Client Spotlight: Governance Coordinating Committee

Client Spotlight: Governance Coordinating Committee

The Governance Coordinating Committee (GCC) of the National Ocean Council serves as a key coordinating body on inter-jurisdictional ocean policy issues, and is made up of 18 members from states, tribes and local governments from around the country. CEO of the Cher-Ae Heights Indian Community of the Trinidad Rancheria Jacque Hostler is one of three tribal representatives to the GCC. She is working to reach out to West Coast tribal communities to raise awareness on the importance of waterway sustainability, GIS data collection, and policy development.

President Barack Obama signed an executive order to create the GCC and a National Policy to ensure the future sustainability of the ocean, our coasts and the Great Lakes. The several members of the National Ocean Council are top federal officials from different agencies, including NASA and the EPA.

The outreach and the GCC is part of The White House’s response to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, an event that demonstrated how much we rely on healthy and resilient ocean and coastal ecosystems everyday. This outreach effort is intended to tell all tribal stories in all regions of the country.