Photos above (clockwise from top left): Hugh Hilliard (photo by Michelle Ryan), Jen Sass (photo by Danny Stock), Ginny DeSeau, Marilyn Jones
Statement from Hugh Hilliard
To serve as Chair
My first contacts with CCA occurred when I was a teenager living in Atlanta, GA. My Scout troop and later Explorer post traveled up to West Virginia to participate in whitewater races sponsored by CCA and experience some exceptional rivers—including the Lower Yough, the New, the Gauley, and the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac—led by some CCA members. I was impressed by the CCA's efforts to introduce whitewater paddling to new participants and advance the sport in the United States. I eventually moved to DC and, after a long break from paddling, picked up the sport again and joined CCA. Over the past few years, I've enjoyed building friendships with many CCA members and spending time together outside on the rivers in our backyard.
It is an honor to be nominated to join the ranks of so many former leaders of the CCA. They are hard acts to follow, but I welcome the opportunity—and challenge—to give back to this amazing organization and to help it to move forward in a changing world.
My most important goal for the CCA is to expand its outreach to new members by introducing novices to the sport and bringing existing paddlers into the CCA fold. I propose to reach out to existing and potential new members and to other organizations for ideas on how the CCA can best serve the paddling community in the greater Washington area. How can we better communicate with other paddling enthusiasts, including through enhanced use of different platforms? What needs are out there that are not being filled? How can we inform other paddlers about some of the things the CCA is doing that would be useful to them, such as addressing river access issues and advocating for efforts to protect our rivers? How can we provide more opportunities for families and young people to participate in paddling activities, serve the racing community as well as various types of recreational paddlers, and make sure we are welcoming for everyone? How can we continue to provide—and enhance—our offerings of trips that meet the interests, abilities, and schedules of diverse groups of paddlers, as well as instructional programs on skills and safety?
I have some ideas on how to answer these questions, but I'm sure that other current and future CCA members will have some excellent suggestions that would not have occurred to me. By drawing on the talents and efforts of many dedicated CCA members and leaders, I hope to find ways to stay true to the legacy of the CCA that has been built since its founding almost 70 years ago and make the CCA even more relevant in the future.
Statement from Jen Sass
To serve as Secretary
Thank you for considering my nomination for Secretary of CCA. I have held the pen, so to speak, as Secretary of CCA in the recent past (2017- 2020, 2023-2025), so my note-taking skills have been tested and found acceptable.
During my time on the Board I have supported our successful lawsuit to protect paddler access to the GW Canal and Seneca Breaks (2019), for which we were awarded the prestigious ACA Green Paddle Award (2019). More recently, I was pleased to support CCA's administrative comments to EPA opposing rollbacks to Greenhouse Gas Emissions regulations (2025).
As a volunteer helping to keep paddlers and waterways safe, I was also a longtime volunteer with Potomac Paddlers Volunteer Corps, National Park Service, until the program was disbanded (2016-2019). I am a whitewater kayak instructor with Calleva River School (since 2012). I am on the Board of WV Rivers (since 2022).
In my non-kayaking life, I work as an environmental health scientist for NRDC (since 2001) and am on faculty at GW University in the Occupational and Environmental Health Department.
I live with my husband, Michael Graham, our two cats and one pet bunny, and am a regular plasma donor at the American Red Cross. If you need meeting minutes, kayak instruction, or blood products, please consider me.
Statement from Marilyn Jones
To serve as Treasurer
I would like to serve another year as CCA’s Treasurer to support this great club and its members. Paddling rivers and making friends through whitewater clubs have been a source of great joy throughout my adult life.
Statement from Ginny DeSeau
To serve as Membership Chair
I have always loved playing in the water – from a dad-built raft on a pond to my whitewater solo canoe to self-bailing inflatables (self-bailing being the best part) on Western whitewater. What an amazing way to see a beautiful part of our world—plus or minus adrenaline. Then there is the great part of meeting people who can become important—or at least interesting—parts of our lives. Despite deteriorating joints (primarily knees for us whitewater canoeists), there remains the comradery of being a member of an active club that brings together people of like minds. I’m honored to remain a part of this organization that continues to offer adventures and friendships. In all my various roles as a CCA volunteer, I truly appreciate the team efforts that bring and hold this club together. I will be happy to continue to work with old and new friends to continue CCA's efforts on behalf of the paddling community and conservation.