Impact at CLIPI
After graduating from NYU Law School as a Root-Tilden Fellow, Marcus clerked for Ninth Circuit Judge Harry Pregerson. During her tenure at CLIPI as a fellow from 1984 - 86, Marcus represented the Coalition to Stop Dumping Sewage into the Ocean, which later evolved into the nonprofit organization Heal the Bay. She also worked on the Hillside Federation case, which mandated LA City to bring its zoning into conformity with the applicable community plan.
Following CLIPI, Marcus worked for Public Counsel and Munger, Tolles & Olson. She was appointed by Mayor Bradley to serve as the President of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works, overseeing the city’s infrastructure projects. In the Clinton Administration, she was appointed Regional Administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region IX managing environmental programs in the Pacific Southwest. After the EPA, she served as COO at the Trust for Public Lands and as Western Director of NRDC. Governor Brown appointed her to the California State Water Resources Control Board, where, as chairperson, she oversaw the state’s water quality and water rights policies. Currently, Marcus is the William C. Landreth Visiting Fellow at Stanford University’s Water in the West program and has held some of the most influential roles in environmental and water policy in California. She is also an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and the American College of Environmental Lawyers.
