Steering Committee

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Primary

Tropical Audobon Society

Lauren Jonaitis joined Tropical Audubon Society (TAS) in 2022 as Senior Conservation Director, and has been called on to focus her environmental expertise on expanding and amplifying TAS's role and reach across South Florida. Her background includes science communication, environmental permitting/policy, land use planning and coastal ecology.

Previously, Lauren worked to reduce artificial light pollution impacts to sea turtles and their nesting habitat while employed with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) in the Imperiled Species Management Section. She then moved to the private sector where she was an Environmental/Coastal Scientist, focusing on environmental permitting and dune restoration/maintenance efforts. Lauren currently serves as the Communications Chair and Board Member of the Society of Conservation Biology North America (SCBNA), where she focuses on broadening outreach to underrepresented groups in conservation, and actively works to engage groups that have been historically marginalized.

Lauren received her bachelor’s degree in Zoology from the State University of New York at Oswego and an M.S. in Biology with a focus in Conservation Biology and Population Ecology from Bowling Green State University.

She enjoys anything to do with nature and wildlife, traveling, art, meditation, horseback riding, and currently resides in Downtown Miami, Florida.

Alternate

Everglades Law Center

Elizabeth Fata Carpenter is a Managing Attorney with the Everglades Law Center. She focuses her practice on greater Everglades restoration issues, including implementation of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Plan, and environmental issues in South Florida impacting communities and the natural and built environments.

Elizabeth is a native Floridian and grew up along the Indian River Lagoon. Elizabeth obtained her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida and her law degree from the University of Miami, magna cum laude, Order of the Coif. While in law school, Elizabeth was the managing editor of the International and Comparative Law Review and a member of the Charles C. Papy Moot Court Board. Elizabeth also served as a fellow in the Environmental Justice Clinic.

Before joining the Everglades Law Center, Elizabeth spent time providing environmental education at Oregon Caves National Monument, working with salmon aquaculture in Kodiak, Alaska, and implementing environmental justice efforts in Miami-Dade County. Elizabeth also spent three years litigating complex business and commercial matters as an Associate Attorney at Cozen O’Connor.

Elizabeth is the Chair of the Village of El Portal’s Sustainability & Resiliency Task Force, represents the Village of El Portal as a member of the Project Delivery Team for a Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Project, and is the 2020 Village of El Portal Citizen of the Year.

Primary

 South Florida Community Development Corporation

May (she/hers) is a people-centered and impact-driven strategist currently serving as the new Executive Director for the South Florida Community Development Coalition's (SFCDC). With more than 10 years of management and fundraising experience, she is skilled in raising resources, strategic planning, managing relationships, and cultivating narratives. Prior to joining SFCDC, she served as the Director of Philanthropy for Florida Rising, a statewide independent political organizing nonprofit. 

May's passion includes community organizing, economic development, and advocating equitable policies to advance racial justice. She is a two-time HBCU graduate of Fayetteville State University where she earned her BA in Communications and MBA in Project Management. She is also a first-generation daughter of im/migrant Caribbean parents and identifies as an Afro-Latina. She has called South Florida home since January 2019 after relocating from southeastern North Carolina and looks forward to growing deep roots in Miami.

Primary

Former District 8 County Commissioner

    Katy Sorenson is a consultant on politics, governance issues, women’s rights and civic activism. She served as a Miami-Dade County Commissioner from 1994-2010.  She was also the founder, president and CEO of the Good Government Initiative at the University of Miami, an organization founded in 2010 to educate and train elected officials at the state and local level.  

Sorenson chairs the Citizens Advisory Committee for Miami-Dade County’s General Obligation Bond program and is a past president of the Florida chapter of the International Women’s Forum.  She also serves on the board of the Leroy Collins Institute and is a member of the steering committee of the Hold the Line coalition, a group of organizations and citizens advocating for responsible land use practices in Miami-Dade.   She is also a member of the  leadership team of Ruth’s List Miami, an organization dedicated to recruiting and training women candidates at the state and local levels, and sits on the board of the Friends of Pinecrest Gardens.

Born in Chicago and raised in Milwaukee, Sorenson holds a Bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee and a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Wisconsin, Madison.  She has worked as a legislative aide, political consultant, and as executive director of California Women Lawyers. Married to Janis Dzelzkalns, M.D. since 1978, their family includes two adult children, their spouses and four grandchildren. Sorenson has resided in Pinecrest since 1991 and lives in Denver part time because her grandchildren are there.

 Alternate

 BBMHS

VolunteerCleanup.Org

Dave is a Clean Water Advocate and accidental researcher who stumbled on the marine debris issue in Biscayne Bay while kayaking. 

Since 2012, he has been working collaboratively with elected officials and city staff around the county to reduce the input of debris into the bay. 

Dave sits on the Miami-Dade County Biscayne Bay Watershed Advisory Board, Miami Beach Marine and Waterfront Protection Authority, and is a steering committee member of the Biscayne Bay Marine Health Coalition. 

Dave co-founded VolunteerCleanup.Org, which is a website that connects people leading cleanups with volunteers – helping to facilitate over 250 cleanups per year.

Primary

     1000 Friends of Florida    

Paul Owens is the president of 1000 Friends of Florida, a nonprofit founded in 1986 to promote environmentally and fiscally responsible development throughout the state. 

Paul’s previous positions include opinions editor and editorial writer for the Orlando Sentinel, political editor for the Charleston (W.Va.) Daily Mail and staff assistant for the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. 

He received his master’s degree in journalism from Stanford University and bachelor's degree in history from Swarthmore College.

Alternate

     1000 Friends of Florida    

Eve Samples is executive director of Friends of the Everglades, a nonprofit founded in 1969 by Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Prior to joining Friends of the Everglades, Eve worked as a journalist for 20 years, including roles as the statewide opinion editor for the USA TODAY Network-Florida, as a local news columnist for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers, and as a reporter for The Palm Beach Post and Pittsburgh-Post Gazette. She is a native of Miami and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she received her B.A. in journalism. Eve joined Friends of the Everglades in early 2020, recognizing an opportunity to meld her passion for environmental journalism with Friends’ legacy of grassroots advocacy and education. She lives in Stuart with her husband and son.

 Primary

FARM

Dr. Steven Green has been a resident in the Redland and a tropical fruit farmer since 1978 and  Green Groves Organic Farm was certified organic in 2010. Steve was elected in August 2020 to Miami-Dade County’s Community Council 14-Redland. He is a past president of the nonprofit Tropical Fruit Growers of South Florida, Inc., and continues to serve on its Board of Directors.

Professionally, Steve is a biologist (land use planning and conservation biology; tropical forest ecology and animal behavior) who has worked in Africa, Asia, and Latin America and has helped establish national parks and train forest and game rangers in India, Uganda and Sierra Leone. 

He earned his Ph.D. from Rockefeller University and served on its faculty before joining the faculty of the University of Miami, from which he recently retired as Emeritus Professor.