As President of 1000 Friends of Florida, 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 of 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.

Tschinkel, of Tallahassee, is the past State Director of the Florida Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Tschinkel served as a senior consultant specializing in environmental matters with the law firm of Landers and Parsons from 1988 – 2002. During this period she served on the Board of Directors of Audubon of Florida and Resources for the Future in Washington, DC and a Member, National Advisory Committee on Environmental Technology and Policy, a Senior Advisory Committee at the Environmental Protection Agency as well as the National Commission on the Environment. Previously, in the Administrations of Governor Ruben Askew and Governor Bob Graham Ms. Tschinkel served in various positions in the environmental agencies at that time, and finally as Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation from 1981 to 1987. She is a member of the National Academy of Public Administration, serves on the National Energy Advisory Board of the National Renewables Energy Laboratory and is a member of the Board of Directors of ConocoPhillips. But for her tenure at TNC, she has been a member of the Board of 1000 Friends of Florida since 1987.

Ross is the Affordable Housing Director for 1000 Friends of Florida. She 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.