ANNUAL MEETING

Please join us for our Annual Members Meeting
to be held in-person at the Ritz-Carlton Naples on

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Please join us at this business casual event as we highlight key steps forward in conservation for Southwest Florida and explore the challenges and opportunities in the coming year.

For inquiries, please contact Interim Donor Relations and Events Sr. Manager Angie Chirino at angiec@conservancy.org or (239) 403-4206.

Schedule of events

Ritz-Carlton Naples

3:30 PM Champagne Reception

4:00 PM Program Begins

5:15 PM Program Ends

2024 Eagle Award Presentation

During our Annual Meeting, we will also be celebrating this year’s Eagle Award winners, David Addison, Gary Schmelz, and Bernie Yokel for their immense contributions to our environmental education over decades of service to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

2024 Election of New Directors

Vanessa von Arx Gilvarg

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Vanessa von Arx Gilvarg

Affiliations:

Olde Westlake Villas Condo Association, served as President 5 years
Cambier Tennis
Old Naples Association
Lilleville Ridge Country Club, North Carolina

After visiting Naples for 30 years, Vanessa and her husband Martin moved from Chicago, becoming full-time Florida residents in 2013. Long-time retired, she worked as a buyer for Brooks Brothers in New York and two regional department store chains based in Richmond, Virginia.

Vanessa is a lifelong nature lover. With a fondness for our national parks system, she has a special appreciation for the unique beauty of the Everglades. She is passionate about responsible development plans, and preserving green space in Collier County. Vanessa and Martin enjoy exploring waterways on their boat, making them keenly aware that improving water quality in our bays and gulf is a top priority. With ties to Virginia, they became initial investors in Ready Reef, a living shoreline project, which promotes clean water and oyster growth in the Chesapeake Bay area.

Vanessa and Martin have been married for 37 years, with two children and one grandchild. Recreational interests include tennis, biking, hiking, boating, reading, and travel. Vanessa and her family spend summer months in the North Carolina mountains, where her favorite activity is hiking to local peaks and waterfalls.

Both Vanessa’s parents, Dolph and Sharon von Arx, served on the Conservancy board and were lead supporters of the von Arx Wildlife Hospital expansion. Vanessa shares their love of animals. With her appointment to the board in 2023, she is committed to continuing their efforts to protect wildlife and our Southwest Florida environment.

Bruce Groves

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Bruce Groves

EMPLOYMENT:
Emilcott Associates - Retired

EDUCATION:
Lafayette College, BA in Biology
University of Connecticut, MBA

AFFILIATIONS:

NJ Environmental Business Council
NJ Chamber of Commerce ( Morris County)
American Red Cross (NJ)

BIO:
Mr. Groves’ professional career has been in the technical and policy areas of Environmental Affairs and Occupational Health and Safety (EHS). His wife Julie and he recently sold their EHS consulting and technology company, Emilcott Associates, and are now living full-time in Naples, Florida.

Julie and Bruce together have five children and two grandchildren living in Alaska (2), California, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

Judy Hushon

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Dr. Judith Hushon

EMPLOYMENT:
Retired: Consultant to industry and U.S. and foreign governments for many years on environmental and toxicological problems

EDUCATION:
Graduated from Brown, Harvard and George Washington Universities

AFFILIATIONS:

Culinary and Hospitality Education Foundation
Opera Naples
Trinity by the Cove
Naples Sailing and Yacht Club
Brown University Club of SWFL
Naples Art Association League of Women Voters
Advisory Council – Commissioner Penny Taylor
Greater Naples Leadership

BIO:
Judy moved to Southwest Florida 12 years ago and has put her expertise to work to begin to define the nature of the chemical-related water problems, and hopefully, to work toward solutions to reduce them.

She has volunteered over two thousand hours at the Conservancy as a Policy Volunteer. She helps evaluate issues of potential concern and prepared an in-depth study of the risks from local pesticide use. She works as a naturalist on the Good Fortune boat tours and assists with special education events. She has also served on the committee that puts on the Magic Under the Mangroves™ event since its inception.

Dr. Hushon has recently assisted the Conservancy Policy Department in analyzing the potential human and ecological effects of pollutants associated with the Hogan gas recovery well and testified before the Collier County Board of Commissioners.

Paul Myerson

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Paul Myerson

Paul is a retired finance executive having spent most of his career at GE and GE Capital. He and his wife Giselle have been in Naples since 2017 and split their time between Naples and Westport Connecticut. Paul earned a BA in biology from Princeton University and MBA in finance at Columbia University. In Connecticut, Paul was on the board of a public charter school serving inner‐city youth in Bridgeport, and volunteered for many years as a board member and treasurer of his homeowner’s association and as a governor at Cedar Point Yacht Club in Westport.

Since moving to Naples, he has volunteered his time in several local agencies including St Matthew’s House, Champions For Learning, and Habitat For Humanity. Paul is a member of Class 26 in the Greater Naples Leadership program and has taken on the role of Class Representative. He plays the French horn in the Naples and Westport concert bands. His love of the Conservancy is partly due to accompanying Ian and Ian on a python hunt.

Jim Nolte

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James Nolte

EMPLOYMENT: RETIRED

EDUCATION:

Fairleigh Dickenson University, BS
Emory University, Goizueta Business School, MBA

AFFILIATIONS:

Greater Naples Leadership
Grey Oaks Country Club

BIO:
Jim’s professional accomplishments have been marked by his ability to identify opportunities and lead companies to achieve their potential. His track record includes sales and strategy positions at AT&T, BellSouth and Atlanta Gas & Light which brought him to the role of leading sales at Zayo Group - a global digital infrastructure provider, where he helped the company achieve hypergrowth and ultimately go public. Jim went on to become CEO of a private equity-backed broadband infrastructure business, based in Sunnyvale, CA. There he built a highly-functioning management team and operation while acquiring marquis customers like Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, building over 250 miles of state-of-the-art fiber optic networks and reaching sales of nearly $100M in three years.

These days Jim, who grew up in New Jersey, is retired and lives in Naples with his wife Laura, a fourth-generation Floridian. As the couple mapped plans to give back to their community, conservation was a natural fit for Jim. He started his environmentally conscious journey at the age of 10 when he convinced his middle school to start a recycling program and has continued to be passionate about our environment, most recently creating a sellout friend-raising event to draw support for the work done by the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

Penny Taylor

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Penny Taylor

Penny Taylor has been a full-time resident of Naples Since 1979. She worked as a photographer for the Naples Daily News for one year and then established her photography Studio serving the public of Collier County.

In 2000, she was elected to the Naples City Council and served for 10 years on that board, including two years as Vice-Mayor. In 2014, she was elected to the Board of County Commissioners of Collier County and served eight Years as District 4 Commissioner.

During her time on the commission, Taylor served as the Collier County representative for the County Coalition for Responsible Management of Lake Okeechobee, the St. Lucie and Caloosahatchee Estuaries and was appointed the Collier County representative of the Florida Association of Counties Water and Environmental Sustainability Policy Committee. She was also Chair of the BCC during 2017 when the red tide outbreak in Gulf of Mexico made headlines across the world.

Taylor is a strong and active advocate of the environment, and especially the environmental impact over-development has on our community.

Nick Batos

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Nicolas "Nick" Batos

Nick Batos was selected as the first mayor of the Village of Estero at the very first meeting of the then newly elected Village Council on March 17, 2015.

He went on to serve two terms as District 6 Council member acting as liaison to the Lee School District and Lee Health, with areas of strategic concern being the SUN Trails, CSX railroad, Bike/Pedestrian Pathways and Zip Codes.

Batos had served as the Chairman of the Estero Council of Community Leaders (ECCL) from 2012 through 2014 and led the successful effort to get the incorporation of Estero on the November 2014 ballot, which passed by a resounding 86 percent.

He joined the ECCL in 2005 to help address some of the issues facing Estero at that time which included mining in south Lee County and protecting the Density Reduction Groundwater Resource (DR/GR) area where the majority of Lee County’s drinking water supply comes from. In 2010, the ECCL honored him with the Village Visionary Award for his many contributions to protecting and enhancing Estero’s quality of life.

In 2007, Batos founded the Brooks Concerned Citizens to address issues specific to The Brooks, such as the proposed I-75/Coconut Road interchange, large culverts under I-75 draining into Halfway Creek, the Agripartners’ ditch and the proposed site of Edison Farms for the Boston Red Sox stadium.

Batos also served on the south Lee County Hospital Committee, Chairman of the Estero Community Improvement Foundation and Chairman of the South Lee County Committee for the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

He became a full time resident of Shadow Wood at The Brooks in 2002 where he served on the Shadow Wood Country Club member’s board and on the Shadow Wood Home Owners Association Representatives group.

Batos worked in the hospitality industry in New York City for 38 years and spent the majority of his career as (1) Vice President of Food and Beverage operations for the 6 Helmsley Spear Hotels in Manhattan, (2) General Manager COO of 2 private country clubs in the New York City area, and (3) Instructor of Food and Beverage Courses for career development for Michigan University (Kellogg Institute).

He also served on the Board of Directors of the Children’s Museum in New York City.

Phil Gresh

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Phil Gresh

EMPLOYER:
Retired Executive Vice President, Illinois Tool Works, Inc.

EDUCATION/SERVICE:
Penn State University, BA

US Navy – 3 years Active; 8 years Active Reserve, achieving rank of Lieutenant Commander

AFFILIATIONS:
Mr. Gresh was on the Board of Directors of The Duchossois Group, Chicago, IL for 13 years, as lead director of Chamberlain; Chairman of American Profol, Cedar Rapids, IA for 10 years; and spent 5 years on the board of Rensa Air Filtration, an Edgewater company. He is a Board Member of the non-profit Conservancy of Southwest Florida, Naples, FL, and previously served on the Board for 2013-2021. He is a former Chairman of the Ocean Conservancy, Washington, DC. He also previously served as a Board Member of Keep America Beautiful, Stamford, CT, and The Edward Hospital Foundation, Naperville, IL.

BIO:
Phil Gresh retired as an Executive Vice President from Illinois Tool Works, Glenview, IL, in March 2012 and has been coming to or been a resident of Southwest Florida for over 20 years. He was responsible for 110 ITW companies worldwide in the Industrial Packaging (Signode), Foils and Thermal Films business segments of ITW with revenues of $2.0+ billion. Prior to that, he was responsible for 100 ITW businesses of the Consumer Packaging segment. During his time as EVP, his groups acquired 42 companies with revenues in excess of $600 million. Prior to joining ITW, Mr. Gresh held sales and management positions with Continental Can Company for 16 years.

Phil has been married to his wife, Susan, for 51 years. They reside in Estero, Florida, and have two children and four grandchildren.

Nanette Rivera

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Nanette Rivera

EMPLOYMENT:
Retired: Managing Partner (2008-Present)
- Merton Partners, LLC; Operations Excellence Consulting

Employed: Pharmaceutical Industry (1980-2008) - Abbott Labs; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Johnson & Johnson; Shire Pharmaceuticals: Manufacturing, Sales Operations, Research & Development

EDUCATION:
MBA - University of Chicago, Booth School of Business – Finance, 1987
BS – Georgia Institute of Technology – Industrial Engineering, 1980

AFFILIATIONS:

Board - Big Cypress Basin: Governor DeSantis appointment
Vice-Chair - Planning Board City of Marco Island
Ranger - Calusa Waterkeeper
Member - Marco Island Columbiette: Woman’s Catholic Civic Assoc.
Certified Crew - US Coast Guard Auxiliary – Marco Island
Chair – Lunch Events: Marco Island - US Sail & Power Squadron

BIO:
Nanette and her husband, Gene Wordehoff, live and have owned on Marco Island since 1999.

Global Pharmaceutical Industry 40-year Career:

Engineer to Corporate VP Supply Chain Strategy – specialized in Global Supply Chain restructuring
Head of Strategy for Oncology Division – product portfolio divestiture and investment re-alignment for new technologies
Global head of Integration Office for Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) - led the integration of DuPont Pharma acquisition into BMS
Managing Partner - Pharmaceutical Operations Management Consulting Practice - specialized in Restructurings, Off-shoring Operations, Consolidations and Optimizations of Plants & Divisions.

Nanette is bilingual in English & Spanish. Her father was an executive for an American multinational, which led her to live & study in Central & South America. She graduated from High School in Atlanta after completing her junior year in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Current Environmental/Restoration Interest:
Nanette and her husband share a passion to study and understand what has led to the decline of the waterbody health in Marco Island. They focus on science and fact-based analysis using water-sample data to identify the root point-sources of excess nutrients. Nanette hopes their learnings will lead her to influence environmental policy in the State of Florida.

2024 Election of Second Term Directors

Katrina Lundmark-Kash

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Katrina Lundmark-Kash

EMPLOYMENT: RETIRED

Owner Canyon Road – Retail Store, New Canaan, CT
Owner K. Lundmark Design – Interior Design
Art Teacher Chicago Public Schools
Motion Picture Set Decorator for Films and TV Commercials

EDUCATION:

Southern Illinois University, BA – Art Education, Art History
Columbia College, MFA – Advanced Film Degree

AFFILIATIONS:

Naples Children’s Educational Foundation – Trustee
NCEF Grant Committee Member
Naples Yacht Club
Naples Botanical Gardens
Pelican Bay Tennis Club
Pelican Marsh Tennis Club
Bay Colony Association
Lincoln Park Tennis Club – Chicago

BIO:
Katrina and her husband Rick spend their time in Naples and Chicago. They became full-time residents of Naples in 2015 and spend the summers in Chicago and traveling. She is an avid tennis player, bike rider, and amateur wildlife photographer.

Katrina has an extensive art background which included owning a Gallery/Boutique in New Canaan, CT, working as a Set Decorator in Film and Photography, and as an art teacher working with underprivileged and at-risk youth in Chicago. Here in Naples, Katrina is proud to be a Trustee of Naples Children’s Education Foundation and a member of the Grant Committee. Katrina was very active in the Equestrian Community in Barrington Hills, IL, and part of the Save Five Acres group that successfully defeated a National Land Developer from breaking the existing five-acre zoning.

Katrina and Rick travel the world and Katrina’s favorite place on earth to visit is Africa!

Jon Kukk

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Jon Kukk

EMPLOYMENT:
Kukk Architecture & Design, P.A.

EDUCATION:
Cornell University

AFFILIATIONS:

American Institute of Architects (AIA)
Bonefish Tarpon Trust (BTT)
Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) - Life Member
CBIA - City of Naples Government Affairs Council
Naples Gulfshore Sunset Rotary
Naples Historical Society (NHS), Board Member
National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (NCARB)

BIO:
Jon is of Estonian descent, born and raised in Ohio. He attended Cornell University, where he obtained his architectural degree in 1991. He moved directly to Naples, Florida, and in 2001 founded Kukk Architecture and Design, P.A. with his sister.

He has served numerous positions in the American Institute of Architects at both the local and state level, including AIA Florida SW chapter president and state director. Jon was a founding member and chairman of the City of Naples Design Review Board, where he served two terms and helped craft the City ordinance that still governs local commercial design today. He is an active volunteering member of Rotary, the CBIA, the Naples Historical Society, and of the Conservancy of Southwest Florida through the RedSnook Fishing Tournament. He is primarily focused on water quality issues and guiding the Conservancy’s long-range planning and future campus expansions.

Jon enjoys architecture, travel, numismatics, and especially fly fishing. Julie, his wife, is a Naples native, and together, they enjoy raising their two children in this tropical paradise.

Charles Mueller

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Charles Mueller

EMPLOYMENT
President - West Florida Region, Northern Trust

EDUCATION:

University of Illinois
College of Commerce & Business Administration
CTFA
CPWA

AFFILIATIONS:

Naples Yacht Club
Naples Zoo Board
Naples Historic Society Board
Marie Selby Gardens Trustee Past Trustee
The Nature Conservancy - Illinois Chapter

BIO:
As the President of the West Florida Region for Northern Trust, Charlie is responsible for leading the delivery of holistic advice and client service through investment, fiduciary, banking, and wealth planning professionals. He has over 37 years of experience in serving business-owning families, corporate executives, professionals, not-for-profits, and other wealth owners in a variety of wealth management and commercial banking roles.

Charlie graduated with honors from the University of Illinois College of Commerce and Business Administration in Urbana-Champaign in 1982 with a B.S. degree in Finance. He holds the certifications of Certified Trust and Financial Advisor, CTFA, and the Certified Private Wealth Advisor, CPWA.

Charlie is married to his wife, Toni, of 35 years. Toni is a Certified Naturalist. They have two children: Charlie, a Physicist, and Katherine, a Nurse. Charlie is an avid pilot and enjoys flying on weekends. He also enjoys fishing, sporting clays, kayaking, hiking, golf, reading, and travel.

Ritz-Carlton Naples

Thank you to our sponsors:

How You can help

Help protect our water, land and wildlife

Become a Member

Membership helps support our work and gets you free membership to the Nature Center and many other perks. Join today!

Donate

The majority of our funding comes from people like you who care about protecting our environment in Southwest Florida.

Volunteer

A variety of fun volunteer opportunities are available. Interact with a variety of people, learn new skills, and enhance and share your knowledge.

Science

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Wildlife Hospital

Education

Science

Policy

Wildlife Hospital

Education

ANNUAL MEETING

Please join us for our Annual Members Meeting to be held in-person at the Ritz-Carlton Naples on

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Please join us at this business casual event as we highlight key steps forward in conservation for Southwest Florida and explore the challenges and opportunities in the coming year.

Schedule of events

Ritz-Carlton Naples

3:30 PM Champagne Reception

4:00 PM Program Begins

5:15 PM Program Ends

2024 Eagle Award Presentation

During our Annual Meeting, we will also be celebrating this year’s Eagle Award winners, David Addison, Gary Schmelz, and Bernie Yokel for their immense contributions to our environmental education over decades of service to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida.

2024 Election of New Directors

Vanessa von Arx Gilvarg

Bruce Groves

Judy Hushon

Paul Myerson

Jim Nolte

Penny Taylor

Nick Batos

Phil Gresh

Nanette Rivera

2024 Election of Second Term Directors

Katrina Lundmark-Kash

Jon Kukk

Charles Mueller

Ritz-Carlton Naples

Thank you to our sponsors:

How You can help

Help protect our water, land and wildlife

Become a Member

Donate

Volunteer

Conservancy of Southwest Florida

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von arx Wildlife Hospital Hours

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Please join us for our Annual Members Meeting
to be held in-person at the Ritz-Carlton Naples on