Jamie S. Weitzel joined MEC’s staff as deputy policy director in April. She will take over responsibilities for Kate Madigan, who transitions into a part-time role as a grants writer.

Prior to joining MEC, Jamie worked as an environmental lawyer in Washington DC, where she worked on cases involving wetlands, underground storage tanks and federal criminal investigations under a wide range of environmental statutes.

But after helping her husband-to-be, Dan Scripps, run for the Michigan Legislature in the 101st District, Weitzel realized she wanted to transition from lawyer to lobbyist. “We’re not winning a lot of battles in the courts—and that’s an understatement,” she said. “So litigation doesn’t seem to be the answer, and it occurred to me that lobbying is where more victories are happening.”

Weitzel hopes her role at MEC—to coordinate key campaigns among MEC member groups and work with Michigan’s elected officials to strengthen the state’s environmental protections—will generate some of those triumphs. “Industry has armies of lobbyists, so we’re never going to win because we have more money. But we can win by having a better message and knowing how they think,” she said.

A Michigan native, Weitzel grew up in Grand Rapids and earned her law and bachelor’s degrees from the University of Michigan. She also has a master’s degree from North Central College in Naperville IL.

Weitzel now lives in Haslett with her two cats, Xavi and Saul, and will marry Scripps—who plans to run for the legislature again in 2008—in Traverse City on Oct. 6.

—Katie Coleman, MEC