Staff & Board
Meet the local, hardworking citizens at the helm of Florida Bay Forever.
Board of Directors
VIVIAN MORRISON – CHAIR
Vivian Morrison is an Islamorada resident and nonprofit consultant with extensive experience in community engagement and fundraising. She has previously served as Director of Outreach for the Everglades Foundation and the Director of Community Relations for the University of Miami. Vivian has served on a wide range nonprofit boards and special event committees working with local, regional and national organizations. She lived in Puerto Rico for 15 years and speaks Spanish fluently.
JON TAINOW – TREASURER
Born and raised in Northern New Jersey, Jon is a railroad transportation professional with more than 38 years of experience. He is also a life long fishing enthusiast and advocate who has has volunteered and advised with the American Littoral Society, NY/NJ Baykeeper and the Waterkeeper Alliance. After retiring from Amtrak in 2011, Jon moved to Islamorada and has dedicated his time and effort to preserving the beauty of Florida Bay.
CAROLYN WIGHTMAN
Carolyn Wightman joined the board of directors in June 2022. She has been a resident and homeowner in the Florida Keys since the 1970’s. Carolyn connected with the tropical waters of the Atlantic Ocean after graduating from Stanford University in California and then living in the South Pacific islands of Tonga while with the Peace Corps. Married to legendary backcountry guide Captain Eddie Wightman, the waters of Florida Bay are part of the family. She says there’s hardly a blade of seagrass in Florida Bay that Eddie doesn’t know intimately, and their son Topher, also a captain, has grown up with salt water in his veins. As an entrepreneur and business owner, she’s an active educator and supporter of protecting our fragile environment. She has been a Take Stock in Children Mentor since 2010 and is a supporter of Friends of the Pool, the Fighting Manatees swim group, and the Saving Alligator Lighthouse Project. For several years she has served as Chairperson of the Parks & Recreation Committee for the Village of Islamorada.
John “Jay” Lentini
A full-time Keys resident since 2006, he is originally from Boston but went to college in Sarasota and spent 32 years in the Atlanta area. He owned an off-the grid and later on-the-grid home in No Name Key from 2001-2019 and was instrumental in bringing power, sewers and water to the island. He now lives in Islamorada with his wife, Nancy. He still enjoys an active career as a fire investigation consultant, operating as Scientific Fire Analysis, LLC. He has years of experience as a thought leader in the forensic science profession, chairing standards development agencies for fire investigations, analytical chemistry, and co-ordination of various forensic science disciplines. He has a lifelong interest in environmental protection and hopes to use his organizational skills to advance the cause of bringing more clean water for the bay.
Dr. Raechel Littman
As a scientist, Raechel Littman has been drawn toward work in restoration ecology, wildlife rehabilitation, environmental policy and marine conservation. As an artist, she enjoys sharing a creative environment with her community and expressing the beauty of nature.
Raechel earned her PhD at James Cook University, Queensland Australia in tropical marine biology, her Masters in environmental policy at George Washington University, Washington DC, and her Bachelors in biotechnology at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, in Massachusetts. Her academic work aims to find solutions to our many challenges in this new era by guiding her students to reach for their own authenticity, ingenuity, and critical thinking abilities. She feels the key to innovation is unlocking both our individual creativity and curiosity. As such, she strives to be actively involved in education and outreach to engage coastal communities in the fascinating life around them as well as provide awareness amid a changing marine environment.