North Florida Land Trust adds 3 new members to Board of Directors

Marshlands in Jacksonville Beach the North Florida Land Trust wants to acquire. Image via North Florida Land Trust.

A prominent First Coast land conservation group is adding to its leadership team.

Three new members are joining the Board of Directors for the North Florida Land Trust (NFLT). Janyce Dawkins, Tom Goodrich and Natalie Healy have all been added to the panel.

“We welcome Janyce, Tom, and Natalie to the board and look forward to working together to buy land for conservation because it is now or never,” said Allison DeFoor, President and CEO of NFLT. “Having a diverse board with various backgrounds helps guide our team and strengthens our mission. We have much to accomplish and will continue doing everything possible to save our natural landscapes.”

All three new members of the Board of Directors have connections to the coastal areas of Northeast Florida.

Dawkins currently lives in American Beach, where she is a past President of the American Beach Property Owners Association in Nassau County. American Beach is rich in local history, as it was one of the only North Florida shorelines that allowed African Americans on the beach during the era of segregation.

Dawkins is also a lawyer who earned her law degree from Florida State University. She was a practicing lawyer in Atlanta for years before becoming the director of equal opportunity at the University of Georgia.

Goodrich has been a resident of Atlantic Beach in Duval County for 32 years and is a wealth advisor at Ameriprise Financial. He is also steeped in Florida’s surf culture, riding waves from Jacksonville to Fort Lauderdale, where he is originally from. He has also contributed volunteer efforts to several environmental organizations.

Healy is right down the road from Goodrich in Jacksonville Beach. She manages The Healy Foundation, which supports nonprofit programs for schools in Florida. She’s also on the Board of Directors for the Pace Center for Girls in Jacksonville.

The trio joins the 15-member Board for the NFLT. The organization was founded in 1999 and has been responsible for acquiring tens of thousands of acres of land in order to preserve it and prevent development.