Mike Riley, longtime executive director of The Environmental Center who has served on the Bend City Council since 2022, is stepping down from his post at the nonprofit.

The Environmental Center’s Board of Directors announced Monday that Riley would be departing after 17 years leading the organization.

“It’s really about making way for someone else,” said Riley, 64. “All organizations need to have change in leadership to grow and evolve over time.”

He added: “We have a really strong staff right now. I’m really excited to see where they take the organization.”

The Environmental Center focuses on environmental sustainability, advocacy and education, spearheading programs like community and school gardens and waste-reduction initiatives. The group also advocates for transportation, energy and climate policy on the local and state level.

The organization grew tremendously by expanding programs and stepping into the policy arena under Riley’s leadership, said Board President Ryan Bellinson in a news release.

“Mike’s leadership has been transformative for The Environmental Center,” Bellinson said.  “He will be greatly missed.”

Riley was elected to the Bend City Council in 2022. Before that he served on committees that guided Bend’s transportation policy and the city’s 2016 urban growth boundary expansion. Many of the topics the nonprofit has addressed with advocacy — like reducing carbon emissions and creating bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure — overlapped with discussions at City Hall.

Riley moved to Bend in 1997 and joined The Environmental Center in 2008 as executive director. Prior to that, he was the leader of a different nonprofit focused on recycling that merged with The Environmental Center.

As the organization looks for a new leader, Riley will stay on as part-time director for the next six months to help oversee renovations at its downtown Bend headquarters on Kansas Avenue. The renovations won’t change the 100-year-old building in any major way, but will update it for ADA and energy efficiency.