Everglades Foundation Increases Board

Posted on 07. May, 2010 by Howard Salus in Everglades, Florida News

Everglades Foundation Names Four New Members to its Growing Board of Directors

The Everglades Foundation recently appointed four new members to its board of directors to help the organization advance its mission of Everglades restoration.

“We are pleased to have identified such top-notch board members who have the time and energy to dedicate to ensuring the success of the world’s largest ecosystem restoration project,” said Kirk Fordham, CEO, Everglades Foundation. “These new board members all bring new energy, ideas and a personal network of contacts that aid our cause.”

Christopher H. Buckley, a resident of Islamorada, Fla., was formerly a partner at Washington, D.C.-based Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, one of the largest law firms in the United States. He served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of the Environmental Law Institute. Buckley also was president of the Barker Foundation, a non-profit adoption agency in Washington, D. C. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Atlantic Salmon Federation where he represented the organization in its successful petition to have the Atlantic salmon listed as an endangered species. Buckley graduated from Harvard Law School and is a member of the Ristigouche Salmon Club.

Barbara Whitney Carr, a resident of Hobe Sound, Fla., and Lake Forest, Ill., co-chairs the Everglades Foundation’s advisory board committee and has extensive leadership with several non-profit organizations. Carr has served as president of the Chicago Botanic Garden and Lincoln Park Zoological Society. She helped create the Academic Affairs Program at the Botanic Garden and teamed with Northwestern University, the Illinois Institute of Technology and the University of Illinois to develop several outstanding academic programs. Carr earned a degree from Denison University in Ohio, an M.A. from the Illinois Institute of Technology in Landscape Architecture and an M.S. from Northwestern University in Plant Biology and Conservation.

David Lawrence, Jr., is the former publisher of The Miami Herald and a resident of Coral Gables, Fla. In addition to his position on the Everglades Foundation board, he currently serves as president of The Early Childhood Initiative Foundation and “University Scholar for Early Childhood Development and Readiness,” at the University of Florida. He is also a board member of the Foundation for Child Development in New York and the Executive Advisory Board for the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute of the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. In addition, he is a board member and former chair of the Early Learning Coalition of Miami-Dade and Monroe. In 2002, he led the campaign for The Children’s Trust, a dedicated source of early intervention care funding for children in Miami-Dade County. Governor Charlie Crist named him to the Children’s Cabinet in 2007. His many honors include: “Humanitarian of the Year,” from both the American Red Cross and the Beacon Council; “Family of the Year,” from Family Counseling Services; “Father of the Year,” by the South Florida Father’s Day Council and the Lawton and Rhea Chiles Advocacy Award. He and his wife Roberta who has a master’s degree in social work from Barry University in Miami, have three daughters, two sons and four grandchildren.

Nicholas G. Penniman IV, a resident of Naples, Fla., and Baltimore, Md., is the former publisher of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Penniman has been deeply involved in environmental advocacy work. He was past chair of American Rivers in Washington, D.C., and was the immediate past board chair of The Conservancy of Southwest Florida in Naples. He was formerly chairman of the Washington University Interdisciplinary Environmental Law Clinic and Forest Park Forever. He served a four-year term as a member of the Collier County Environmental Advisory Council and is a registered Florida Master Naturalist. Penniman is a graduate of Princeton University (Religion), and did graduate work at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania (Finance) and at Washington University in St. Louis where he received an M.A. in American Culture Studies in 1999. Penniman and his wife, Linda, have two children and five grandchildren.

The Foundation’s position is that the health of the Everglades is not only vital to the environment, but also to the economy and quality of life in South Florida. The organization has assembled a team of scientists, policy experts and communications professionals and works with partners on several fronts to educate, advocate and litigate–when necessary– to advance Everglades restoration. In addition, the Foundation provides grants to like-minded local, national and international organizations and collaborates with other business, civic and environmental groups to form coalitions and set priorities to move restoration initiatives forward.

About Florida’s Relationship with the Everglades

More than seven million people live in the Everglades watershed and depend on its natural systems for their livelihood, food, and drinking water. Florida’s agriculture, boating, tourism, real estate, recreational and commercial fishing industries all depend on a healthy Everglades ecosystem, supporting tens of thousands of jobs and contributing billions to our economy. Its waters flow through Everglades National Park, Big Cypress National Preserve, Ten Thousand Islands National Wildlife Refuge, Biscayne National Park and John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Together, these parks draw several million visitors each year, contributing hundreds of millions of dollars to Florida’s tourism economy.

About the Everglades Foundation Mission

The Everglades Foundation, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) not-for-profit, charitable organization dedicated to protecting and restoring one of the world’s unique natural ecosystems that provides economic, recreational and life-sustaining benefits to the millions of people who depend on its future health. Since 1993, the Everglades Foundation has played a leadership role in advancing Everglades restoration through the advancement of scientifically sound and achievable solutions. The Foundation seeks to reverse the damage inflicted on the ecosystem and provides policymakers and the public with an honest and credible resource to help guide decision-making on complex restoration issues. For more information, please visit www.evergladesfoundation.org.

Tags: Everglades, sustainability, water