MOBILE BAYKEEPER INC
Clean Water, Clean Air, Healthy Communities.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
As the environmental watchdog, informed voice of reason, and collaborator for solutions of the Mobile Bay Watershed, our job is to ensure responsible growth, drive smart investments in infrastructure, and educate and engage the community in Coastal Alabama. We work on critical issues that affect our waterways like sewer spills, stormwater runoff, industrial pollution, coal ash, and litter.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Protect Our Future
We support responsible growth to ensure a healthy and sustainable environment, economy, and community. Through proactive monitoring and engagement during the early stages of policy issues and planning efforts, we can change the nature of a project to meet the community's long-term needs.
We are prepared to respond quickly and effectively to any environmental disaster that may occur in the future. We work daily to build resilience into how our area grown to ensure we can withstand any natural or man-made disaster.
Resolve Environmental Problems
Growth has created significant challenges to our water infrastructure. On the project level, we work to reduce environmental impacts from stormwater, wastewater, and industrial pollution by actively monitoring projects and holding both public and private entities accountable.
We also monitor water quality at favorite swim spots to ensure young and old can safely enjoy swimming in Coastal Alabama's beautiful waterways. When we find problems at particular spots, we've built community awareness that can truly engage municipalities, companies, and utilities to make the critical investments needed to support clean water.
Educate & Engage
We raise public awareness of environmental issues by developing educational programs and presenting them throughout the community. We build on these programs by providing hands on opportunities such as litter cleanups, invasive species removals, restoration activities, and water quality monitoring trainings to foster citizen engagement.
Our signature education program - SWAMP or Strategic Watershed Awareness Program - focuses on high school students giving them both education and hands on field training that stays with them into college and career. Giving student an opportunity to research water quality and develop solutions to any problems they find can make them life-long problem solvers.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Waterkeeper Alliance 2000
External reviews
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of audience members willing to take action on behalf of a specific issue
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth, People of African descent, People of European descent, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Educate & Engage
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
As various issues arise each year, we send periodic action alerts to our email database encouraging citizens to "take action" and send a letter to the appropriate decision-makers related to the issue.
Number of individuals attending briefings and presentations
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People of African descent, People of European descent, Economically disadvantaged people, Students, Teachers
Related Program
Educate & Engage
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
This metric includes people reached through presentations and speaking engagements given. It increased dramatically in 2016 because we hired a full-time Education & Outreach Coordinator.
Number of volunteers
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth, People of African descent, People of European descent, Economically disadvantaged people
Related Program
Educate & Engage
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
This number includes those in our volunteers emailing list from online appeals, fundraising events, litter cleanups, interns, and general office help.
Number of individuals applying skills learned through the organization's training
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Children and youth, Multiracial people, People of African descent, People of European descent, Students
Related Program
Educate & Engage
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
This metric is specific to training high school students to become certified water quality monitors through our Strategic Watershed Awareness and Monitoring Program (SWAMP) launched in 2016.
Number of stories successfully placed in the media
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults, Children and youth, Multiracial people, People of African descent, People of European descent
Related Program
Educate & Engage
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
This metric includes any time Mobile Baykeeper was mentioned via broadcast, radio, print, or digital media throughout the year.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Our goals are clean water, clean air, and healthy communities. We strive to show community members the importance of the triple bottom line - maintaining a thriving economy while protecting the health of our environment and community. A healthy environment leads to a vibrant community and dynamic, growing economy.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Mobile Baykeeper uses a three-pronged approach to achieve its goals:
1) Research: We identify problems and find creative solutions. We review more than 100 permit applications annually, write comment letters on a minimum of 20 permits each year, respond to 100-150 citizen concerns annually, and maintain an extensive library of environmental issues as a community resource. We are committed to accuracy and presenting the facts as they are in all that we do.
2) Collaboration: We build partnerships with diverse groups to obtain the best results. Collaboration has been at the root behind every successful campaign we have been involved with in our 24-year history. For example, we successfully collaborated with businesses and industry leaders in 2016 to help pass the most protective waterfront petroleum storage tank ordinance in the nation, protecting the health of our environment, economy, and community for generations to come. We bring communities together to speak up for their members and their natural resources, knowing that the more people that come to the table, the more inclusive the solution we reach will be.
3) Education: We educate and engage our citizens to raise awareness on important issues affecting our water quality. In 2015, we developed the Strategic Watershed Awareness and Monitoring Program (SWAMP), an education program that teaches the importance of connections within watersheds while also providing tools to monitor the health of waterways and solve pollution problems. Since then, we have educated thousands of students in Mobile and Baldwin Counties and have trained hundreds of students to become certified water quality monitors through the Alabama Water Watch program. We believe that by engaging students in the classroom and getting them outside in the elements, we can effectively imbue them with pride in being environmental stewards who will continue to care for our natural resources for their entire lives.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Mobile Baykeeper is a highly capable organization well-suited to meet its goals of clean water, clean air, and healthy communities. Founded in 1997, we have grown from a staff of one and membership of 300 to a full-time staff of eight supported by 19 board of directors and more than 4,800 members.
To continue remaining an effective organization, we recruit, train, and invest in a high-performing, stable staff and provide a proper compensation and incentive structure that enables us to retain a quality team. Additionally, our board members bring a diverse set of skills and experiences to the table and are heavily vested in the success of the organization so that we continue to advance our mission.
We also have a considerable community presence at the local, coastal, and statewide level. Through a variety of public and media outreach events, we interact with community members, businesses, and decision-makers to leverage their support, build our membership, and raise awareness of the important connection between a healthy environment, economy, and community.
A healthy financial structure allows us to focus exclusively on our mission. We achieve this through a diverse source of revenue including membership donations, fundraising events, and program-focused grants. We are committed to ensuring all funding we receive is spent wisely and we are building an endowment to help us achieve long-term financial stability in our organization.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Founded in 1997 as West Bay Watch, Mobile Baykeeper has spent 24 years developing diverse coalitions to accomplish its goals of clean water, clean air, and healthy communities in Coastal Alabama. Diverse partnerships have been behind every successful campaign in which we have been involved throughout our history.
We partnered with commercial and recreational hunters and fishermen to defeat an on-shore and multiple offshore open loop Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) proposals from establishing themselves in our community and threatening our way of life on the water. We worked with Mobile Area Water and Sewer System (MAWSS) to influence a major development project that changed the way the state of Alabama builds roads and protected the drinking water supply for the entire state. We have successfully raised awareness of water quality levels among the public, leading to infrastructure reforms that reduced the amount of sewage spills in our area. Over the years, we have successfully thwarted or deterred several significant pieces of legislation that could harm our waterways like the ban on bans of plastics, the beach express extension, and a bill that would prevent drones from being used to keep polluters in line.
We worked with local business, civic, and industry leaders to help pass the most protective waterfront petroleum storage tank ordinance in the nation. Today, we continue to join forces with business and community leaders to ensure the largest environmental disaster in our nation's history, the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Disaster, is answered with a lasting investment in the long-term health of our environment, economy, and community.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
MOBILE BAYKEEPER INC
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Mr. Steve McClure
McClure & Associates
Term: 2020 - 2022
Mrs. Lyndsey Dixon
Wilkins Miller LLC
Term: 2020 - 2022
J. Benson O'Connor
White Spunner, L.L.C
Ray Mayhall
Coca Cola Bottling Company
Sam St. John
Logical Computer Systems
Jep Hill
Computer Programs & Systems Inc. (CPSI)
Steve McClure
Hargrove Engineers + Constructors
Sumpter McGowin
Phelps Dunbar, LLP
Debbie Quinn
Alabama Trails Commission
Cullan Duke
Regions Bank
Jasmine Washington
Stantec
Bill Dumas
Physician, Retired
Brent Keith
Keith Air Conditioning
Lyndsey Dixon
Wilkins Miller LLC
Jenny Klein
Austal USA
Jeremy Milling
MCR Commercial Realty
George Oswalt
Lyon, Fry, Cadden
Frank Reed
Heron Valuation
Scott Schneider
CPSI
Lee Webb
Trustmark Bank
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Transgender Identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
We do not display disability information for organizations with fewer than 15 staff.
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/03/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.