LEADERSHIP MONROE COUNTY CLASS XXX HEADS TO D.C. ON ADVOCACY MISSION

Leadership Monroe County Class XXX presents Museum of the Everglades manager Thomas Lockyear, front and center, with a donation to support the museum’s historic preservation efforts at a class session in November. A 10-member delegation from the class will visit Washington, D.C. on an advocacy trip next week. CONTRIBUTED

Pressing issues facing the Florida Keys community and natural environment will have another spotlight on the national stage as Leadership Monroe County (LMC)’s Class XXX – “Leaders Gone Wild” – prepares to visit the nation’s capital on an advocacy and education mission during sessions of the U.S. House and Senate next week.

The 10-member delegation has thus far secured meetings with U.S. Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio; U.S. Representatives Carlos Gimenez, John H. Rutherford, Jared Moskowitz and Mario Diaz-Balart; and staff from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Capitol Police.

Tours of the capitol building and Library of Congress, along with an invitation to join Florida’s delegation at the Florida House on Capitol Hill, will complete the three-day journey.

Inspired by the wildly successful annual Florida Keys Day in Tallahassee – the brainchild of LMC Class XVII – Class XXX chose to establish the education and advocacy trip as its project, an annual requirement for each graduating class in Leadership Monroe County. Topics on the agenda for various meetings include sea level rise, Everglades restoration, coral reef protection, affordable housing mechanisms, insurance and disaster relief concerns, and infrastructure hardening and replacement initiatives.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the response we’ve received so far from legislators and critical agencies,” said Monroe County Project Management Director and LMC class member Cary Knight. “Grassroots advocacy with trips such as these allows our representatives to examine these critical issues through a different lens as they have honest, thoughtful discussions with Keys community leaders.”

“We’re very excited and supportive of this endeavor,” said Chuck Licis-Masson, LMC board president. “Taking Florida Keys Day to Washington D.C. will allow this class to make vital connections with the lawmakers who have such a crucial impact on our community.”

“Class XXX has it all by going forward with their bold class project,” added program coordinator Michael Shields.

Established in 1992, Leadership Monroe County is an educational nonprofit community leadership organization developed to address the rapidly changing needs and concerns of the county, develop a group of well-educated leaders, help guide the community in a positive direction and foster county-wide effective and non-partisan alliances. Through a series of single or multi-day sessions over seven months, participants examine the fundamental public and private segments throughout the county. These unique experiences help participants grow as Monroe County residents and leaders as well as provide invaluable connections among other leaders across the county.

Rickert is a member of LMC Class XXX.

Alex Rickert made the perfectly natural career progression from dolphin trainer to newspaper editor in 2021 after freelancing for Keys Weekly while working full time at Dolphin Research Center. A resident of Marathon since 2015, he fell in love with the Florida Keys community by helping multiple organizations and friends rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Irma. An avid runner, actor, and spearfisherman, he spends as much of his time outside of work on or under the sea having civil disagreements with sharks.