As the Tomorrow’s Water Coordinator, Lily uses storytelling and communications strategies to highlight playa and water conservation efforts throughout the region and engage communities to include playas in water management plans. She currently manages a National Fish and Wildlife Foundation grant project focused on expanding Tomorrow’s Water to communities across Kansas, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and Oklahoma.
Lily first joined PLJV in 2020 as the Communications Specialist and transitioned to Playa Conservation Communications Manager in 2022, focusing much of her time on the Tomorrow’s Water project, developing the community guide, and writing the first iteration of a multi-state grant to expand the project across the region. After a short break to lead communications and marketing for a conservation nonprofit in Charleston, South Carolina, Lily returned to PLJV in 2025 as the Tomorrow’s Water Coordinator.
Lily was originally interested in PLJV because she wanted to work for an organization that would allow her to use her communication skills to help conserve the natural world. She continues to enjoy her work because of the variety — in projects and the landscape — and the staff’s creativity in developing solutions to conservation challenges.
Before coming to PLJV, she worked in communications for an international nonprofit and also has experience working in a newsroom setting. Lily graduated from the University of Iowa in 2017 where she holds dual degrees in Journalism and International Studies and a minor in Spanish.