Western Leaders Network

What it reported doing in 2025

Western Leaders Network (WLN) and Appalachian Leaders Network (ALN) mobilize local, tribal, and state elected and appointed officials across the Interior West and Ohio River Valley to address the climate crisis, advance conservation initiatives, and protect democracy. By equipping officials with peer networks, strategic resources, and targeted engagement opportunities, WLN builds the collective capacity of more than 1,000 leaders across 11 states Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming to make an impact at the local, state, and federal levels. WLN focuses particularly on rural and extractive-industry-dependent communities in the Interior West and Appalachia that are often underserved by federal policymakers and disproportionately vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. It operates from the conviction that environmental protection and democratic participation are mutually reinforcing: when democracy is undermined, environmental progress stalls, and when communities bear the brunt of climate change without recourse, democratic institutions weaken. New Significant Program ServicesIn 2025, WLN meaningfully expanded its democracy program, raising dedicated funding and initiating the hiring of a new program coordinator to implement expanded democracy programming beginning in 2026. This expansion builds on candidate education work that began in 2022 and grew into a sustained program focused on supporting free, fair, and safe elections; helping local governments and election officials coordinate with state agencies; and addressing election interference and voter suppression. WLN also organized officials in both the Interior West and Ohio River Valley to submit public comments opposing a federal voter registration rulemaking that would have disenfranchised millions of eligible voters. Significant Changes to Existing Programs In June 2025, Liane Jollon joined WLN as Executive Director following the January 2025 departure of founder and long-time Executive Director Gwen Lachelt. Program Director Jessica Pace served as interim executive director during the transition period. Ms. Jollon brings more than 25 years of executive leadership experience in nonprofit and governmental organizations, including extensive public health sector leadership. WLN also expanded its board of directors, welcoming Pittsburgh City Councilor Erika Strassburger, who leads ALN's advisory council, and former Executive Director Gwen Lachelt as new members, deepening expertise and connectivity between the Western and Appalachian regional networks. In October, WLN convened an in-person board and staff retreat to plan programmatic expansion for 2026.Environmental ProgrammingWLN's environmental program engages local, tribal, and state elected officials across the Interior West and Ohio River Valley in climate and environmental policy advocacy at the federal, state, and local levels. The program organizes officials to participate in rulemakings, legislative campaigns, public comment processes, and media engagement; provides resources and peer connections to support locally driven environmental action; and amplifies officials' voices through its Western Leaders Voices and Appalachian Leaders Voices initiative, which helps officials publish opinion editorials and letters in regional and national news outlets.In 2025, WLN organized officials across both networks to engage in more than a dozen federal and state policy processes. In Colorado, WLN organized public testimony and submitted a letter signed by more than 40 state and local officials supporting a rule to cut methane from landfills the state's third-largest source of the greenhouse gas which the Colorado Air Quality Control Commission (AQCC) adopted in December 2025. WLN also organized officials to advocate before the Colorado Public Utilities Commission, which in December finalized a clean heat plan with 41% emissions reduction targets by 2035

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 99.8%; rating input score 100
• Program expense ratio: 69.8%; rating input score 70
• Fundraising efficiency: $4.18 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: Limited
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Missing
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -42.9%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.6; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 40.7%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 10.6% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 8.2% per year; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 15.4% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings