Rebecca Martin
Maine-born Rebecca Martin is the Director for Community Partnerships at Riverkeeper. In her previous role as Campaign Manager of the Water Quality Program, she coordinated Riverkeeper’s first initiative using their Drinking Source Water Protection Scorecard tool to bring together seven municipalities (the City and Town of Poughkeepsie, Village and Town of Rhinebeck, Town of Hyde Park, Town of Lloyd and Town of Esopus) to protect their drinking water supply for more than 100,000 people – the Hudson River Estuary. She also led the department’s lobbying efforts in Albany where they were successful in advocating for the passage of the $2 billion dollar Clean Water Infrastructure Act of 2017. Rebecca helped to establish the Rondout Creek Watershed Alliance, a community led group that serves to protect one of the largest tributaries to the Hudson River. She is a collaborator of the Water Justice Lab, a new youth-led program created by Riverkeeper and Media Sanctuary in North Troy, NY. Martin has worked in upriver communities to help with campaign strategies which have led to several major polluting Construction and Demolition (C&D) projects along the Hudson River to withdraw their applications or permits. Martin is the founder of KingstonCitizens.org, a non-partisan, resident-run organization that has been focused since 2006 on increasing community engagement in city government. She has organized more than 100 different initiatives and projects, including serving as ‘ground zero’ for civic engagement and campaign strategies during the Niagara Bottling Company’s attempt to purchase a significant share of Kingston’s municipal water supply. Through their unique partnerships, strategic planning, and community organizing, the company withdrew its proposal after five months of public scrutiny. She is the former Executive Director of the Kingston Land Trust where during her tenure, the trust was touted as a ‘national model’ by the Land Trust Alliance. A widely respected three-decade music veteran, Martin continues to write, record, teach and perform all over the world. She lives in the Hudson Valley with Larry and their son Charlie James.