Today we’d like to introduce you to Matt O’Malley.
Matt, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Growing up in urban New Jersey I had limited access to nature and the outdoors but I realized the importance of a healthy environmental at a fairly early age. Still, it wasn’t until a few years after I graduated college that I knew I wanted to spend my life advocating for the protection of the environment and human health. So in 1999, I moved to Boulder Colorado to attend law school at the University of Colorado School of Law, where I concentrated on environmental law. In my first seven years after graduating in 2002, I had the fortunate opportunity to represent community groups and nonprofit organizations in Washington and Florida on a wide array of public-interest environmental issues including fighting for clean energy, water, climate, endangered species, and air, always to protect our environment and build resilient, sustainable, healthy communities. After making the move to San Diego in 2010, I was fortunate enough to connect with San Diego Coastkeeper and Surfrider Foundation San Diego Chapter and work to move forward progressive water and climate related policies in our region.
In January of 2014 I was hired full time by Coastkeeper as Legal and Policy Director, and in 2016 became Coastkeeper’s Executive Director and Managing Attorney where I lead the organization’s legal, policy, and advocacy work while overseeing and guiding the organization’s education, science, community engagement, and advocacy programs and staff. Coastkeeper has had tremendous success over its 25-year history in working toward realizing the fundamental right of everyone to clean water and a healthy environment. I also have the privilege of extending the reach of my work throughout the state by serving as Legal Committee Chair and Board Member to the California Coastkeeper Alliance, and I was recently appointed by Senate President pro Tem Toni Atkins as an alternate California Coastal Commissioner. In each of these endeavors, I make it my mission to protect, defend, and advance environmental and human health and sustainability.
Has it been a smooth road?
There have been challenges along the way, but none so great they can’t be overcome. Moving state to state for various opportunities created the challenge of entering new communities and having to start new networks and relationships, while at times losing some of the older foundations I had worked to build up. The most daunting challenge, however, has been that over the last 20 years since I began this work the threats facing our communities, our environment, and our very existence have heightened, including climate change, drought, flooding, and loss of biodiversity. Still, none are insurmountable, and we can find solutions to these enormous challenges.
Tell us more about the organization.
San Diego Coastkeeper protects and restores clean water across San Diego County for the communities and wildlife that depend on it. Coastkeeper is unique in that the organization uses a targeted combination of advocacy, citizen science, environmental education, and community engagement to address persistent and emerging threats to water quality and water supply challenges. Over the organization’s 25 year history, notable successes include securing a major restoration plan for San Diego Bay, ensuring the adoption of large-scale wastewater recycling, removing hundreds of thousands of pounds of debris from local beaches, educating tens of thousands of students, reducing beach advisories, and championing the creation of a network of marine protected areas.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
There will always be some shifts and changes, but we will continue to be the leading environmental group in our region when it comes to water issues. Our main focus in the coming years is to educate and advocate for integrated water management in San Diego that serves to clean our waters and beaches, address persistent flooding, ensure we continue to have a safe, reliable, and sustainable water supply for our region, and create resilience and adaptive strategies to climate change and sea level rise. The stakes are high, but we remain up to the task!
Contact Info:
- Address: 2825 Dewey Road, Suite 207, San Diego CA 92106
- Website: www.sdcoastkeeper.org
- Phone: 619-758-7743
- Email: info@sdcoastkeeper.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sd_coastkeeper
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SanDiegoCoastkeeper/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/sd_coastkeeper
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