Meet Our New Board Members
Jeremy Hoffman introduces himself to Partners during the Annual Meeting & Partner Retreat
One of the key parts of the Annual Meeting & Partner Retreat is when our Partners vote on VCN’s board members.
The VCN board plays an important role in the conservation community. Board members help drive the strategic direction of the Network and ensure fiscal and administrative stability of the organization to ensure VCN remains a long-term resource for our partners. In addition, VCN board members vote on all incoming VCN partners and are the final vote on all VCN policy positions presented by our partners including all bill positions during the General Assembly session and all policies published in the Common Agenda briefing book.
Partners voted on two new members seeking appointment to VCN’s board on Wednesday, September 27th at Pocahontas State Park. Meet our new board members below!
Jeremy Hoffman, Director of Climate Justice & Impact, Groundwork USA
Jeremy is the Director of Climate Justice and Impact at Groundwork USA and an affiliate faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Richmond. He earned his Ph.D. in Geology with a focus in Paleoclimatology at Oregon State University. He was most recently the Chief Climate Scientist at the Science Museum of Virginia.
Jeremy has been Principal Investigator for and contributed substantially to several climate science and informal learning projects over the years, yielding high-impact, relevant spatial and temporal science data combined with significant public policy outcomes. His innovative approach to communication about climate change has earned recognition as a Richmond Top 40 Under 40, a member of the Grist 50 Fixers List for 2020, a 2021 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, one of the Blooloop 50 Museum Influencers for 2022, and 2023 American Alliance of Museums Rising Star. Jeremy is also the Lead Author for the Southeast Chapter of the Fifth National Climate Assessment, NCA5.
Wes Gobar, Executive Director, BlackOak Collective
Hailing from Fredericksburg, Virginia, Wes Gobar is currently a graduate student at the Yale School of the Environment and a Switzer Environmental Fellow. This summer he served as a Summer Policy Fellow for Virginia Interfaith Power & Light.
Wes is a co-founder of Evergreen Action and currently sits on their Advisory Board after previously serving as Coalitions Lead. He also serves on the Advisory Board for ClimateVoice, and is a member of the Green Leadership Trust. Wes is currently a member of Black Hive and on the Policy Table Leadership Team for the Movement for Black Lives, but will be on break from this role from September 2023 – May 2024. Prior to joining the climate movement, Wes was an aide to Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring and graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in history.
Wes’s writing has been published in Vox, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, and the Washington Post. In 2022, Wes was named to the Grist 50 Climate Fixers list of emerging climate leaders working on real world solutions to our planet’s biggest problems.
Reappointing Board Members
Nine board members’ terms were not up and did not need to run for reappointment. Five board members were re-elected to the VCN Board:
- Karen Campblin, VA NAACP
- Daryl Downing, Virginia Sierra Club
- Karen Forget, Lynnhaven River Now
- John Eustis, New River Land Trust
- Calandra Waters Lake, Wild Virginia
See the full list of current VCN board members here.