Hi Friend,
If you are a whistleblower, or an advocate for whistleblowers, a highlight of your year is National Whistleblower Day (NWD), celebrated each year on July 30 to commemorate the enactment of the nation’s first whistleblower law in 1778. Yesterday, my first NWD celebration as Executive Director of the National Whistleblower Center, certainly was a highlight of my year so far.
Roughly 250 members of the whistleblower community, including key champions from Congress and the federal agencies, came together for this signature National Whistleblower Center event.
Today I am more inspired than ever by the courage of whistleblowers and more optimistic than ever about what we can accomplish together in our fight to preserve democracy and the rule of law.
One of the many ways that whistleblowers can help improve our world is helping to combat illegal wildlife trafficking. This transnational crime is accelerating and threatening to wipe away thousands of species, including iconic species such as elephants and rhinos, in a single generation. We have a moral obligation to our children and grandchildren, and to the countless communities that depend on healthy ecosystems for their economic survival, to do what we can to turn this situation around.
Stopping illegal trafficking depends on those with information about wildlife crimes – the whistleblowers – to be given the support they need. As discussed below, now is the time for National Whistleblower Center supporters to get involved. A key wildlife whistleblower law is stalled in the U.S. House of Representatives. Please join us in our efforts to get this bill moving so we can enlist more whistleblowers in the fight against illegal wildlife trafficking.
Sincerely,
John Kostyack
Executive Director
