Bart Mihailovich

Actions speak louder than words. Bart Mihailovich is so passionate about protecting the Spokane River, he combines actions and words to advance the cause.

Some say Bart Mihailovich has a lion’s courage, a driven desire to make the lives of others around him better and the humility to take issues that are important, but not sexy, and champion them. He has dedicated his entire career to making the world cleaner, smarter and more sustainable.

His passion for environmental issues has often come through in his writing, beginning with his days at EWU. While earning his BA in English, Bart was a reporter for the Easterner student newspaper. Since he graduated in 2006, he has written stories for the university’s Eastern and DiscoverE magazines. In 2007, he founded an environmental issues and reporting blog, Down To Earth.

From 2010 to July 2014, Bart served as the Spokane Riverkeeper for the Spokane-based legal advocacy organization, Center for Justice. In that position, he helped protect and restore the health of the Spokane River watershed by collaborating with and educating community members, and litigating when necessary. Today, he is the affiliate coordinator for Waterkeeper Alliance, a global environmental association uniting more than 200 Waterkeeper organizations around the world, each dedicated to a particular body of water. Waterkeeper Alliance members emphasize citizen advocacy to promote swimmable, drinkable, and fishable waters.

Bart still finds time to be an active Eagle 4 Life. He was one of the founding committee members of the Young Professionals Networking group, attends all EWU football games and many basketball games, has Eagle license plates, married a fellow Eagle, and is now one of the newest members of the EWU Alumni Association Board. Congratulations, Bart, on earning the 2014 Inspirational Young Alumnus Award.