Sierra Club Florida Names New Director
TALLAHASSEE, FL — Today the executive committee of Sierra Club Florida announced it has appointed Emily Gorman as the organization's new director. Gorman has been a national Ready For 100 organizer based in Miami since 2017. At 29 years old, she is Sierra Club Florida's youngest ever director.
Gorman first joined the organization in 2016 as an independent consultant with the Suncoast Sierra Club group in St. Petersburg, FL, where she led volunteer teams in the Ready for 100 campaign to secure the first 100% clean energy commitment from any city in the South. Twelve additional Florida cities followed thereafter. In her subsequent role as national organizer, she worked on issues relating to clean energy, environmental justice, transportation and disaster resilience. She has served as co-chair of the Miami Climate Alliance, which fought for the establishment of the Miami-Dade County Office of Resilience, and she is also a member of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services Florida Advisory Council on Climate and Energy.
"Emily has demonstrated a commitment to Sierra Club's mission and goals and transforming the future of environmentalism in our state. Emily's depth and breadth of work speaks volumes above her numerical age. Her work is founded in the pursuit of justice for all, and her background in community organizing, legislative advocacy, business management and mission-driven fundraising is invaluable to our team. We are thrilled to have her take this leadership role in our organization," said Steve Wonderly, Sierra Club Florida chapter chair.
Before joining Sierra Club Florida, Gorman worked as a fundraising consultant with Montecalvo & Associates in Naples, FL, where she helped raise more than $6 million in two years for a variety of mission-driven organizations. She holds a B.A. in cultural anthropology and an MBA, both from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. As a graduate business student, she authored the transportation section of the university's climate action plan.
"I am proud to be appointed to lead Sierra Club Florida," Gorman said. "As the state experiences increasingly severe impacts from climate change, water quality degradation, widespread corporate pollution, habitat loss and legislative malfeasance, I am honored to work and fight for the needs of our most impacted communities and the environment. We will hold public officials accountable and build on the great work of my predecessors."
A chapter of the national Sierra Club, Sierra Club Florida represents 17 local groups and more than 34,000 members and 250,000 supporters statewide. It is a volunteer-driven organization and the boldest voice for the environment on state-level issues. Learn more at sierraclub.org/florida.
Photo by Shannon Kalahar