Board of Directors
John A. Marshall
Chairman, Spokesman for Florida Environmental Institute
Chair, Environmental Action Committee, South Florida Water Management District; member, Everglades Coalition; Colonel, United States Marine Corps, retired (1993); U.S. civil servant system engineer; retired (1997); recipient “Conservationist of the Year” award from Audubon Society of the Everglades and from the Florida Wildlife Federation; recipient of the 2003 “Conservationist of the Year Award,” Flagler chapter of Daughters of American Revolution; vice president of Friends of the Refuge; board of trustees of the Commandery of The Palm Beaches, the Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Knights Hospitaller; B.S. geology, University of Florida, M.S. system engineering, University of West Florida.
Nancy Marshall
President
Marriott marketing executive, retired; marketing consultant to Pine Jog Environmental Education Center, Florida Atlantic University, retired; past president Fine Arts Association, Gainesville Florida; honorary chairwoman, Belfair Artists Association, WDC; honorary member Phi Sigma Sigma Sorority; co-recipient of 2001 “Conservationist of the Year” award from Audubon Society of the Everglades; co-author, Everglades Restoration, Cypress Tree Planting, McGraw Hill publication on Cunningham Saizo website, October 2001. She has served on the Board of Directors of the Washington D.C. based National Wildlife Refuge Association, and locally on the Board of Directors of YWCA of Palm Beach County. She has been the recipient of numerous awards for her volunteer services including: The Regional Director Award from U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service for championing efforts to provide state of the art interpretive Everglades’ exhibits at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge; the 2011 George M. Barley Conservationist of the Year Award, at the Annual Everglades Coalition Conference, a 53 member state and national organization, and on May 5, 2011 Executive Women of the Palm Beaches awarded her with their annual Women in Leadership Award, Volunteer Sector. Married to John and has one daughter, Josette, who is Executive Director of the Marshall Foundation.
Joyce McLendon
First Vice President
Sam and Joyce McLendon are well-known Palm Beach philanthropists. Among Joyce’s many volunteer commitments are serving as Board Chair for The Lord’s Place and the Mideast Arthritis Foundation, being an officer for the Florida Arthritis Foundation Chapter, and sitting on the boards of the Palm Beach United Way, Alzeheimer's Association and the Fellowship of Christians and Jews. She has been named “Executive Woman Volunteer of the Year” by the Palm Beach Chamber of Commerce and “2006 Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser” by the Palm Beach County Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. She is also one of the founders of the largest automobile museum in the world and also holds the world record as the oldest women ever to fly a combat jet.
Dr. Patrick Gleason
Second Vice President
Vice-President, CDM; past member, South Florida Water Management District Governing Board; editor, Environments of South Florida, Present and Past; contributor, Everglades and Tree Islands of the Everglades; past president & treasurer, Friends of the Academy of Environmental Science & Technology, Forest Hill High School; past president, Grassy Waters Preserve; B.S. geology, University of Notre Dame; Ph.D., geology, The Pennsylvania State University.
Gisa Wagner
Secretary
Gisa has over 30 years experience in international banking and business management. She has worked with JPMorgan Chase bank in the United States, Europe and Asia, where she was Regional Manager South East Asia, located in Singapore. In 1996, Gisa founded GW INTERNATIONAL, a consulting company specializing in management issues including strategic planning, reorganizations and Human Resources training and development. Since relocating from Singapore to West Palm Beach, she has committed to supporting environmental actions with a focus on the Everglades.
Bernadette Shalhoub
Mrs. Shalhoub and her husband, Bob, are well-known local philanthropists. Mrs. Shalhoub has been instrumental in planning recent gala events including The Kravis Center’s Reach for the Stars event and the American Heart Association Palm Beach Heart Ball. She has also served as Silent Auction Chairwoman for the YWCA of Palm Beach County and is a long-time supporter of the Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County. She recently spear headed the first 5K walk for the Catholic Diocese of Palm Beach County. She consults and helps orchestrate auctions around the U.S., and Co-Chaired the 50th Anniversary for Cardinal Newman High School.
Debra Sears
Treasurer
Chief Executive Officer for the City of Boca Raton Retirement Systems, multi-million dollar trust funds; Ms. Sears is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) who has worked in the public sector and as an auditor in public accounting specializing in government and not-for-profit organizations. She formerly served as the Chief Financial Officer for the City of Miami General Employees' and Sanitation Employees' Retirement Trust, as a senior manager at the West Palm Beach firm of Caler, Donten Levine, as the Director of Government Services at the International firm of Grant Thornton LLP in Fort Lauderdale, and as a senior accountant at the large international firm of Deloitte and Touche West Palm Beach office.
Roberta Drey
Ms. Drey, of West Palm Beach, is a well-known local philanthropist who is a member of the International Society of Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Round Table and the Palm Beach Opera Guild. She is former board president and chairman of the annual gala for the Lord’s Place Auxiliary, former co-chairman of the Salvation Army gala, former chairman of the Heart Association Auction and a graduate of the University of Miami.
Sydelle Meyer
Mrs. Meyer and her late husband Arthur have been noted community leaders for many years, responsible for endowing such local landmarks as the Meyer Amphitheater and the Arthur I. Meyer Academy. Among her many charitable commitments, Mrs. Meyer has lent her support to the Jewish Federation of Palm Beach County, the Kravis Center, the Palm Beach County Cultural Council, the Norton Museum of Art, the South Florida Science Museum, Ballet Florida, Palm Beach Opera and the Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties.
Deborah L. Nichols, AIA
President, DL Nichols, Inc., an architecture practice in historic renovation, commercial and mixed-use projects; past president and current alternate state director of the Palm Beach Chapter American Institute of Architects; former City of West Palm Beach Planning Board member; City of West Palm Beach Downtown Action Committee member; juror for the Pathfinder Awards TVA category; Bachelor in Design (1984) and Masters in Architecture (1991) from the University of Florida.
Michael Wallander
Michael Wallander, J.D., LL.M., is President of The Kapok Group, an organization he founded that focuses on the development of sustainable projects and organizations. Previously, Mike was a corporate and securities attorney with one of the largest law firms in the world where he provided strategic sustainability advice to clients across sectors - entrepreneurs, governments, non-profit organizations, and public and private companies ranging from start-ups to Fortune 100 companies. Mike is a frequent speaker and teacher on elements of the developing global carbon markets. With a longstanding interest in market-based incentives for promoting environmental leadership, Mike studied the intersection of sustainability with the securities laws and received his LL.M. degree in Securities and Financial Regulation, with distinction, from Georgetown University. Prior to that, Mike obtained his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh and his B.A. from the University of Florida. When he is not spending time with his wife, Amy, and sons, Jack and Leo, Mike is actively involved in the local Palm Beach County and broader sustainability community.
Carla Cove
Recently retired after 30 years as a Private Client Manager with U.S. Trust and Bank of America. Carla spent her career servicing the investment needs of ultra high net worth clients. Carla has a Bachelors degree in Business Management from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, and completed her certification of Financial Planning from Boston University Center for Professional Education. She and her husband John reside in Palm Beach since moving from the Boston area in 2004. Carla is a Member of the Town of Palm Beach County Budget Task Force. She is also a member of the Finance Committee at Sacred Heart School in Lake Worth, where she volunteers working with elementary school children.
Matt Reffenberg
Matt Raffenberg is a water resources professional and Environmental Manager for Florida Power & Light Company (FPL). Matt joined FPL in 2005 to develop FPL’s Clean Water Act (316(b)) Compliance Program for operating power plants in Florida. He then began supporting the licensing and construction of new power plant projects – with a focus on water and the environment. Matt is currently the Licensing Manager for FPL’s Turkey Point Units 6 & 7 New Nuclear Project with responsibility for local, state and federal environmental licensing and permitting. Matt is an aquatic ecologist and has a M.S. in Fish and Wildlife Biology from the University of Vermont and a B.S. in Fisheries Management from The Ohio State University. On a personal note Matt is married to Ann, they have three sons - Thomas and Andrew, twins age 8, and Joseph age 5. They love in Palm City, Martin County, FL
Nancy Lewis Heins (Photo to follow)
Nancy Lewis Heins holds a B.A. in Business Management (F.A.U.) and an M.A. in Organization Development and Behavior (Vermont College of Norwich University). Her experience includes managing a real estate firm for 5 years; working with Florida Power & Light Company for 9 years in the areas of Customer Service, Accounting, and Corporate Resource Allocation & Planning; and owning her consulting firm 18 years, Change Strategies. A respected professional, Nancy has worked in the private, public/government, and not for profit community sectors. Nancy provides human resources and organization development consulting to grow the performance of people and organizations. A partial client list includes: The Tribune Companies; Nortel, CALA; Palm Beach County; Pratt & Whitney; Florida Power & Light Company; and Employment Learning Innovations, Inc.