Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper Staff & Directors

Jill Spisiak Jedlicka

Executive Director & Waterkeeper

Jill has been with the organization since 2003 and has served as the Executive Director of the non-profit since 2012. Prior to this, she served as the organization’s Director of Ecological Programs for a decade, and five years in the Erie County Department of Environment and Planning.

Over the past 25 years, Jill has helped secure and implement over $250 million in federal, state, local and private investments towards local initiatives throughout Western New York that have contributed to the region’s waterfront and economic resurgence. Specifically, this includes the toxic sediment clean-up of the Buffalo River, large scale habitat restoration, water quality improvement projects, public access, climate and coastal resiliency, and Great Lakes policy.

Under her leadership, in 2015, Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper was awarded the North American Riverprize, an international competition for excellence in watershed and river system management. Then, in 2016 in New Delhi, India, the organization was also awarded the Thiess International Riverprize, a prestigious global recognition. Since 2016, two Governors have appointed Jill to represent New York State and serve on the Board of Directors of the Great Lakes Protection Fund, a private endowment that provides working capital for innovators to identify, demonstrate and promote regional action to enhance the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Over the years, Jill has emerged as a highly visible and respected community leader and has received numerous regional and national recognitions. This includes being honored as a Buffalo Business First “Woman of Influence” in 2022. She has also been honored as a Buffalo Business First “40 under 40” awardee and listed in Buffalo Business First’s “Power Women” ranking each of the last ten years. Jill has been highlighted in Buffalo Spree Magazine twice, the first as the 2017 cover for “People of the Year” edition and again in the May 2026 edition. In 2018, Jill was recognized as a NYS Women Inc. honoree for “Women in Leadership”. In 2019 she was identified as one of 20 global “Waterkeeper Warriors” in which she appeared on the cover of the international Waterkeeper Magazine.

Jill has a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Studies and a Masters in Business Administration both from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She is a Western New York native, and along with her husband and two children, is dedicated to protecting and exploring the region’s natural resources.