MACD Executive Director Dan Moilanen Announces Leave of Absence

Photo Credit: Ella Swift-Redding, 2023 MACD Summer Conference

Michigan Association of Conservation Districts Executive Director Dan Moilanen announced on Friday, December 29th, 2023 that he will be taking a temporary leave of absence immediately to pursue personal interests. He issued this statement to MACD Membership:

Effective January 2nd, 2024; I will be taking a leave of absence from my role as Executive Director of the Michigan Association of Conservation Districts.

...When I was weighing the decision whether or not I should move forward, I had the future of both MACD and Michigan’s Conservation Districts at the forefront of that decision. I love this job. Truly, I have felt like I've been doing my life's work since I started in this role.

From day one, I’ve been honored that this community put its trust in me to be at the helm of our collective advocacy efforts and drive the mission of strengthening Michigan’s Conservation Districts. Every day, it's been a true privilege to wake up and advocate for a conservation delivery system that I believe is absolutely necessary in addressing today’s pressing natural resource concerns like climate change, soil erosion, water quality in the great lakes, forest health, and food system resiliency.

When I first spoke with the Executive Committee team about my plans, we immediately identified leaders and staff who are more than capable of fulfilling the responsibilities of operating the Association in my absence. We will be bringing on Rivka Hodgkinson as Interim Executive Director through August, 2024. Rivka serves on Ottawa Conservation District's Board of Directors, on MACD's State Council as Vice Chair of Region 7, and on a number of MACD committees.

Rivka is very familiar with the Association, its mission, its projects, and overall organizational structure. I will remain on part-time for as long as necessary to onboard Rivka to ensure a smooth transition of staff management, grant fulfillment, and all other obligations.

In addition, I've committed to helping with any legislative advocacy efforts in 2024 to ensure our goals are achieved. I will be attending any critical meetings or events in Lansing, to continue to drive the message that Conservation Districts are the most effective conservation delivery system on both private and public land.

Throughout my entire career, I have stood by a principle that I never leave an organization or project worse off than how I found it. During my time at MACD, I believe I’ve made significant contributions to our overall efficacy as an organization. I helped deliver our appropriations request for the first time since 2009, and renewed it twice in FY23 and FY24. I’ve brought many of MACD’s operations into the 21st century, implementing new technology and tools that have streamlined all of our processes and connected our statewide network better than before. We’ve been able to deliver our message stronger than ever utilizing new-media that engages a wider audience, across multiple generations. Truly, I believe MACD is in a better state than what it was when I started, and I'm confident that this trend of growth and development will continue well into the future.

I want to thank you all for your consistent support of my work as Executive Director. I’ve come to recognize many of you not only as colleagues, but as friends, and look forward to our continued work together as I take this next step.

...During the onboarding process with Rivka, I will be checking my MACD email address and Slack, but as I go to minimal part-time that will happen less frequently. If you have an urgent request, please reach out to [email protected] or [email protected], as either of them will be able to assist.