GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE
Board of Directors & Youth Council
GPFCRI will be governed by an independent Board of Directors composed of scientists, conservation professionals, and community leaders. The Institute will collaborate with:
- Tribal fisheries and natural resource programs
- State fish and wildlife, natural resource agencies
- Federal conservation agencies
- Universities and research institutions
- Watershed and wildlife conservation nonprofits
- Regional stakeholders and communities, including K-12 schools and private businesses
- 5–7 member founding executive board
- 5-7 member Youth Council to meet annually and ensure the organization is focusing on relevant long-term questions and initiatives for the next seven generations (ages 13-25)
- Founder as Executive Director who answers to Board of Directors
Key Governance & Compliance Safeguards
To protect the nonprofit status of GPFCRI:
- The Board will approve all earned income programs
- All revenue-generating activities must have documented mission relevance
- We will work diligently to maintain transparent accounting
- We will avoid excessive unrelated business income not focused on the nonprofit’s mission
- We will develop and abide by our written conflict-of-interest policy
Suggested composition of the inaugural executive board:
- Tribal representatives - elders, youth, stakeholders from across Očhéthi Šakówiŋ territories
- Tribal fisheries/wildlife professional(s)--bonus points if we can find partners representing several federally recognized Tribes and/or Indigenous elders with personal experience fishing or recreating in Great Plains aquatic ecosystem
- Fisheries scientist(s), preferably those with conservation aquaculture/native fish or mussel propagation experience and/or a background in native fish conservation surveys or freshwater survey & monitoring programs
- Freshwater fish ecologists, limnologists, and other aquatic ecology researchers, preferably those with experience working on the Great Plains
- State & Federal fisheries, wildlife, and water management agencies
- Local conservation nonprofit leaders or volunteers
- Individuals with private consulting experience in natural resource conservation
- Small Great Plains business owners & entrepreneurs committed to championing the freshwaters of the region
- Financial professionals
- Additional volunteer board members with expertise in/passion for conservation (ideally with some skills in fundraising, sci comm, public outreach, law, web design, etc.)
- Someone with conservation education, outreach/R3 engagement experience
- A lawyer with experience in natural resources/environmental law and policy, or some other water or environmental policy expert
- Recruit from broader network of NANFA (North American Native Fish Association) and Native Fish for Tomorrow membership with geographic ties to the Great Plains
UNIQUE POSITIONING ON THE PLAINS
Competitive Landscape
Few Great Plains institutions and organizations focus specifically on:
- Native fishes & mussels of Great Plains prairie rivers, streams, and wetlands
- Integration of drought, hydrology, and biodiversity assessment data to better predict future impacts of climate change and anthropogenic impacts on Great Plains freshwater ecosystems
GPFCRI fills a widening geographic and taxonomic gap in a time when traditional freshwater and fisheries research and conservation institutions (state and federal fish and wildlife management agencies, fish hatchery facilities, and research institutes; USGS cooperative research units; and labs at public and private universities in the Great Plains and beyond) are increasingly being stretched beyond capacity with staffing cuts, budget shortfalls, hiring freezes, drastically reduced public funding and staffing for conservation science at the federal level.
GPFCRI would be uniquely positioned to bridge that gap and leverage partnerships with teams at those traditional freshwater conservation and management institutions in addition to partnerships with other nonprofits, private businesses and individuals to be able to carry on with conservation missions and prevent extirpation and extinction.
Strategic Positioning
If structured correctly, GPFCRI could be:
- A research center
- A conservation hatchery
- A training institute
- A contract science provider / independent water quality+ freshwater fisheries laboratory for bulk sample processing
- A regional conservation hub
all without compromising nonprofit status. The use of diversified revenue streams and an adaptable funding model is one way that long-lived conservation research institutes survive.