As President, Pattison 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. Pattison received his Master’s degree in Urban and Regional planning from the University of North Carolina in 1976. He has thirty-one years experience at private, local, state and regional levels. Prior to joining 1000 Friends of Florida, he served as the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Director for the Division of Resource Planning and Management from 1989 to 1992, he worked as a Field Representative with The Nature Conservancy in Virginia and as Executive Director for the Monroe County Land Authority in the Florida Keys from 1985-87. Pattison is a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners.

Lester Abberger of Tallahassee is past chair of 1000 Friends of Florida. He is chairman of The Trust for Public Land (TPL) Florida Advisory Council, serves on the TPL National Leadership Council, is chair of the Florida Conservation Campaign, and is a director and chair of the Finance Committee of The Conservation Campaign. He is past chair of Leadership Florida, The Seaside Institute, and the City of Tallahassee Urban Design Commission. He serves on the boards of a number of public, charitable, and private concerns. He is a graduate of Davidson College, where he serves on the Board of Visitors, and is a Knight Fellow at the University of Miami School of Architecture.

Ross is responsible for working with local governments and with the nonprofit and for-profit development communities in the provision of affordable housing through the state’s growth management laws. She promotes affordable housing through policy and administrative advocacy with state, regional and local agencies and by developing other organizations involved in low-income housing issues; providing technical assistance and legal expertise. The affordable housing program receives its primary funding from the Florida Bar Foundation. Before joining 1000 Friends of Florida in 1991, Ross practiced with the Orlando firm of Pleus, Adams & Spears, P.A. The emphasis of her practice was in the area of real estate, land use and local government law. Ross is the director of the Florida Community Land Trust Institute, a collaboration between 1000 Friends of Florida and the Florida Housing Coalition. She chairs the Affordable Housing Committee of the Florida Bar Real Property Probate & Trust Law Section. Ross is the President of the Florida Housing Coalition, and serves on the Board of the Innovative Housing Institute, and the Wachovia National Community Development Advisory Board. She served from 1992-2002 on the Florida Affordable Housing Study Commission and served on the Board of the National Low Income Housing Coalition from 1997- 2003. In 2004, Ross was named a James A. Johnson Community Fellow by the Fannie Mae Foundation for her accomplishments in affordable housing.