Biography:
Maureen Cunningham joined the Bethlehem Town Board in 2018, and is now serving her second term.  She is a founding member of We Are Bethlehem, a working group composed of community residents who are committed to promoting equity and justice and celebrating the diversity of our community.  She recently served two years as a Board Member on the Bethlehem Youth Court, as well as formerly serving on the town’s Conservation Easement Review Board, Local Waterfront Revitalization Advisory Group, Open Space Working Group, and Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee.  Maureen also served on the Friends of Five Rivers Board of Directors for several years and led several PTA initiatives at Hamagrael Elementary School while her sons were students there, including launching their popular Walk to School and Bike to School events.  A town resident since 2008, Maureen lives with her husband, Paul, and two teenage sons in Delmar.  She currently serves as the Chief Strategy Officer and Director of Water for the Environmental Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to building policies that improve the speed and scale of conservation, where she works on ensuring clean water for all by prioritizing equity and justice, public health and innovative financing.  Prior to this, she served as Senior Director for Clean Water at Environmental Advocates NY, where she championed statewide clean water legislation and policies, including pushing the state to set nation-leading drinking standards for emerging contaminants.  Maureen also served as Executive Director of the Hudson River Watershed Alliance for several years, strengthening the capacity of dozens of grassroots groups and municipalities to protect their streams and water resources.  Before moving back to New York, she worked for Rare in Washington, DC, where she led international initiatives in several countries linking community-based ecotourism projects and social marketing strategies to biodiversity conservation.  Maureen holds a Master of Environmental Management from the Yale School of the Environment and a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies from The American University School of International Service, and she speaks Spanish and French.  Maureen’s priorities on the Town Board include open space protection, expansion of parklands, bike and pedestrian safety, community policing, a just transition from fossil fuels, social and environmental justice, and a safe and healthy community for all.