Watershed Management Group’s (Watershed) board of directors is pleased to announce a search for a Co-Executive Director. Watershed has been guided by the leadership of co-founder and Executive Director, Lisa Shipek, since 2006. Lisa is excited to step into a new Co-Executive role to focus on the River Run Network Program and strategic program development, education, and policy work.
The new Co-Executive Director’s role will have a development and operations focus, leading fundraising, finance, human resources, and operations of WMG in partnership with Lisa. The shared leadership structure is one the organization has been cultivating over the last few years through collaborative approaches to program work and a staff leadership team.
The board is accepting applications for the Co-Executive Director fall 2025. The hiring committee is searching for a candidate who is deeply grounded in the Santa Cruz watershed and has 5-10 years of experience in fundraising, non-profit finance, and human resources. A successful candidate will need to have a proven track record of collaborative work that centers learning from and engaging with people of all ages and backgrounds including Latinx, Black, Indigenous, LGBTQ+, and disabled community members.
Watershed was founded in 2003, by University of Arizona graduate students including Lisa and Catlow Shipek. The non-profit has filled a critical role in Tucson and the borderlands around water stewardship, community-based river restoration, and green infrastructure job training. Catlow continues to work at Watershed as a Senior Program Director. Lisa and Catlow are building the capacity of the organization, mentoring directors, managers, and apprentices to expand programmatic work. The organization has a $1.6 million annual budget, with a team of 15 full time and 10 part-time staff and a Living Lab and Learning Center in mid-town Tucson.
Moving into a Co-Executive Director role, Lisa will spend more of her time advancing the River Run Network program, with a 50-year goal of restoring our heritage of flowing creeks and rivers in the binational Santa Cruz and San Pedro watersheds. She will continue to grow innovative program areas, like the Cool Tucson 5 degrees initiative. Her new role will also allow more time to work on strategic policy initiatives, like the regional drought planning initiative Catlow and Lisa launched with the City of Tucson, Pima County, and the Santa Cruz Watershed Collaborative.
In addition to the co-founders, the new Co-Executive Director will join a team of Directors including Joaquin Murrieta, Cultural Ecologist Director, and Valerisa Gaddy, Community Conservation Program Director.