Alliance Ambassadors – Frequently Asked Questions

Alliance Ambassadors live all over the Great Lakes region. They come to the program with wide-ranging backgrounds. Some have grown up around the Great Lakes their whole lives, while others have just moved here. As long as you are passionate about the lakes and eager to learn, we encourage you to reach out to us!

Nope! However, if you are under 18, you must have a parent/guardian attend any Ambassador-related volunteer events with you. 

We know our Ambassadors are juggling many responsibilities, and we appreciate you dedicating time to protecting the lakes! Our program has a flexible time commitment. Typically, we offer virtual monthly training opportunities that are held for roughly1 hour on a weekday evening. These trainings are also recorded for Ambassadors to view later if they cannot attend.

The number of events you sign up to volunteer for each season is then up to you and what works for your schedule! There are also many other actions with flexible time commitments you can take throughout the year, such as virtual advocacy and informal information sharing with your networks.  

Ambassadors have attended all sorts of fun events over the years! We have had Ambassadors give a presentation on the Great Lakes to a class at Brookfield Zoo near Chicago. They have tabled at Patagonia stores. Ambassadors have presented to students about the Great Lakes as part of the National Biodiversity Teach-in. We have had many Ambassadors help out at Adopt-a-Beach cleanups, providing educational talking points to connect the cleanup with Great Lakes awareness and advocacy. We were even invited to table as an All At Once non-profit partner at a series of Jack Johnson’s concerts! 

We have a list of events that Ambassadors can sign up to attend. We also encourage Ambassadors to let us know of any cool events happening in their communities. 

If you are interested in becoming an Alliance Ambassador, contact our Volunteer Engagement Manager, Olivia Reda, at oreda@greatlakes.org. We look forward to hearing from you!