About Us > Our Board > Tracy Brown

Tracy Brown

President and Hudson Riverkeeper

President and Hudson Riverkeeper Tracy Brown became President and Hudson Riverkeeper in 2021. She is the fourth person to lead the organization as President since its founding in 1966 as the Hudson River Fishermen’s Association. A recognized leader in clean water advocacy, Brown brings a multidisciplinary approach to Riverkeeper, prioritizing data-driven, community-oriented strategies to realize our mission.

She previously served as Regional Director of Water Protection at Save the Sound, a 40-year-old organization that leads environmental action in the Long Island Sound region of New York and Connecticut. In 2014, Brown established the organization’s New York office, which works at the intersection of science, community engagement, and public policy to deliver science-based projects that protect Long Island Sound and increase community resilience. During her tenure, she established water quality monitoring programs and reporting tools that helped increase federal funding to the Sound estuary program tenfold. She integrated the Long Island Soundkeeper into Save the Sound, continuing and expanding upon the legacy of a fellow Waterkeeper organization.

Prior to joining Save the Sound, Brown worked at Hudson Riverkeeper for seven years. She was instrumental in developing Riverkeeper’s water quality monitoring programs between 2009 and 2014, and its communications efforts between 2007 and 2009. Among other achievements, she was an architect of New York’s Sewage Pollution Right to Know Law, enacted in 2013, which led to a historic state reinvestment in our sewage infrastructure.

A resident of Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., Brown is a founder of the Peabody Preserve Outdoor Classroom, a nature preserve for hands-on, outdoor education for the students of the Tarrytown-Sleepy Hollow public schools. She has served on numerous boards and policy committees and is currently co-chair of the Water Committee for the Westchester County Climate Crisis Task Force.

Earlier in her career she worked in the fields of fine art, web design, interactive media and community organizing. She is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design.