Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Great Lakes Commission (GLC) is pleased to announce the addition of Eric Brown as its new Senior Advisor for External Relations. Brown, who has spent his career working to advance Great Lakes policy priorities, will fill a new role for GLC that will enhance collaboration with policymakers and stakeholders from throughout the Great Lakes Basin.

“We are thrilled to welcome Eric Brown to the Great Lakes Commission team,” said John Linc Stine, chair of the GLC and executive director of the Minnesota-based Freshwater. “With 14 years’ experience in Great Lakes governance at the state and federal levels, he brings a valuable skillset to our team. Building upon the recent growth of the Commission programs, I welcome Eric’s enthusiasm for innovative solutions.”

“I am excited to serve with the Commission’s dynamic leadership team,” Brown said. “Regional leadership is positioned like never before to address both longstanding and emerging issues in a collaborative, proactive way. I look forward to working with Commissioners, Governors, Premiers, state and federal legislators, both federal governments, and the region’s wide array of stakeholders to secure a healthy and prosperous future for the environment and economy of the Great Lakes.”

As Deputy Director of Federal Relations for the Michigan Governor’s Washington, D.C. office, Brown was a key figure in efforts to protect the environmental and economic health of the Great Lakes region. He convened state, provincial and congressional leadership to build consensus around complex issues, including ballast water standards, maritime transportation and infrastructure investment, and invasive species management.

Brown earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Theory & Constitutional Democracy from Michigan State University’s James Madison College. After spending over a decade in Washington, D.C., he is thrilled to be back in the Great Lakes Basin, living in Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his wife and their two children.

The Great Lakes Commission, led by chair John Linc Stine, former commissioner of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, is an interstate compact agency established under state and U.S. federal law and dedicated to promoting a strong economy, healthy environment and high quality of life for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence region and its residents. The Commission consists of governors’ appointees, state legislators, and agency officials from its eight member states. Associate membership for Ontario and Québec was established through the signing of a “Declaration of Partnership.” The Commission maintains a formal Observer program involving U.S. and Canadian federal agencies, tribal authorities, binational agencies and other regional interests. The Commission office is located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Learn more at www.glc.org.