Walt Disney Company Executive to lead Keep California Beautiful Board
Kristine M. McNamara, elected to serve as the 4th President of the Board

Sacramento, Calif. (PRWEB) – Keep California Beautiful (KCB) is proud to announce Kristine McNamara, Vice President of Corporate Environmental Policy for The Walt Disney Company, was unanimously elected to serve as President of the Board of Directors after serving six years on their executive committee. Effective May 1, she will succeed Paul Dickinson who is with the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Recruiting Programs Division. As a nonprofit environmental organization, KCB’s mission is to promote individual, community and corporate responsibility for California’s environment through source reduction, litter prevention, recycling, and beautification. KCB pursues this mission by developing public/private partnerships at the state level as a way to provide necessary resources to local communities. Assistance to communities includes providing tools and materials to support the recruitment of volunteers; implement recycling programs for school, venues and events; and community improvement through beautification efforts.

The Walt Disney Company has been a long term sponsor of KCB, supporting cleanup activities throughout the years. In 2007, during a three month period KCB and its partners supported more than 1130 cleanup and recycling events and mobilized about 97,500 volunteers who collected nearly 2.5 million pounds of litter while cleaning 3,909 miles of highways and roadsides as well as 132 acres of parks and 76 miles of rivers lakes and shoreline. This ongoing support prompted other partners and sponsors to increase participation. On March 4, 2008 Keep California Beautiful and its state agency partners including State Parks, Caltrans, California Highway Patrol, California Integrated Waste Management Board, Department of Toxic Substance Control, and the Bureau of Reclamation; with sponsorship from American Chemistry Council, hosted the California Statewide Litter Cleanup, Enforcement and Beautification Day which served as the Kick Off for the Keep America Beautiful Great American CleanupTM.

“It has been an honor and great pleasure over these past seventeen years to work together with the members of the Board, our Executive Directors and our partners toward our common objectives for Keep California Beautiful, “said Mr. Dickinson. “It has been particularly rewarding for me to serve as President of the Board for the past six years. Now, as I move into retirement, I am very pleased that Kris McNamara has accepted the Board's call to become the next President. I leave confident that KCB will be moving on to even greater achievements.” When ask why she accepted the nomination, Ms. McNamara said, “This is an exciting time – environmental issues are and will continue to be at the forefront of our core objectives. There are numerous opportunities for success – working collaboratively with individuals, communities and businesses to promote environmental responsibility. I’m pleased to be part of KCB’s efforts to Keep California Beautiful and I look forward to this exciting opportunity, working together, ensuring that generations to come will enjoy the beauty of this truly Golden State.”

Ms. McNamara brings valuable experience and quality leadership skills to the KCB Board. Throughout Kris’ tenure with Disney, marketing, synergy and partnerships have been key elements to her success building and sustaining positive programs and initiatives that make a difference for the The Walt Disney Company, and make a difference in preserving and protecting the environment for future generations. As Vice President of Corporate Environmental Policy for The Walt Disney Company, she is responsible for guiding policy development, as well working on the implementation of companywide environmental initiatives that reduce Disney’s global environmental footprint. She also has had direct involvement working with an executive-level environmental council that oversees the implementation of a global environmental platform and a world-class environmental policy for The Walt Disney Company.

Ms. McNamara has also served as a board member on several executive and advisory boards, committees and panels besides KCB. For seven years she chaired the Environmental Allocation Fund for the Entertainment Media Association (EMA), reviewing local and national Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) grant applications and approved the distribution of their annual environmental fund. She is a current Panel Member on the Conservation Funds Children and Nature Grant Program: identifying 20 programs that will receive funding to help counterbalance the Children Nature Deficient Disorder – getting kids outdoors to discover the fun and wonders of nature and to improve their quality of life.

KCB partnerships promote source reduction, reuse and recycling of a wide variety of materials including: beverage containers, cell phones, polystyrene transport packaging, shopping bags, and universal waste. “Kris’s experience with the integration of environmental best business practices into numerous Disney business units, such as ESPN X Games; development of an alternative commute program with well-over 15,000 Cast Members and employees participating; and particularly the development of partnership programs, Disney’s Environmentality and WOW-Wonderful Outdoor World, encouraging students to become more aware and better stewards of the environment is invaluable,” according to Christine Flower-Ewing, Executive Director of KCB. “That coupled with her experience on a variety of advisory boards and grant allocation panels and experience in collaborative projects will be instrumental to leading the KCB Board of Directors forward in its mission. She will be wonderful to work with as we redefine and reshape the organization.”