Alex Matthiessen
[1] Matthiessen began his activist career in 1990 as the grassroots program director for the Rainforest Action Network in San Francisco.From 1995 to 1996, Matthiessen worked for the Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) as a macroeconomic policy analyst in the Indonesian Ministry of Finance.He managed a multi-agency task force charged with reforming the hydropower licensing process of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.[3] Under Matthiessen's leadership, Riverkeeper joined forces with institutions such as Lamont–Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University School of Law, and Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, to enhance scientific understanding of the Hudson River, as well as stop what it views as ill-conceived development projects along the waterfront.[1] In 2006, Matthiessen served on New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer’s transition team as an advisor on the new administration's goals for energy and environmental policy.