Oct 24, 2023

BoatUS Foundation program supervisor and National Safe Boating Council chairman Alan Dennison

BoatUS Foundation for Boating Safety and Clean Water program supervisor Alan Dennison has been elected chairman of the National Safe Boating Council (NSBC). Created in its current form by the United States’ Federal Boating Safety Act of 1971, the Council is the nation’s principal public-private boating safety advocacy organization, representing a coalition of more than 330 U.S. and international member organizations. Its mission is to promote a safer recreational boating experience through education, outreach and training.

A Chesapeake Bay boater, Dennison began at the BoatUS Foundation in 2015 and joined the NSBC board as secretary in 2017. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit Foundation is the boating safety and clean water “sister” to the nearly 800,000-member Boat Owners Association of The United States (BoatUS).

Dennison’s election signifies the seventh time a BoatUS Foundation staff member has held the NSBC chair post since BoatUS founder Richard Schwartz signed the charter which created the current NSBC, and has included Foundation presidents Ruth Wood, Jim Ellis and Chris Edmonston. “It really humbles me to be following in the footsteps of these great boating safety leaders, and it shows our long-standing commitment to our NSBC partnership,” said Dennison.

“I have to thank outgoing chairman Robert Newsome for his mentorship, which helped lead me to this important boating safety post,” said Dennison. Newsome, the National Marine Manufacturer Association’s senior vice president of operations, remains as NSBC immediate past chair. The full slate of newly elected NSBC board members can be found here.

Dennison says he hopes to strengthen the BoatUS Foundation-NSBC partnership and is excited about growing curriculum for on-water training course instructors and students. “One of the important items required for expanding the availability of affordable on-water boat handling training is to ensure we have a consistent curriculum coast-to-coast,” added Dennison.

NSBC is also the American organizer of National Safe Boating Week (May 18-24, 2024) and the “Wear It” life jacket promotional program. It offers a series of safe boating courses for instructors and the boating public, research publications, educational tools, and informative boating safety newsletter. Visit SafeBoatingCouncil.org for more. To find an affordable on-water training course near you, go to BoatUS.org/On-Water.