basis
• Familiarity with the institutional giving landscape as it relates to grants management
• Prior use of QuickBooks and Salesforce, or similar accounting and CRM software
• Experience with Projector or other project management software a big plus

Job Parameters

• This position is full-time exempt and consistent with Alliance employment policy. Salary to be commensurate with experience.
• Excellent benefits, including health, dental, and paid leave. Employees are eligible for participation in our retirement plan after 1 year of employment.
• The strong preference is for this position to be located in the Chicago area for office-based tasks as needed, including weekly check deposits.

Application Process

Please e-mail a cover letter, resume and references to: hr@greatlakes.org. Include job title in the subject line.

Applications will be accepted until the position is filled, with a desired start date of June 1, 2021. Materials should be compatible with Microsoft Word or Adobe Acrobat. Applicants will receive confirmation of receipt of their materials and further guidance and updates about the hiring process by e-mail, with interviews provided for finalists. No phone inquiries please.

About the Alliance for the Great Lakes

The Alliance for the Great Lakes is an Equal Opportunity Employer. The search process will reinforce the Alliance’s belief that achieving diversity requires an enduring commitment to inclusion that must find full expression in our organizational culture, values, norms, and behaviors.

The Alliance’s vision is a healthy Great Lakes for people and wildlife, forever. Its mission is to conserve and restore the world’s largest freshwater resource using policy, education and local efforts, ensuring a healthy Great Lakes and clean water for generations of people and wildlife. For more information about the Alliance’s programs and work, please visit us online at www.greatlakes.org.

At the Alliance for the Great Lakes November 2020 Board of Directors meeting, the board voted unanimously to honor Paul Culhane as a Director Emeritus in recognition of his more than 30 years of combined board service to the Alliance and its predecessor organization, the Lake Michigan Federation. Paul’s service to the organization over the past four decades is more than any living current or former board member. He is just the fourth emeritus board member ever designated and the first since the organization became the Alliance for the Great Lakes.

“Paul’s fervent support for the protection of the Great Lakes and his depth of knowledge about the lakes, public policy, and organizational management have helped steer the organization through difficult times and into the thriving organization it is today,” said Alliance for the Great Lakes Board Chair Sue Conatser. “We are all deeply grateful for Paul’s service and are honored to have him as a Director Emeritus.” 

In the early 1970s, Culhane was involved in the beginning years of the Lake Michigan Federation. As a doctoral student, he was hired through a start-up grant from the Ford Foundation and spent the 1973-74 academic year following Federation founder Lee Botts and staff to meetings, doing interviews and research to support the evaluation. A key finding of his report, The Lake Michigan Federation: Evaluation of an Environmental Interest Group (Northwestern, Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research, 1974, 157 pp.) was that the Lake Michigan Federation was pivotal in organizing citizens groups to provide a counterbalance to industry opposition to the 1972 Clean Water Act.

Culhane joined the Lake Michigan Federation board in 1981 and served continuously until 2001. In the 1990s, he co-chaired two executive director search committees and served as LMF Secretary from 1994-98, Treasurer from 1998-2001, and Chair of the Policy Committee. He returned to the board after the organization became the Alliance for the Great Lakes in 2005 and served in many capacities, including as Chair of the Nominations Committee from 2009-11, through November 2018.

In addition to all of this, Culhane is a longtime volunteer advocate for the Sierra Club, helped lead a Des Plaines River watershed organization for many years, was an election judge, is an avid paddler, and remains an Alliance donor.

Congratulations to Paul!