Board Member Ballot - 2023

For terms of service January 1, 2024 through December 31, 2027
Member Verification

Note: you must be a current American Whitewater member to vote on this ballot. Your information is requested below to verify your membership status.

Your member number is usually printed on any mail you receive from American Whitewater and is on your account page if you're signed into the AW website. How to find your member number.

If you have questions regarding your membership number please call AW Membership Director, Bethany Overfield at 1-866-262-8429.






Line 1
Line 2


Board Member Ballot
As required by the American Whitewater bylaws, the Nominating Committee of American Whitewater is responsible for the process of identifying, recruiting and nominating diverse, highly-qualified nominees for the board. This is done by a thorough review of incumbent, self-nominated and recruited nominees. All nominees are assessed against selection criteria set by the board.

The American Whitewater Board of Directors can have a maximum of 12 independent directors. Directors serve three-year volunteer terms and are elected by a majority vote of active American Whitewater members. For a nominee to be seated, the majority of ballots cast must be affirmative (for). Any nominee who fails to receive a majority "for" vote will not be seated and the position may be filled by board appointment until the next election cycle. Based on nominee qualifications, the committee strongly recommends a "for" vote for all nominees.

Deadline for submitting electronic ballots is December 15, 2022, midnight PT. Thank you for your participation in this important election process. You must be a current American Whitewater member to be eligible to vote for directors.

Megi Morishita
Megi
Megi Morishita lives in Bend, Oregon where she spends her time off the river as an Obstetrician/Gynecologist and volunteering with Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office Search and Rescue. Twelve years ago, she made a promise to an AW volunteer, “If I swim today, I owe you a trip to Ecuador.” Her other promise when she joined AW was that she would do whatever she can to support their mission. So it is time to up the ante as she hopes to contribute more to AW's successes in protecting rivers. She believes in our Executive Director's words: “Paddlers understand that you cannot love what you don't know. It's our love of whitewater that makes us fierce defenders of rivers and their flows.” Since learning to kayak, she has moved from Madison to Baltimore to Tucson to Bend, and has met many kayaking friends along the way. She has also kayaked in Canada, Japan, Chile, China, New Zealand, Greece, and Ecuador. Favorite kayaking moments include the awe of paddling down a rapid as salmon swim upstream, watching elk run across a river, and seeing river otter poke their heads up with curiosity. She loves teaching new paddlers as well as the challenges of wilderness expeditions. The strong friendships developed in a sport in which one trusts another with his/her own life is priceless, and she hopes to help AW protect these river experiences for future generations.


Melissa Driver
Melissa

I first joined AW to support the efforts of providing conservation and access to the rivers that I have learned to love and all of the many others I have yet to experience. I hope that many generations after me will have the same opportunities to enjoy them and without AW this wouldn’t be possible. Being an AW Board Member is my way of giving back to this dedicated organization and fellow whitewater enthusiasts. As a board member and through my service leading the Development Committee I am focused on increasing membership engagement, donor commitments, outreach, and communication.


Chris Neuenschwander
Chris N.
I guess I have always been a little different and that fact is still obviously true. Generally accounting and whitewater kayaking exist in different worlds, but for me, both are my passion. I began kayaking over seven years ago when a friend invited me on a whim. I call the Coosa River in Wetumpka, Alabama my home river. However, spending time on Alabama’s natural flow whitewater offerings is a thrill I look forward to every year; like a child anticipates Christmas day or a football fan waits for the season’s kickoff. While class III boating is my skill level, I do enjoy a good tube, raft, or sit-on-top kayak experience. I am a member of the Coosa River Paddling Club, and also serve on the board of my civic club. My professional experience includes serving not-for-profit charities, membership organizations, and incorporated governmental municipalities/agencies as a CPA in public practice. I have been blessed to be the recipient of some of AW’s conservation and stewardship efforts. I believe it is my calling to give back to AW what I can, to ensure that whitewater experiences are preserved for generations to come. I want to ensure that the gift given to me by a friend on a whim, will be a gift I can give to others, ten-fold.

Contact Information