Bill Volz
Board Candidate — Incumbent, Current Board Treasurer
Bloomfield, MI
I teach law in the Mike Ilitch School of Business at Wayne State University in Detroit. I have served on boards for the Kirtland’s Warbler Alliance, the Detroit Historical Society, a Detroit theater group, financial institutions, and organizations providing mental health services to the community. My committee work on these boards has been in budget and finance, human resource management, and fundraising. In thirty years of participating in the Oakland Audubon Society Christmas Bird Count, I have watched the Michigan forests and fields north of Rochester become backyards. The Ring-necked Pheasants and Horned Larks, always special, are seldom if ever seen, even by these expert birders. The struggle for vibrant wildlife habitat is not limited to the Brazilian jungles and Louisiana swamps. The struggle is, literally, in our backyards.
Why do you want to serve as a board member for Michigan Audubon, and what would you like to contribute?
Two years ago, I was appointed to the Board of Directors of Michigan Audubon. This last year, I served as the board’s Treasurer. Under the strong leadership of Kathleen Mennillo, Michigan Audubon’s Chief Executive Officer, I can report that the organization’s financial health is excellent. The historic strength of the work done in Audubon societies across America has recently brought Michigan Audubon remarkable gifts of land and money. Those resources have been managed well. The small, very talented group of employees has added equally committed newcomers. The foundation has been laid for an ambitious plan of expanding our impact on birds and people through conservation, education, and research in the state of Michigan. Michigan Audubon’s Board of Directors is focused on making that plan a reality. I believe I can help.
What is your favorite bird and why?
As a board member of the Kirtland’s Warbler Alliance and having spent days lobbying the Michigan Legislature to make OUR WARBLER Michigan’s state bird, I feel compelled to name this five ounces of courage as my favorite. Still, I have always felt a special relationship to the Common Merganser. We share bad hair and a dismissive name. Why not the Magnificent Merganser? The Volz family are good people. But I secretly envy surnames like Wise, Swift, and Champion.