Twenty-three new powerful voices for Florida’s clean water-driven economy have emerged out of our second annual Preserving Paradise leadership program — a partnership between SCCF, Captains for Clean Water, the Everglades Foundation, and the Sanibel Captiva Chamber of Commerce. 

After an official graduation ceremony on Nov. 18, the 2025 Preserving Paradise cohort is more equipped and motivated than ever to advocate for Florida’s economic and ecological future. 

Graduates, their guests, and representatives from the leading organizations all attended the dinner and ceremony at the Pink Shell Resort on Fort Myers Beach to celebrate the end of the program.

Since August, this group of local business and community leaders have been immersed in discussions and field experiences focused on the connection between water quality and our economies. 

They’ve traveled to Everglades restoration sites, toured our estuary, unpacked the economics and policy behind harmful algal blooms and Everglades restoration, and bonded over the importance of good water quality. 

Did you know? Another harmful algal bloom like the ones in 2017-18 or 2005-06 could cost Charlotte, Collier, and Lee Counties 43,000 jobs and $5.2 billion in local economic output.

From the Participants

“Participating in Preserving Paradise, I wasn’t sure what to expect. As a local landscape architect, I already felt like I knew quite a bit about the local and coastal environment and water quality issues, but I was incredibly surprised at all the different players and components at play that contribute to impact our water quality. There’s no one lever that we need to pull — we need to be pulling multiple levers all at the same time, all in unison, all with a unified goal.” — Leigh Gevelinger, founder of Coastal Vista Design.

“The most important thing we’ve learned — I think that I speak for the entire class when I say that — is understanding how big the water system is, how many people that it affects, and what seems to be almost an insurmountable past to fix it. But yet when you break it down, you learn that it’s achievable, one goal a time.” — Jason Cohen of Cohen Sales, LLC

“I would say the most impactful experience [from this program] is finding my voice — understanding that I don’t have to be an expert to exercise my voice in a powerful way. I plan to find ways to educate our customers, our clients, so that they can also have the fire to protect our waters and exercise their voices, so we can build that momentum.”  — Patience Jennings of Select Vacation Properties

The Preserving Paradise program will resume in 2026. To learn more or apply to participate, visit preservingparadise.org.