About Us
Board of Directors
Officers
President: Bobbie Lee Davenport
Bobbie Lee has been a leading advocate for responsible growth, environmental stewardship, and conservation in Southwest Florida for over 30 years. She has provided long-term leadership to organizations including the Responsible Growth Management Coalition, the Sierra Club Calusa Group, the Environmental Confederation of Southwest Florida, and Cypress Cove Land Keepers, the nonprofit she founded to protect environmentally sensitive lands and promote environmental education. She also founded the Planet Earth Festival, an annual event that inspired thousands of residents to become better stewards of Florida's natural resources. Through decades of advocacy, coalition building, public education, and wildlife conservation, she has helped shape regional conversations about sustainable growth while inspiring others to protect Southwest Florida's unique natural heritage.
Vice-President: Nora Egan Demers
Nora is a biologist, educator, and longtime advocate for responsible growth and environmental stewardship in Southwest Florida. A founding faculty member of Florida Gulf Coast University, she has spent nearly three decades connecting science, community engagement, and public policy to address the challenges of rapid growth, with particular attention to land use, water quality, habitat conservation, and the health of the Estero Bay watershed.
Since 2003, Demers has represented the Responsible Growth Management Coalition on the Estero Bay Agency on Bay Management, serving as Vice-Chair and Chair. Through research, teaching, and civic engagement, she brings scientific evidence into growth and development decisions—examining environmental and cumulative impacts, preparing students to understand and communicate scientific information, and engaging communities in protecting natural systems and community character. Her work advocates for development that is compatible with the ecological systems that sustain Southwest Florida.
Secretary: Patty Whitehead
Patty has been actively engaged in community planning and environmental advocacy throughout the region for nearly 20 years. Her work has focused on protecting environmentally sensitive lands, promoting responsible development, and ensuring that community and ecological interests are considered in public decisions. She has testified before the Collier County Environmental Advisory Committee, Planning Commission, and Lee County Board of County Commissioners on issues including the proposed Babcock Ranch development, a major limerock mine near CREW Trust lands, Conservation 2020, and developer impact fees. Also a member of Sierra Calusa Group and ECOSWF, she has also supported regional environmental organizing including Earth Day. Patty proudly consider herself a protégé of Ellen Peterson, carrying forward her environmental legacy in Southwest Florida.
Treasurer: Wayne Edward Daltry
Wayne is one of Southwest Florida's most respected leaders in regional planning, smart growth, and environmental stewardship, with more than four decades of public service shaping the region's future. As Executive Director of the Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council for nearly 20 years and later Director of Lee County's Smart Growth Initiative, he helped guide regional planning, growth management, transportation, emergency preparedness, environmental protection, and economic development across Southwest Florida. Throughout his distinguished career, Wayne has authored or led many of the region's most influential planning studies, helped establish numerous public and nonprofit organizations, and served in leadership roles with state and national planning, conservation, and watershed organizations. His vision, collaborative leadership, and commitment to balancing responsible growth with natural resource protection have earned him numerous honors, including Gulfshore Magazine's Southwest Florida Man of the Year, the Florida Planning Association's Lifetime Service Award, and recognition as a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners. His enduring legacy continues to influence planning, conservation, and public policy throughout Florida.
Board Members
Marsha Ellis is a community and environmental advocate who has spent years protecting the delicate ecosystems of Lee County, Florida. As a founding organizer of the Inner Loop Working Group in southeast Lee County, she successfully mobilized residents to address critical zoning, public safety, and environmental threats endangering local neighborhoods and the iconic Florida panther. Known for her unwavering commitment to rural communities, local flow ways and wetland conservation, Marsha is a vocal opponent of irresponsible overdevelopment that threatens regional water quality and heightens flood risks. Marsha is also 2nd Vice-President of the League of Women Voters of Lee County and leads the local League's collaboration with other environmental organizations in the areas of pollution, solid waste management, water quality and environmental justice. Following a two-decade career as a K-12 educator, Marsha has transformed her lifelong passion for helping others into grassroots impact supporting science-informed public input in governance. She is deeply committed to ensuring that government operates with transparency, holding local public officials accountable, and guaranteeing that the voices of everyday residents shape the future of Southwest Florida.
