WHAT WE STAND FOR
To inform, empower and work for and with communities affected by the mining, processing and use of coal.
Click here to read about CCC's history and accomplishments.
MEET THE TEAM
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Aimee Erickson,
Executive Director Email: aimee[at]citizenscoalcouncil.org 
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Aimee has been working for Citizens Coal Council since the organization's headquarters relocated from Washington, DC to Pennsylvania in 2005. She has experienced first-hand the effects of underground coal mining on property, as Consol Energy's longwall mine passed under her house in 2007.
Aimee has been a tireless advocate for coalfield citizens, working hard to rebuild the tarnished relationship between people living in coal-impacted areas and the federal regulators charged to enforce protective coal mining laws. Likewise, Aimee has focused her efforts on ensuring that federal regulators are empowered to defend coalfield citizens' rights to clean air and water, and that these powers are protected against the threats of coal industry political allies. Aimee has her Bachelor's Degree in Accounting and her Master's in Nonprofit Management, both from Robert Morris University. |
BOARD MEMBERS
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MARK HERSH - Chair
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Mark Hersh is the son, nephew, and grandson of Pennsylvania soft-coal miners and was raised near the small company town of his parents’ families. He enjoys fishing, but as a boy he thought the rivers near his home were naturally yellow! That profoundly wrong conclusion helped lead him to a career as a freshwater biologist. He trained at Penn State University and Iowa State University, and has worked as a biologist and policy analyst for the Pennsylvania state government, the US government, and non-profit groups. When Mark was the mining project director for the Raymond Proffitt Foundation from 2002-2004, he saw firsthand the unacceptably high human and environmental costs of longwall coal mining in southwestern Pennsylvania, as well as the inept governmental responses. He has also worked in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, collaborating with diverse sets of stakeholders on salmon recovery and water quality issues. Mark has published in scientific journals and even a law review journal. Starting in December 2021, he has volunteered with Citizens Coal Council, again putting his experience and training to work on the issues affecting the communities and natural resources threatened by coal. |
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ELOUISE BROWN - Vice-Chair
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Elouise Brown is a community organizer for the grassroots and Mother Earth Protector. Elouise is an Actionist, not an Activist. She believes that if the elected leaders do not advocate for the grassroots, someone has to do that and that is why she volunteers to advocate for the people and Mother Earth. In addition to her community organizing, she holds the following titles as a volunteer:·
· Dooda (NO) Helium Extraction Organization, Secretary · Soil and Water Conservation District, Board President · Northern New Mexico Indigenous Farmers, Inc., Public Relations · Former Navajo Nation Grazing Officer, 2016-2019 · New Mexico Navajo Ranchers & Farmers, President · Dooda (NO) Desert Rock Organization, President, 2007-2009 Elouise was also elected by Navajo Veterans into the following volunteer positions: · Northern Navajo Veterans Organization, Commander (for 19 Veterans Organizations) · Navajo Nation Veterans Advisory Council Vice-Chairwoman · TseAlnaozti’i Veterans Organization Secretary Elouise does many other volunteer work and travels at her own expense. She is a true believer in respecting Mother Earth and her children (the peoples). Her current goals are to stop Navajo Oil and Gas Company from extracting helium and to help the Veterans resolve their concerns with a Navajo representation in Washington, D.C., and also receive what they want. |
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MICHAEL V. NIXON - Secretary / Treasurer
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Michael V. Nixon is a lawyer, strategist and consultant with a national office in Portland, Oregon. Michael's public interest work has included strategy, litigation & appeals, state and federal environmental law enforcement, coal mining, nonprofit organization & governance, and historic preservation, with intensive experience in successful large-scale landscape preservation & protection projects. Michael’s special interest and pro bono work with native peoples has focused on the defense of sacred places and traditional cultural properties around the United States. Michael is lead counsel for Apache Stronghold in Apache Stronghold v. U.S.
Michael’s prior CCC Board service experience: 2010 to 2014, and 2019 to the present, including as Chair of the Litigation Cmte. (2010-14; 2019-pressent), Chair of the Governance Cmte. (2012-14), and Board Chairperson (2019-2022). |