Every two years, the ACA Board of Directors conducts nominations and elections for new board member positions. In 2020, there are four nominees for the open positions of “At-Large Director” and one nominee for the open position of “Affiliated Organization Director.” Please review the nominee background and biographies provided below, and use the link provided to cast your vote. Per the ACA Bylaws, only current ACA members can vote in this election. If you like to join and/or renew your membership, please contact the ACA Membership Department. For additional details about the governance of the ACA, please click here.
Current ACA members, please click here to cast your vote.
The 2020 Board of Director Nomination Slate (in alphabetical order):
At-Large Directors:
Sarah Leith Bahn – Hood River, OR
Sarah is a former U.S. Slalom National Team member who has spent countless hours competing and travelling around the world. A former GS 14 Staff Accountant, she now works with the U.S. Forest Service as a budget analyst, providing detailed cost analysis to leadership for contracts, grants, and agreements. As the co-founder and CFO of a manufacturing business, she has a wealth of knowledge concerning the analysis of key financial data needed to make strategic business decisions and opportunities for growth.
Rainey Hoffman – Seattle, WA
Rainey Hoffman is a seasoned and pragmatic senior legal professional with deep experience in transaction execution and corporate governance in complex regulatory environments. A highly-valued partner to executive management and investment professionals, Rainey has experience serving as corporate and securities counsel, acquisition and corporatedevelopment initiatives, serving as counsel on sensitive investigations and litigation, and the negotiation of employment, severance and carried interest agreements. Very notably, Rainey also served as a chief lobbyist for water resource policy matters, including testimony before the United States Senate.
Robin Pope – Sylva, NC
Robin Pope, Ph.D., PA-C, Fellow, Academy of Wilderness Medicine lives with his family in Sylva, NC, where he works as a physician assistant. His medical interests include allergy and asthma management, injury prevention and wilderness medicine. Robin is an instructor trainer educator in swiftwater rescue (level 5), river kayaking (level 5) and prone paddling (level 3); and an instructor in coastal kayaking (level 2) and canoeing (level 1). He currently serves as past chair of ACA’s Safety Education and Instruction Council, Vice Chair of ACA’s Board of Directors, and Secretary of the Safety and Rescue Committee. In the past, he has served both as President and Secretary of ACA’s Board of Directors, and Chair and Vice-Chair of SEIC. He has received a Higgins and Langley Special Commendation award in swiftwater rescue and ACA’s Excellence in Instruction award. Robin represents paddlers and the ACA to the National Boating Safety Advisory Council, the National On-Water Standards program, and the National Association of State Boating Law Administrators Education Standards Panel. He also serves as the paddle sport specialist for BSA’s Sea Scouting program and was recently appointed as Branch Chief of the USCG Auxiliary’s AUXPAD paddling program. In all these roles, he strives to ensure that ACA instructors are recognized as the best source of paddle sports instruction.
Brandon Slate – Buena Vista, CO
As the owner of Rocky Mountain Outdoor Center, Brandon is quite submerged in the commercial aspects of paddle sports instruction. He is also very passionate about the environmental aspects of free-flowing rivers. As President of the Arkansas River Outfitters Association, he has worked closely with many stakeholders in the evolution of his local Voluntary Flow Management Program (VFMP). Throughout this process, Brandon has learned to be an advocate for recreational flows that can mesh with environmental, commercial, and agricultural needs. Brandon is currently an ACA Level 5: Advanced Whitewater SUP Instructor Trainer and Level 4: Whitewater Kayaking & Swiftwater Rescue Instructor.
Affiliated Organization Directors:
Charles “C.C.” Williams – Rock Hill, SC
C.C. Williams began his career in outdoor education while earning his B.S. in Recreation & Parks Management and Masters of Education at Frostburg State University in Maryland. Over the past 15 years his work as a small business owner, outdoor educator, and municipal government employee has provided him with a wide range of opportunities to hone his ability to ask meaningful questions and work as part of a team to find effective ways to maximize team strengths while identifying and meeting organizational goals and objectives. In 2011 he joined the City of Rock Hill, S.C. Parks, Recreation & Tourism Department as a Program Supervisor. While in this role he has served in a variety of leadership capacities across several departments. His special projects have included: managing a dedicated team that provided outdoor education programs, serving on the leadership team for national, international and world championship cycling events, working with the Human Resources Department to develop city-wide customer service training, and working hand-in-hand with the Rock Hill Fire Department to create and implement a self-sustaining Swiftwater Rescue Team. C.C. started Four Williams Outdoors, LLC in 2018 to meet a regional need for increased paddlesports education and to provide opportunities for his students to “learn through paddling” as they discover more about themselves, their environment, and their neighbors. His work with the ACA began in 2007 and has included several volunteer positions: Secretary for the Safety, Education & Instruction Council, voting member of the Safety & Rescue Discipline Committee, and Appalachia & Catawba Regional Representative on the South Carolina Executive Committee. Additionally, C.C. received the ACA President’s Award for his role in creating and chairing the Level 1 & Level 2 Instructor Update Symposium in 2016. He currently holds five ACA certifications: Level 3: River Safety & Rescue Instructor Trainer, Level 2: Essentials of River Kayaking Instructor Trainer, Level 4: Whitewater Kayaking Instructor, Level 4: Swiftwater Rescue Instructor, and Level 2: Essentials of SUP Instructor.
Current ACA members, please click here to cast your vote.