STAFF
neil@waterwatch.org
(503) 295-4039, ext. 101
Neil Brandt
Executive Director
Prior to joining WaterWatch in 2019, Neil worked as canvass director on behalf of Amnesty International in Seattle, where he organized and managed a team of on-the-ground field canvassers to raise money for Amnesty’s international refugee rights advocacy. Before living and working in Seattle, Neil was a carbon policy researcher at The Nature Conservancy in Boulder, where he also earned his master’s degree in environmental policy from The University of Colorado at Boulder. Neil is an avid skier, hiker, mountain biker, and an aspiring rock climber. He grew up in the Adirondacks of New York and received his bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Vermont.
lisa@waterwatch.org
(503) 295-4039, ext. 102
Lisa Brown
Staff Attorney
Lisa joined WaterWatch as a staff attorney in 2004. She has worked with Pacific Northwest conservation groups on watershed and aquatic habitat protection projects for many years, as well as for an aquatic research group at the Pacific Northwest Research Station in Corvallis. Lisa earned her B.S. in Environmental Science from Oregon State University with honors, and graduated from Lewis and Clark Law School, cum laude, with a certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. She is a member of the Oregon Bar.
jack@dempseypublicaffairs.com
(503) 208-3891
Jack Dempsey
Contract Lobbyist
Jack helps WaterWatch with our extensive legislative efforts in Oregon’s capitol city, Salem. He has worked with the Oregon Legislature since 1998, including experience as leadership staff, campaign director, and as a lobbyist. He served as a policy advisor for then-Senate Democratic Leader Kate Brown and as legislative director for Senate President Peter Courtney. Jack has lobbied the legislature since 2006, working in-house for OHSU and the Oregon Nurses Association, and as an independent lobbyist. He lives in Portland with his wife and two daughters.
john@waterwatch.org
(503) 295-4039, ext. 103
John DeVoe
Senior Fundraiser and Advisor
John joined WaterWatch in 2003 after practicing law in Portland for 13 years. After serving over 19 years as executive director, John now serves as WaterWatch’s senior fundraiser and advisor, focused primarily on fundraising and transferring institutional knowledge to the next generation of WaterWatch advocates. He earned his law degree from Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, in 1990, and holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Columbia College in New York. John has served on the steering committee of the Oregon Conservation Network, the board of EarthShare of Oregon, Governor Kulongoski’s Headwaters to Ocean Task Force, and the Policy Advisory Group for Oregon’s Integrated Water Resources Strategy.
nancy@waterwatch.org
(503) 295-4039, ext. 104
Nancy Drinnon
Comptroller
Nancy has been with WaterWatch of Oregon since 1994. She previously worked for Oregon Public Broadcasting as an accountant and comptroller, and earned her bachelor’s degree from Seattle Pacific University.
Monet Hampson
Administrative Assistant
Monet has worked as a graphic designer since her graduation from Montana State University in 2004, where she received her B.F.A. Upon her arrival in Portland the following year, Monet quickly went to work with advertising agencies, contract design jobs, and as an in-house designer for an agency serving outdoor and active lifestyle brands. Monet worked as a designer at The Portland Mercury prior to arriving at WaterWatch, where she works as the administrative assistant and helps illustrate WaterWatch’s messages of river advocacy. Monet grew up in Bozeman, Montana, where her beloved hometown rivers are the Gallatin, Jefferson, Madison, and Yellowstone.
steph@waterwatch.org
(503) 295-4039, ext. 110
Stephanie Hayes
Staff Attorney
Steph joined the WaterWatch team after earning her LL.M. summa cum laude in Environmental Law from Lewis and Clark Law School, where she also externed at the Earthrise Law Center. A native of New Jersey, Steph graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Art History before moving west and earning her J.D. from Lewis and Clark. After working for over a decade on employment law and union contract negotiations, Steph pivoted her career to align with her growing environmental interests. She enjoys reading historical fiction, baking cookies, and adventuring through life with her husband and two daughters.
tommy@waterwatch.org
(503) 295-4039, ext. 109
Tommy Hough
Communications Manager
A former San Diego County planning commissioner and the founding president of San Diego County Democrats for Environmental Action, Tommy cut his conservation teeth as a radio host in Seattle where he first launched his Treehuggers International environmental affairs program. He later managed communications for Oregon Wild in Portland, and was an on-air host at 101.9 KINK-FM. Tommy served as a California Democratic Party delegate, ran two general election campaigns for San Diego City Council, and served as the lead consultant with the San Diego Audubon Society on the ReWild Mission Bay wetland restoration campaign. A Pittsburgh native and graduate of Ohio University, Tommy is an avid hiker, public speaker, lifelong communicator, and an advocate for water, wilderness, public lands, and biodiversity.
jim@waterwatch.org
(541) 708-0048
Jim McCarthy
Southern Oregon Program Director
Jim works for WaterWatch from the Rogue Valley, with a particular focus on dam removals and the streams of the Rogue, Klamath, and Umpqua basins. Prior to joining WaterWatch full time in 2012, he spent a decade providing environmental communication, lobbying, and grassroots organizing services as an independent consultant to clients including Earthjustice, Oregon Wild, and Hoopa Valley Tribe. Jim has specialized in Endangered Species Act, water policy, hydropower relicensing, and agricultural subsidy issues. He has published numerous op-eds, articles, and reports, has testified before Congress, and served as an expert witness before the Oregon and California public utility commissions. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University.
brian@waterwatch.org
(503) 295-4039, ext. 106
Brian Posewitz
Staff Attorney
Brian has been an attorney in Oregon since 1991, and joined WaterWatch’s staff in 2015. From 1991 through 2005, he worked primarily in general business litigation with the Portland firm of Tonkon Torp LLP. He had his own law practice from 2006 through 2014. In addition to his civil litigation work, Brian handled a variety of water-related cases for WaterWatch and private clients while in private practice. He also is a former WaterWatch board member. Brian has a bachelor’s degree in economics from Willamette University and a law degree from the University of Oregon. He grew up in Helena, Montana.
kjp@waterwatch.org
(503) 295-4039, ext. 107
Kimberley Priestley
Senior Policy Analyst
Kimberley Priestley is the Senior Policy Analyst with WaterWatch of Oregon, where she has worked since 1993. Kimberley leads WaterWatch’s advocacy in the state legislature for legal and policy reforms to protect and restore Oregon rivers statewide, as well as our longstanding campaign to safeguard the waters of the Deschutes Basin. She earned her J.D. from the University of Washington, where she also earned an LL.M. in International Environmental Law. She earned her B.S. from the University of California at Berkeley.
jesse@waterwatch.org
(503) 295-4039, ext. 111
Jesse Robbins
Development Officer
After a 15-year career in the fly fishing industry, Jesse arrived at WaterWatch of Oregon this spring as the organization’s new development officer. A native of midcoast Maine, Jesse graduated from Bates College and published a thesis on the economic benefits that resulted from the removal of the Edwards Dam from Maine’s Kennebec River. The president of the Redsides Chapter of Trout Unlimited in Springfield, Jesse has worked with the nonprofits Guiding for the Future and Science on the Fly, and as a writer his byline has appeared in The Flyfish Journal, The Drake, Trout, and Modern Huntsman among other outlets. Jesse lives near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette Rivers with his partner Stacey.
tory@waterwatch.org
(503) 295-4039, ext. 108
Victoria White
Staff Attorney
Victoria (Tory) is WaterWatch’s newest staff attorney, admitted to the Oregon State Bar in 2022. Tory earned her B.S. in Environmental Science from University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and her J.D., cum laude, from Lewis and Clark Law School, with a certificate in Environmental and Natural Resources Law. Before joining WaterWatch, Tory interned and clerked at Columbia Riverkeeper, Center for Biological Diversity, and Earthrise Law Center. When not practicing law Tory enjoys hiking, climbing, and painting.