Mark Singleton joined American Whitewater as Executive Director in November of 2004. Under Mark's leadership, American Whitewater's historically strong conservation and access program has been refocused and transformed into River Stewardship, an integrated approach to the mission work of American Whitewater. Stewardship recognizes the organizations ongoing commitment to the rivers we work to restore and protect.

▪ Stewardship is an umbrella that covers the major project areas of AW.

▪ Stewardship is the process for an integrated approach to AW mission work.

▪ Stewardship includes an educational approach and tools for turning recreational users into conservation advocates.

▪ Stewardship builds partnerships with land management agencies.

▪ Stewardship enhances the public perception of boaters.

River stewardship embraces a regional model. American Whitewater is successfully building relationships within communities to improve the quality and quantity of whitewater recreation and conservation in their backyards. Local staff and board representation, coupled with empowered volunteers, makes American Whitewater more effective fulfilling our mission “to conserve and restore America’s whitewater resources and to enhance opportunities to enjoy them safely.”

Mark is also the current Chairman of the Outdoor Alliance, a coalition of six human-powered outdoor recreation groups. The six membership groups of Outdoor Alliance have a long tradition of preserving public access to America's Outdoors. They work together to protect the places we care about with a goal of making a difference — for today and tomorrow. Members of the Outdoor Alliance include: Access Fund, American Canoe Association, American Hiking Society American Whitewater, International Mountain Bicycling Association, and Winter Wildlands Alliance. Collectively, the Outdoor Alliance has members in all fifty states and a network of almost 1,400 local clubs and advocacy groups across the nation. The coalition represents the millions of Americans who hike, paddle, climb, mountain bike, ski and snowshoe on our nation’s public lands and waters.

Singleton has over two decades of involvement in the marketing of outdoor activities and nature based tourism. From 1990 to 2003 Singleton led the marketing efforts of Nantahala Outdoor Center as Marketing Vice President. He is also a past board member of the Outdoor Industry Association. For seven years he represented the interests of outdoor recreation on the North Carolina Division of Travel and Tourism Board.

Mark and his wife Debby, a faculty member at Western Carolina University, and their two daughters (Mckayla age 8 and Skyler age 10) live in Cullowhee, NC.