Board Spotlight: Paul Herendeen (he/him)

Welcome to our series celebrating our fantastic board members! Their bios are here, but there's so much more to know about their service, skills and passion below.

Paul is the Vice President of Sustainability at Clearwater Credit Union and has served on the Climate Smart Missoula board since we gained nonprofit status in 2019.
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How would you like to introduce yourself to folks, when it comes to serving on the Climate Smart Missoula board?
I’m a long-time climate nerd and lover of wild places, excited to do work I care about in a place I love. 

Why did you decide to serve?
A strong community is important to me personally, and responding to climate change is important to me professionally. Climate Smart Missoula sits right at the intersection of the two. 

What skills / perspectives are you proud to bring to the board?
Climate Smart Missoula’s staff and board are an extraordinary group of people with a really diverse set of skills and perspectives. To the extent that I can offer something additional, I think it is my background in climate science and bent for quantitative analysis. 
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What is your favorite part about serving? And / or what program at Climate Smart Missoula gets you most excited?
I enjoy the chance to have a direct impact on the community I live in, on an issue I care deeply about. Climate change mitigation and adaptation, affordable housing, and strong communities all overlap, and I’m excited to work on programs that touch all three, like Climate Smart Missoula’s Footprint Fund. 

What is your hope for our community, related to your goals and our work at Climate Smart Missoula?
My hope is that the work Climate Smart Missoula is doing will have a direct, material benefit on the lives of people in our community, and that we can demonstrate how to do this to others around the country. 

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Thank you for your service, Paul!