Board of Directors
Lindsay Cleal
Lindsay Cleal grew up in Western Montana and mowed yards during the summer at age 7 to buy his first fly fishing equipment. With a decent trout stream right in the front yard, it didn’t take long to start what would become a lifelong pursuit. After moving to Washington before starting High School, Puget Sound, bigger rivers and bigger fish soon became more captivating. The steelhead bug set in during his later years of college. After connecting with a wild buck on the Olympic Peninsula, the rest is history. Cleal works in finance and outside of his business dedicates time to family, friends and wild steelhead conservation.
David Conrad
A life-long outdoor enthusiast and conservationist, David grew up in the mountains of Idaho, Montana, and Colorado where he spent most of his formative years chasing snow to feed his snowboarding addiction. After graduating with a degree in media studies and communication he moved to the West coast where he's built a career as a designer, manager, and leader over the last twenty-five years – working for both big tech and mom-and-pops alike. Though he fly fished throughout his life, his arrival to the world of steelhead was late, but decisive. He's used that late-arrival as an opportunity to bring new perspectives in advocating for wild fish and the habitat they depend on.
Derek DAY
Derek has built a life around Washington State’s wild spaces, wildlife, and wild steelhead. Derek was born and raised in Washington, picked up a fishing rod not long after he could walk, and began advocating for fish and clean water. After studying environmental policy, he pursued a career in natural resources and environmental protection, working for state and tribal agencies—whether in a boat, waist-deep in a river, or at a desk behind a computer, Derek is chasing steelhead or working to protect them. Derek currently resides in B+ Olympia, Washington, with his partner Maria and their two Canadian River Dingoes.
Josh Mills
Growing up, Josh Mills was always obsessed with the outdoors, fishing and hunting. At the age of 19 he caught his first steelhead and never looked back. Residing in Spokane, Washington he spends as much time standing in the inland steelhead rivers such as the Grande Ronde, Clearwater and Snake, as possible. Working in marketing and advertising, he's happily married and is the proud father of two young boys. Mills is excited to share the wonderment of the outdoors, public lands and steelhead with his children for years and years to come. Leaving better opportunities for his family and future generation drives his passion for steelhead conservation
Jenny O’Brien
Jenny O'Brien was born and raised in the outdoors of the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Growing up, her grandfather and dad exposed her to fly fishing. In her late 20s, she came back to the sport and immersed herself in the lifestyle. Her passion for angling led her to explore regional fisheries and learn more about their species, namely steelhead in the Deschutes River. Hearing stories of the glory days of large steelhead runs and the plight these amazing fish face today led Jenny to learn more about the species and where she could give back to protect them. All it took was connecting with one wild steelhead, and Jenny’s world was forever changed, knowing she needed to do her part to advocate for them. With a professional background in sales and marketing, Jenny finds respite on the river from the corporate world. She believes it is our implied duty to advocate for the fish and rivers that give us so much and for future generations to know these special species, too.
Jim schmitz
Jim Schmitz (AKA: “J.P.”) is a Northwest native and identical twin who has been obsessed with all things fish for over 40 years. Schmitz’s early years were spent fishing the San Juan Islands, British Columbia and the rivers of the Northwest. His time spent on the water led him to study fisheries and forest ecology at the University of Washington. He later went on to earn a Master’s in Education, but only used it to teach people how to cast and untangle knots. Schmitz spent his summers throughout college and into his late 20’s guiding fly anglers around Idaho. During this time, Schmitz began volunteering for the Nature Conservancy and Idaho Rivers United. Schmitz’s passion for steelhead and their future got him involved early on with the Wild Steelhead Coalition. Today, Schmitz runs a precision machine shop in Tacoma, Washington and spends as much time as possible with his wife, three kids and friends. Aside from his advocacy work through the Wild Steelhead Coalition, Schmitz enjoys time on Puget Sound, in the mountains skiing, hunting birds, tying flies, cooking, and tending to the family garden.
rich simms
Rich Simms is a lifelong angler from the Pacific Northwest with a passion for steelhead since his childhood growing up around the great streams and waters of the Olympic Peninsula. Simms is a founding board member of the Wild Steelhead Coalition, where he saw the need for a focused wild steelhead conservation group. Since then he has helped grow the wild steelhead conservation effort, build a community, and change the trajectory of wild steelhead. Simms was named Conservationist of the Year by Fly Fisherman Magazine and Sage for his unrelenting efforts to conserve wild steelhead for present and future generations. He has served on and donated his time to many state boards regarding steelhead management. Simms’ professional background includes a career in Industrial Design and User Experience. He now applies his creative and analytical thinking, along with a dash of dogged persistence, to steelhead conservation issues.
ed sozinHo
Ed Sozinho grew up in the Central Valley of California where he spent all his free time backpacking the Sierra’s and chasing fish with his fly rod. In college he acquired a copy of Lani Waller’s steelhead videos. Those videos, along with hooking his first steelhead in northern California, propelled him to move to Seattle in 1994 to fish for steelhead and hike the state’s great mountains. Sozinho is a commercial photographer and award-winning architect that calls Seattle his home with his wife and daughter. The continued downward spiral of wild steelhead populations has forced him into service to try and help however he can to reestablish and protect steelhead across their natural environment.
greg topf
Greg Topf chairs the Wild Steelhead Coalition board of Directors. He grew up in Oregon combing the creeks and rivers of the West Cascades and Willamette Valley in search of native salmonids great and small. After his day job drove him to mark time on the East Coast and overseas, he returned to his roots in the Pacific Northwest to raise a family, start a new career, and give back to our region by showing up to help restore wild steelhead. After spending a good chunk of his career both numbing and sharpening his mind in corporate finance and business operations, Greg earned a MS in Applied Statistics and now leads business analytics work in the mobile telecom industry. He is all-in to unleashing the talents of everyone who cares about native species on the Pacific Coast and collaborating with stakeholders across the board to restore wild steelhead.
Guy Fleischer - Science Advisor
Guy Fleischer grew up in Colorado and learned to fish at an early age. His experiences in the outdoors instilled a lifelong interest in science and inspired him to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in Fishery Biology. Early in his career, Guy worked for the state fish agencies in Colorado and Wyoming before heading to the Midwest for graduate school. In the Great Lakes, Fleischer worked on various fish management and fish ecology issues, including research in support of treaty-based fishing rights and as a federal agency research biologist. His knowledge of fish stock assessments and experience with fisheries acoustic technologies brought him to Seattle, where he worked for NOAA and took advantage of the opportunities across the Pacific Northwest to chase wild steelhead. After 34 years in fisheries science, Guy officially retired in 2016 and is now using his extensive expertise to advise the Wild Steelhead Coalition Board.
WSC Staff
Brian Bennett
As a passionate fly fisherman who first cut his teeth plying the rivers and lakes of Colorado and Wyoming, Brian Bennett was unaware of the allure of wild steelhead and the myriad of challenges they face. All that changed in 2004 when he and his family relocated to Washington state where he quickly embraced the challenge of chasing steelhead on the fly and advocating on their behalf. As a veteran of the outdoor industry with over three decades of experience, his track record of transforming strategic plans into powerful realities has been a valuable asset to WSC’s board and the protection of wild steelhead.