Twenty years ago, San Diego Baykeeper was launched as part of the Waterkeeper Alliance, an international network of nonprofit organizations that protect the world\u2019s waterways \u2014 to address the industrial pollution of San Diego Bay. Soon the small organization was entrusted with a 20-year agreement and a $1 billion commitment from the City of San Diego, to fix the city\u2019s sewage infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that time it averaged one sewage spill per day,\u201d said San Diego Coastkeeper Executive Director Megan Baehrens. \u201cIt was a problem for the fish, tourism and kids splashing in the ocean, but for whatever reason, it was a really unacceptable status quo.\u201d<\/p>\n While that agreement recently ended, San Diego Coastkeeper is stronger than ever, not only financially, but also collaboratively and with regards to policy. The organization\u2019s stability is thanks in large part to the focus and collaborative management style of Baehrens, who said she \u201cseeks to be genuine and trustworthy\u201d in everything she does.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe your reputation is your currency, and that puts something meaningful on the line and helps to build the trust,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s what it\u2019s about at the end of the day, to be able to trust one another; to be transparent and honest.\u201d<\/p>\n Building relationships is one of the things Baehrens is most proud of as she looks back on the three and a half years she has been at the helm of San Diego Coastkeeper.<\/p>\n \u201cMy goal \u2014 and I think successfully we\u2019ve done this \u2014 was to connect with all of the groups, whether we are friends, foes, or somewhere in between,\u201d she said. \u201cSo now we are able to talk to the building industry association and the Port Tenant\u2019s Association and the Industrial Environmental Association, and have relationships with them as groups and the members individually, so that while we may not always agree and we may disagree vehemently, there is an opportunity to talk about where do we do agree.\u201d<\/p>\n Baehrens \u2014 a San Diego native who received her MBA at Yale\u2019s School of Management \u2014 is stepping down as head of the environmental nonprofit on Oct. 2 to accept a position created just for her with San Diego Grant Makers, as senior director of collaborative philanthropy.<\/p>\n While the board searches for someone to take her place, the seven-person staff she leaves behind will keep right on trucking like a well-oiled machine \u2014 not only keeping up with the normal things Coastkeeper does every day, but also planning their 20-year anniversary \u201cSoiree\u201d at the end of the month \u2014 and that, too, is a testament to Baehrens.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel very comfortable that my transitioning out of my role at Coastkeeper is not going to have any sort of dire impacts here,\u201d Baehrens said. \u201cThe staff is so knowledgeable and they work really, really well together. We are financially sound and connected to the community in a way that we have perhaps not been for many years. So the organization itself is in a really good place.<\/p>\n \u201cMy departure, I think, will just open up a springboard for the next person to take it to the next level,\u201d she continued, adding that San Diego Coastkeeper is a very \u201cunique organization,\u201d doing everything from education to science, advocacy and legal work.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery job here is a unique opportunity for somebody who wants to do work in water quality and water protection.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to her small staff of administrators, scientists, environmentalists, educators and attorneys, San Diego Coastkeeper can also boast a 5,000-strong volunteer force. The bulk of those show up between 30 and 40 times per year to do beach and inland clean ups.<\/p>\n Baehrens said that approximately 250 of those 5,000 are what she calls \u201ccore volunteers,\u201d those who work on more involved and\/or ongoing projects and are made up of\u00a0interns, board members, and grad students.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is really a neat way to capitalize on the skills of people in the community to expand our staff,\u201d she said. \u201cThe ability to do the work we do rests in large part in the fact that we have very wonderful volunteers.\u201d<\/p>\n Together they all work to do what Baehrens believes that San Diego County needs, an organization that is willing to go the extra mile to effect change and protect the water that is so integrated into everything that everyone who lives here does, every day.<\/p>\n One program that is especially important to her is the fresh water quality testing program. Started 12 years ago, staff members teach and then monitor teams who\u00a0do the work on a monthly basis.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a really cool program because it is all volunteer-driven,\u201d she said. \u201cWe have a couple of staff who organize and manage the program and provide the training and expertise, but the people who actually go out in the field \u2014 about 100 per year are trained \u2014 and they learn so much, not just about their own back yard but the science behind it and the policy behind it and how it affects all of San Diego County.\u201d<\/p>\n Another effort she is proud of is the redesign of the internal infrastructure of Coastkeeper, which changed how each of the departments that work to protect San Diego’s\u00a0water interacted; they are now more integrated and support each other with the work that they do, instead of acting independently.<\/p>\n![\"boat42web\"](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/boat42web.jpg\")
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(Courtesy San Diego Coastkeeper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>
(Courtesy San Diego Coastkeeper)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/a>