Puget Soundkeeper Alliance is pleased to announce our new executive director, Sean Dixon. Sean is a former Senior Attorney at Hudson Riverkeeper and most recently worked as Chief of Staff for the Region 1 (New England) office of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
We’re excited to have him on board.
“Sean connects to people with empathy and energy,” said Patricia Baird, Soundkeeper’s newly elected Board President and chair of its Environmental Justice Committee. “When it comes to clean water, he understands that the best way to be an advocate is to empower others with adaptive, collaborative, mission-focused leadership.”
With an extensive background in environmental law, policy, and science, Sean’s experiences align directly with Soundkeeper’s approach to clean water stewardship. Through his work as an advocate and a public official, he has monitored waterfronts on boat patrols, led coastal clean ups, built consensus around novel water permitting approaches, pushed for community-led remediation of legacy industrial sites, and supported the work of frontline communities fighting for equitable access to clean, thriving waterways.
“Working to protect, restore, and revitalize our nation’s waterways – and the communities that depend on them – has always been my passion,” said Dixon. “I’m excited and thankful for this opportunity to stand alongside the talented Soundkeeper team, our advocacy parters, and our watershed-wide neighbors as we work to ensure a clean water future for Puget Sound.”
Most recently, in his role at EPA, Sean’s work focused on clean water, clean air, and healthy community initiatives impacting the communities and watersheds of New England. While at Hudson Riverkeeper, Sean worked on energy infrastructure campaigns (including national Waterkeeper Alliance advocacy on crude oil rail transport) and on New York Harbor climate, clean water, and resilience campaigns. In this work, Sean engaged with community groups on some of NYC’s most severely polluted waterways, including Flushing Bay, Gowanus Canal, and Newtown Creek.
Sean holds an LL.M. in Climate Change Law and a J.D. in Environmental Law from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University, in White Plains, NY; a master’s degree from the Yale School of the Environment; and a B.A. in Marine Biology and Oceanography from Boston University. He has served as Membership Officer and Council Member for the American Bar Association’s Section of Environment, Energy, and Resources Law and has been an on the adjunct faculty at Yale College, Pace Law School, and Clarkson University.
As Soundkeeper ramps up it summer activities and we look forward to increasing our in-person gatherings, look for Sean exploring the waters of his new Northwest home. After having spent four years on the dive team at the New York Aquarium on Coney Island, Sean will be also be searching for the best underwater sites to visit around Puget Sound.
We couldn’t be more excited to step into the future. Please join us in welcoming Sean!