Liz Woodruff
Executive Director
Liz is a fourth generation Idahoan, born and raised in Boise, and graduated from Boise High School in 1996. She received a BA in Global Development Studies from Whitman College and an MA in Women’s and Gender Studies from Rutgers University. She has used her inter-disciplinary training to promote social justice, peace, and environmental ethics as a student activist, college instructor, environmental educator and community volunteer. Her commitment to these areas was propagated through an internship with Amnesty International, extensive training in curriculum development around liberation pedagogy at Rutgers, and by volunteering in Idaho’s environmental community. She also worked as a senate assistant in the Idaho Legislature during the 2008 session. Liz previously served as the organization’s community organizer challenging two nuclear proposals in Idaho. She has a broad range of experience working with the public, cities, counties, utilities, regulators and the Legislature to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Nuclear Program Director
Beatrice was born and raised in Buhl, Idaho. She graduated from Cornell and was editor of all publications at The Brooklyn Museum, where she also helped unionize the museum's professional, administrative, and technical employees. Beatrice taught at the University of Idaho and joined the Alliance staff in 1989. She has served on state and federal environmental advisory committees, speaks to and writes for a wide range of audiences, has served as a peer reviewer for a number of publications on nuclear issues, and represents the Alliance in the Alliance for Nuclear Accountability.
Clean Energy Program Director
Ken joined the Alliance in May 2007 to fill the newly created clean energy position. Prior to joining the Alliance, Ken represented the Seattle-based NW Energy Coalition as its Idaho energy advocate, working on sustainable energy policies and coordinating clean-energy advocacy in Idaho. Ken was a participated in the Idaho Energy Plan process, as well as on campaigns in 2005-2007 to combat the construction of fossil fuel power plants in Idaho and also the purchase by Idaho utilities of out-of-state fossil fuel energy. Ken has also worked with Idaho’s regulated utilities, participating in regulatory procedures before the Idaho Public Utilities Commission as well as through utility advisory groups on energy efficiency and energy resource planning processes. Prior to joining NW Energy Coalition, Ken worked as education and outreach coordinator and then as policy coordinator for Winter Wildlands Alliance, a national nonprofit based in Boise. During that time, he was involved in local resource protection issues, such as asserting the rights of non-motorized winter recreationists on public lands, as well as national issues such as the Yellowstone National Park winter-use planning and litigation process and the U.S. Forest Service’s ongoing OHV management process. Before joining Winter Wildlands, Ken had extensive experience as an environmental writer, covering a variety of significant issues and working with myriad national and local conservation organizations. His reporting portfolio includes such diverse issues as the introduction of gray wolves into the Northern Rockies; Florida Everglades restoration efforts; habitat issues in the Texas Hill Country (golden-cheeked warbler) and the Coastal California Sage Scrub region (California gnatcatcher and companion species); marine and related fisheries issues in the Atlantic; Hawaii’s tropical forest protection; and human-caused chemical environmental issues such as toxics in “Cancer Alley” along the Lower Mississippi River and Idaho’s Coeur d’Alene Basin.
Contact info: (208) 344-9161 or kmiller@snakeriveralliance.org
Clean Energy Organizer
Lisa Young was born and raised in Boise, ID, graduating from Boise High School in 2005 and then from Boise State University Magna Cum Laude in 2010. At BSU she received her Bachelor of Sciencein Chemistry, with a minor in Environmental Studies. During her college years Lisa received numerous scholarships and awards for her work in academics and community involvement, including a two-year Barry M. Goldwater scholarship for excellence in scientific study and research (she is one of four students at BSU to ever receive this prestigious national honor) and recognition as a “Top Ten Scholar”for her diverse achievements as a Boise State student (an annual award presented to 10 graduating seniors of over 2,000). As a tutor, lab instructor, and teaching assistant for the BSU Chemistry Department for three years, Lisa has experience in education and methods of effective teaching and communication. She also has experience organizing groups around environmental issues through her involvement and leadership in campus clubs and community organizations, and has gained direct exposure to local and state policy as the youth member on the Boise City Public Works Commission and as an assistant to three Democrats in the Idaho State Senate during the 2011 legislative session. Lisa volunteered for the Alliance during college and interned in the fall of 2010 before applying for the Clean Energy Organizer position, and is excited to return to the organization to work on issues she is so passionate about!
Contact Info: (208) 344-9161 or lyoung@snakeriveralliance.org