Voting 2023 has closed.
David Vaina
A native Floridian and current Alachua County resident, has 20 years of experience
in non-profit programming and administration. His career includes stints as the statewide
Education Director for the Gainesville-based Florida Organic Growers and as a research analyst
for the Pew Research Center in Washington D.C. He recently completed his Phd in political
theory (expected November 2023) and his dissertation investigated emerging labor and political
practices organized intentionally to regenerate both the human community and a natural world
increasingly degraded by climate change.
David has a strong interest in sustainable agriculture and urban gardening. He is a 2019 graduate
of the Wallace Center’s Community Food Systems Mentorship Program and served on the board
of directors for Slow Food USA (Gold & Treasure Coast Chapter) during the early 2010s. He is
also a 2022 graduate of the Florida Master Gardener program and has taught organic gardening
at Santa Fe College in Gainesville.
After relocating to north central Florida in late 2020, David served two terms as a board member
for Our Santa Fe River and has helped coordinate the downtown High Springs Community
Garden. He is especially looking forward to being involved in the SSJ Group’s Outings
Committee and recently completed the Sierra Club’s Outings Leader training.
In his free time, David enjoys hiking and kayaking with his friends and wife throughout Florida.
He tries to live every day contributing to making his north central Florida community a little
more habitable and just for all living things.
Maryvonne Devensky
I have been a member of Sierra Club since March 1997, when I lived in Palm Beach County and I was involved with the Loxahatchee group there. I wore different hats: Outings leader, Education Chair, Group Chair.
I moved to Gainesville in 2007 and joined the Suwannee St Johns Sierra Club group. I was ICO chair from 2010 until this year. As a person, I am concerned about energy, climate change, and the over use of single plastic bags. This year I am running one more time to continue as Outings Chair and to support the efforts of this group.
David Hastings
Our Suwannee-St. Johns Group (SSJ) covers a vast fourteen-county area which includes extraordinary natural environments including spring runs, long leaf flatwoods, sandhill communitie
One of the main reasons I joined Sierra Club is to join with other like-minded activists to develop and implement policy solutions to the climate crisis. There are viable solutions to this emergency that are available now, and must be implemented quickly. However, we need to ensure that the transition is just and equitable. We need to listen to all voices, especially those from historically disadvantaged communities.
I have been volunteering with Suwannee St.-Johns Sierra Club for the last two and a half years. I’m inspired by the depth of the grassroots actions combined with smart, hardworking staff.
Our strength and ability to address the wide range of challenges depends on our effectiveness in recruiting and supporting volunteers. We need to rebuild and strengthen the volunteer base within the Suwannee St. Johns group. I want to join others in the struggle for a greener, more just future.
Sarah Younger
Please allow me to continue to serve on the Executive Committee. The last four years have been both challenging and rewarding. The challenge of restoring the SSJ group after reorganization through the Covid pandemic required both perseverance and determination from our hardworking leadership team. We held firmly to accomplish this goal and we are proud of the result.
The rewards of the environmental wins over this period (For example: the HPS II mining permit withdrawal in Bradford County and the BMAP lawsuit win against the FL-DEP) have been magnified by the deep relationships we have formed within local frontline communities.
Continuing to center our work on environmental justice means showing up for marginalized communities and bringing our support to their concerns.
Importantly at this time, we must pressure Governor DeSantis to establish the programs through the Inflation Reduction Act that will reduce our carbon footprint and alleviate the suffering for energy- burdened households.
Please understand that this work continues to bring me back as there is still much to accomplish. We have identified that recruitment of new volunteers and growth of our leadership teams is crucial to our mission.
The lessons of these last several years have shown me that deepening the relationships we share at Sierra Club Suwannee-St Johns Group must be our priority as an environmental movement.
Whether you are signing petitions, making phone calls, tabling at events to give out information or attending our meetings and outdoor outings, you are the reason I want to continue work on the Executive Committee. Your time and energy as a Sierra Club member is highly valued and I want you to find value in what SSJ brings to your life as well.
Please let me know what you value about SSJ as I would love to hear from you.
Dr. Jay Bushnell
I am a retired college educator with a background in anthropology, sociology and United States history. We moved from Ormond Beach to our present home in Fowler’s Bluff, Levy County on the Suwannee River in 2004. Being an active
participant in environmental issues throughout North Florida is an integral part of my life. In Volusia County, I played a role in the eventual protection of the Tomoka Basin, helped the successful Environmental, Cultural, Heritage Outdoor recreational efforts (ECHO), and wrote and administered three grants promoting Volusia/Flagler counties.
In Levy County, I have served three terms as president of the Friends of the Lower Suwannee and Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuges. I am still an active advocate for the Friends group. I was also a charter member of the Cedar Keys Audubon and served a two year term as president. I belong and support many environmental groups including Sierra Club. It would be an honor to serve the Sierra Club.