Steven M. Seibert’s diverse professional career is founded upon innovative leadership, strategic foresight and a knack for helping to resolve difficult disputes. The Tampa Bay Times described Seibert as “a consensus builder with an eye to the future” and as one of Florida’s “significant thinkers.” Seibert is a 1977 graduate of The George Washington University, where he was chosen for Phi Beta Kappa, and is a 1980 graduate of the law school at the University of Florida. For the succeeding decade, he practiced environmental and land use law in both the public and private sectors. Seibert was elected to the Pinellas County (FL) Commission in 1992 and served as its Chairperson twice. He chaired or was a member of several important regional and statewide committees typically dealing with water, transportation, land use or environmental issues. After re-election 1996, Steve was tapped by Governor Jeb Bush to lead Florida’s Department of Community Affairs and served in that capacity from 1999-2003. Governor Bush called Seibert “an outstanding public servant” and noted “his ability to bring people together to achieve meaningful reforms will be his lasting legacy.” Seibert is a member of the Board of Directors of The Mosaic Company (MOS), a Fortune 500 company and the world’s leading producer of concentrated phosphate and potash crop nutrients. He serves as Chairman of the Environmental, Health, Safety and Sustainable Development Committee, as a member of the Corporate Governance Committee and Nominating Committee, and served in the past on the company’s Compensation Committee. Seibert has been a Partner in a respected Tampa Bay law firm, operated his own law firm, served as the initial Executive Director of the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida, and as a Senior Vice President and Director of Strategic Visioning for the non-partisan “think tank,” the Collins Center for Public Policy. He is currently a Senior Strategic Advisor for the University of Florida’s Institute for Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS). Steve Seibert has been a Florida Supreme Court certified mediator for over 20 years and has gained a statewide reputation for helping to resolve contentious public and private sector disputes. He was awarded the statewide “Excellence in Mediation Award” and was significantly involved in helping to broker the end of the Tampa Bay “water wars.” Seibert holds an “AV Pre-eminent” legal rating and has been named one of Florida’s “Legal Elite” by Florida Trend magazine. Seibert is Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Florida Humanities Council, a graduate of Leadership Florida (Class XIII) and has earned membership in the Association of Professional Futurists. He has been a respected member of the Florida Bar for over 30 years.

Tom Pelham was appointed Secretary of the Florida Department of Community Affairs by Governor Charlie Crist on January 8, 2007. Working with Governor Crist and other state and local leaders, Secretary Pelham leads the Department's efforts to address and manage growth and development issues affecting Florida's cities, counties, and neighborhoods. As the state land planning agency, the Department's mission includes local comprehensive planning, growth management, and community development and revitalization. Mr. Pelham is serving the people of Florida for the second time as Department of Community Affairs Secretary. Previously, he served as Secretary in the administration o Governor Bob Martinez from 1987 to 1991. During that time, he played a central role in the initial implementation of the 1985 Growth Management Act. For his service as Secretary, Mr. Pelham received awards and recognitions from numerous organizations,including the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association and 1000 Friends of Florida, and in 1990 was named the Florida Audubon Society's Conservationist of the Year. Mr. Pelham is an attorney and certified planner. He has more than thirty years of experience in working with Florida's planning, growth management, and environmental programs in a variety of capacities, including in private practice and as a Tallahassee- Leon County planning commissioner, teacher, and writer. Having worked with many local governments, developers, landowners, and citizen groups, Mr. Pelham brings a balanced perspective to the Department. A member of the Florida Bar and the American Institute of Certified Planners, Tom Pelham has been a recognized leader in both the legal and planning professions. He is a past chair of the Florida Bar's Environmental and Land Use Law Section and the City, County, and Local Government Law Section, and a past member of the Executive Council of the American Bar Association Section on State and Local Government Law. In 2001, he received the Florida Bar's Bill Sadowski Award for Outstanding Public Service in Environmental and Land Use Law. Mr. Pelham is also a past President of the Florida Chapter of the American Planning Association (FAPA) and was a member of FAPA's Executive Board for ten years. He is the recipient of the FAPA President's Award for Outstanding Service to the Chapter and the President's Award for Outstanding Service to the Planning Profession. Tom Pelham received a Bachelor's degree in Government from Florida State University and a Master's degree in Political Science from Duke University. He received his law degree from Florida State University before earning a Master of Law degree from Harvard Law School.

Charles Pattison, FAICP, President - As president, Charles is responsible to the Board for the day-to-day administration of the 1000 Friends' office which includes working with Florida's citizens and communities. He also works with the state's executive and legislative branches on land use and long range planning issues. Prior to coming to 1000 Friends, he was the Director for the Division of Resource Planning and Management at the Department of Community Affairs from 1992 to 1998. From 1989 to 1992, he worked as a Field Representative for The Nature Conservancy’s Virginia Coast Reserve. Between 1983 and 1989, he opened the DCA Florida Keys Field Office in Key West, served as the Monroe County Planning, Building and Zoning Director, and was the first executive director of the Monroe County Land Authority. Charles also has also served as a planning director in coastal North Carolina and spent five years with the North Carolina Office of Coastal Management in beach access and coastal permitting work. A North Carolina native and an Eagle Scout, he received an undergraduate degree from N.C. State in Raleigh and a Masters in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of North Carolina. He spent six years working on coastal development issues in North Carolina before moving back to Florida. A Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners (April 2008), he serves on the Florida Conflict Resolution Consortium Advisory Council, Betton Hills Neighborhood Association, External Advisory Council to the University of Florida’s School of Natural Resources and the Environment, and Apalachee Land Conservancy. He is a graduate of Leadership Florida, Class 18. In 2005, Charles was appointed by Senate President Tom Lee to a four year term on the Century Commission for a Sustainable Florida. He was also appointed (2007) to the Florida Energy Commission’s Climate Change Subcommittee and the Governor’s Climate Action Team which developed a state climate action plan.

Timothy S. Chapin Ph.D. is Chair of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and co-chair of the Policy Panel. His areas of expertise include Growth Management and Comprehensive Planning, Urban Redevelopment and Revitalization, Urban Economic Development, and Geographic Information Systems. Dr. Chapin's teaching and research interests are in the areas of comprehensive planning, economic development and downtown development. He currently teaches courses in community infrastructure, economic development and computer applications in planning.

Dan DeLisi, AICP, has a comprehensive background in planning, zoning and land development regulations as a consultant for both public and private sector clients. Mr. DeLisi specializes in project entitlements and community visioning. His entitlement experience ranges from small in-fill projects to large mixed use developments of up to 6,700 acres in size, and comprehensive planning for communities of all sizes. Mr. DeLisi has extensive experience with comprehensive plan amendments and Developments of Regional Impact. For the public sector, Mr. DeLisi has led planning and visioning projects in Lee, Charlotte and Hendry Counties having great success in community consensus building, conflict resolution and exploring win-win solutions to complex planning problems. Prior to founding DeLisi Fitzgerald, Mr. DeLisi held the positions of director of planning for a nationally known real estate developer, vice president of planning for a civil engineering firm and senior planner for an urban planning and landscape architecture firm. Mr. DeLisi has been involved in policy committees on the state and local level including the Florida Impact Fee Review Task Force, to which he was appointed by House Speaker Allan Bense, the Lee County Local Planning Agency, the LaBelle Code Review Committee, and the Estero Community Planning Panel. Mr. DeLisi taught a course called The Community Planning Process at Florida Gulf Coast University, and currently teaches a course on Land Use Regulation for the executive MBA program at Nova Southeastern University. Mr. DeLisi has presented on planning issues at numerous conferences, and is a regular presenter on planning and entitlements throughout the United States for the Urban Land Institute. He is the author of articles on topics including community visioning, conflict resolution and long range planning, published by the EarthPledge Foundation, Harvard Law School, and the MIT Cooperative Mobility Project. Mr. DeLisi earned a bachelor’s degree at Brandeis University and a Master of City Planning, Urban Design Certificate at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.