Environmental Leadership Group focuses on the economic impacts of water quality

Article authored by:

Holly Elmore - LAI At-Large Member & LAI Assistant Communications Director

Holly's eclectic career path includes multiple facets ranging from the corporate arena (Arthur Andersen Auditor & Trammell Crow Controller) to the foodservice industry (owner of a corporate catering business & restaurants) to sustainability-industry leader (Zero Waste Zones & Elemental Impact Founder). In addition, Holly is an avid nature & documentary photographer and respected journalist with prominent articles and photographs featured in national publications.

In 2021, former Atlanta Chapter Board member Holly Elmore, Elemental Impact (Ei) Founder & CEO, returned to her hometown, Sarasota, Florida, after residing in Atlanta for 40 years. Upon arriving in Sarasota, Holly immediately embarked on building a local LAI group of At-Large members. Holly scheduled Ei- and LAI-introduction meetings with the Sarasota environmental leadership. With nearly 100% success, the environmental leaders accepted Holly's LAI At-Large-member nominations.

With no current chapter in Florida, Holly established an environmental Leadership Group (LG) of At-Large LAI members; intentions are to launch a formal LAI Chapter in the future once membership expands beyond the environmental community to a broad spectrum of land economics professionals.

Established in late 2021, the LG consists of prominent environmental leaders in the Sarasota area with a stated commitment to the economic impact of water quality on the region. Located on the Central Florida Gulf of Mexico (Gulf) Coast, Sarasota is a gem in The Sunshine State. With amazing barrier-island beaches (Siesta Key was named #1 beach in the U.S. by TripAdvisor,) and lovely intracoastal waterways, Sarasota's economy is water-quality based and driven by tourism.

Community members, along with their respective headshots and bios, are listed on the Ei LG page.

Ei orchestrated an impressive February 17, 2023, LAI Coastal-Water Quality: Challenges, Solutions, and Economic Impact Global Webinar. The global webinar was the second program in an eighteen-month series about water and land economics around the globe hosted by the LAI Global Water Group.

LG members shared on global-coastal-water challenges along with the economic impact to the local and regional communities

Watch the webinar recording on LAI TV to learn about Sarasota’s successful collaborative water-quality projects and programs; the Regeneration in ACTION (RiA) Magazine article, Coastal-Water Quality: Challenges, Solutions, and Economic Impact, provides an in-depth synopsis of the webinar content; panelist PPT presentations are available for download within the article copy.

The RiA Magazine article, Coastal Water Quality: land-based activity determines the quality & related economic impact, introduces LAI, announces the environmental LG, and showcases how LAI members work together and support each other.

LAI Global members now have ambassadors in the Sarasota vicinity to welcome them and showcase the impressive cultural presence, amazing dining, and the phenomenal beach and other water activities.

Charles Reith strategizes with the
Zach Zildjian Design Services team in the
Ei Rewilding Urban Landscapes Pilot.
Photo courtesy of Holly Elmore Images

Charles Reith honors Climate First
at the Heritage Harbour Microforest Planting,
Sandy Gilbert is in the back.
Photo courtesy of Holly Elmore Images

Tim Rumage plants tree saplings
at the Heritage Harbour Microforest Planting Day.
Photo courtesy of Holly Elmore Images

Charles Reith, Tim Rumage, and Mary Anne Bowie
are joined by John Lambie at the Unfiltered:
the truth about oysters screening-event reception.
Photo courtesy of Holly Elmore Images