Annalise Povolo is a Leelanau native and the Director of Administration and Programs for the Lake Leelanau Lake Association. Growing up in the Land of Delight, Annalise gained an early appreciation for the natural beauty Leelanau County offers. She spent her summers working at Carlson’s Fishery in Fishtown, where she learned at a young age about our dependence on natural resources and how their fluctuations affected the livelihoods of those who depend on them. This early life lesson set in action a desire to protect the environment, especially in the place she called home.
Annalise earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in Environmental Studies with a specialization in fisheries and aquatics. She spent several years afterwards working, teaching, scuba diving, and traveling the world, eventually completing her master’s degree at the University of Bremen, Germany in International Studies in Tropical Aquatic Ecology before bringing what she learned abroad back to Northern Michigan in 2022.
A water person at heart, Annalise spends her summers on and under the water, leading the Lake Leelanau Lake Association’s scuba dive team controlling aquatic invasive species in Lake Leelanau. During the rest of the year, she directs the Association’s programs working to protect the watershed’s health, educates the community on how to be stewards of the water, and collaborates with other local organizations and non-profits to tackle common environmental issues.
Annalise firmly believes that one must learn to love something before learning how to protect it. With that as a guide, she is passionate about contributing to the LC Collective’s mission of engaging the next generation of Leelanau County stewards.
