Welcome Aboard Marc Willensky!

The River Prairie Group welcomes Marc Willensky to the Executive Committee Board for a 2-year term, beginning January 2025. The following is an interview with Marc to introduce him to you.

We are happy to have you on the Board of the River Prairie Group.  What first pulled you to become involved with the Sierra Club? I have been a member of National Sierra Club since 2006. In college, I started some environmental advocacy work as a member of a New York Public Interest research Group working on a “Super Fund” site in NY. I have remained interested in the environment and started my involvement with the River Prairie Group with outings. I enjoyed them! It was great talking to other like-minded folks. I then attended the RPG programs in Glen Ellyn and found them super engaging and informative. Over the last few years, I’ve been actively involved in lobbying efforts in Springfield with the River Prairie Group Political team.

Our families are important to each of us.  Are you comfy sharing a little about your family with us? I have a daughter, Madelyn, who is adopted from China and has recently graduated from IL State University.  I’m very proud of her, and she is currently working in Naperville as a substitute teacher. 

Will you tell us a little more about your background? I am originally from NYC, born in Brooklyn, and have lived in Queens and Manhattan. I’ve lived elsewhere on East Coast, and in Nashville working with an international service team for McDonalds. Because of that work, I traveled through Europe and Asia and had many interesting experiences. When I was brought to the Midwest because of my corporate work for McDonalds, I was strongly encouraged to consider Naperville for my home. It was a great decision, and I have been involved with many wonderful organizations here in Naperville and throughout DuPage.  I have enormous pride in my community and am involved with NEST (Naperville Sustainability Taskforce) and am now running for District 203 School Board.

 Being on the RPG board brings an opportunity to network our board with other organizations. Will you elaborate how you might connect our interests with other groups and bring their work to your position with the RPG? I’m very concerned about environmental issues, which is why I have been active in NEST since its creation. The major focus of that group is the IMEA Contract, which imposes that Naperville get 80% of their power source from a dirty coal plant downstate. I am concerned that the city is considering a contract renewal long before it is needed, locking Naperville into a financially losing situation and archaic form of power supply. Through this work, I became involved with Naperville-based Accelerate Climate Solutions, and their BLAST program, Building Leadership Around Transformative Information. This work is transformative, as it brings students into mentor program with various leaders in the community. The students identify a problem they are trying to solve and make a proposal on a pitch night competition with an award of $1000 to implement their program. 

I think the participation of the high school students is vastly important and that this gives them an opportunity to use their brilliance to integrate projects such as bringing roof-top solar to low-income Aurora Residents. A feature of that work is connecting with students and young people in the Carbon Action Plan for District 203 where solar could be very impactful. The District has a commitment to be carbon neutral in 2050. They are working with a consulting firm on the current carbon footprint and working on a plan to present to their board. District 203 is one of the few districts that owns their own buses and have done a pilot on electric buses, owning 10. I’m passionate about helping the schools become less reliant on fossil fuels and involving students in creating solutions leading to experiences that will benefit not only the District but their future careers.

Wow!  That’s a lot, but what about your “Day Job”?  I have been in finance and was a CPA for the corporate world and am now retired.

Is there any other information you want to share with us? I’d like to help to promote healthy yards including lawn grass that is more environmentally friendly. Fostering a connection with underrepresented groups is also important to me. Being on the RPG Board may offer experiences to bring more young people into our activities as well. I also love learning about history of different spaces, which could intersect with activities to involve youth. I will continue my involvement with lobby day, as I feel it is an important feature of our Sierra Club work. It too offers an outlet for getting young people involved. Connecting with the teachers and the environmental clubs to incorporate these activities into their on-going curriculum and club offerings can help create a relationship for us with the incredibly creative kids right here in DuPage.

A huge thank you to Marc for joining our team.  We think he brings a wealth of experience, leadership, and enthusiasm to our organization. Welcome aboard!