Florida Greenways & Trails Foundation

W. Dale Allen, President

Dale Allen joined the Trust for Public Land (TPL) in 1981, was appointed Southeast Regional Manager in 1986, made a Vice President in 1988, and Senior Vice President in 1999. As regional director, he is responsible for TPL's work in a nine-state area that stretches from the Carolinas south to Florida and west to Louisiana.

Dale has been a member of the Florida Trail Association for more than 20 years, and was responsible for surveying and developing the Florida Trail from the Suwannee River to the Apalachicola River, a distance of 150 miles which included sections through the St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge (the only coastal section in north Florida) and along the Aucilla River and Sinks.

Dale is a native Floridian and is a 1970 graduate of the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University

Richard Dunkel, Board Member

Richard Dunkel is President of Trail Friends, Inc. in Mount Dora, Florida. He has been a bicycling and Rails-to Trails advocate since 1988. He was one of the founding Board Members and first Chairman of the Florida Chapter of the Rails to Trails Conservancy. He started Trail Friends, Inc., a Central Florida based trails organization, of which he is the current President.

He was a several term member of and Chairman of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's Recreational Trails Council. He has been active on a National, State and local level lobbying for Trails. Currently, he is the Secretary of the newly formed Citizen Support Organization for the Office of Greenways and Trails. Rich has sat on a number of Trail and Bike-Ped Boards and has been involved in many land and paddling trail projects throughout the State of Florida.

Wellington Meffert, Board Member

General counsel and legislative lobbyist for Florida Housing Finance Corporation, a public corporation which issues bonds, awards funding, and allocates federal tax credits for the construction of affordable housing in Florida. He has been involved with the statewide building code issue for more than six years, including serving on advisory groups to the Governor's Building Code Study Commission and on the Administration and Code Enforcement Technical Advisory Committee to the Florida Building Commission.

Wellington serverd as Lead lobbyist for the affordable housing bills, 2006-2011, and lead lobbyist for the construction industry on the 1998 legislation which created the Florida Building Commission and authorized the statewide Florida Building Code, as well as the 2000 legislation implementing the Florida Building Code. Lead lobbyist and principal drafter of the post-Andrew 1993 Construction Reform Act, which mandated state licensing of building officials and required continuing education for contractor license renewal.

He has been engaged in construction and housing issues for thirty years; as former Director of Governmental Affairs, Florida Home Builders Association, as Chief Construction Attorney, Department of Business and Professional Regulation; as a building contractor and as a carpenter.

Born in Ocala, Florida; family has been in Marion County since 1882.

Linda Myers, Treasurer

Linda Myers has owned and operated a Dunkin Donut franchise in Palatka for the past 27 years adding a Baskin Robbins franchise to it in 2002. As a CPA, Linda maintains a public accounting practice and does volunteer work for many 'Not for Profits". She has served as an elected County Commissioner for eight years (1998-2006), Chair 2002 and 2006.

She is active in her community and the Northeast Florida Region, having served as chair of the Northeast Florida Regional Council, and a director (1993-2006), chair of the Northeast Florida Workforce Development Council and is a past-president of the Putnam County Chamber of Commerce. At the state level, Linda represented Putnam County at the Florida Association of Counties, Small County Coalition (chairman 2006) and was a trustee of the Florida Association of Counties Trust, President. Served on the FDOT 2020 plan as a representative of Rural Florida.

Linda received her undergraduate and Master of Accounting degrees from the University of Florida and became a CPA in Florida in 1992. Linda is a member of the Florida and Santa Fe Audubon Society. Linda and her husband enjoy our natural environment via bird/butterfly nurturing through gardening and watching and biking on the trials that surround Putnam County.

Sally Thompson, Board Member

Sally Thompson served on the Florida Greenways Commission, the Florida Greenways Coordinating Council, and was first Chair of the Florida Greenways & Trails Council. She is one of the original members of the Florida Greenways and Trails Foundation. She chairs the Tampa Greenways and Trails Citizens Advisory Committee and serves on the Hillsborough Greenways Committee.

Sally is one of the founding members of the Tampa Bay Conservancy, a nonprofit local land trust. She also has been involved with the Hillsborough County Lands Acquisition and Protection Program (ELAPP) since its inception and serves on both the General Committee and the Selection Team.

Sally has a Bachelor of Arts from Hollins University in Virginia, and a Master of Public Administration from the University of South Florida. She served on the Governing Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District (SWFWMD) for over 11 years, and is retired from the City of Tampa.

Jena Brooks, Vice-President

Jena is currently Director of Operations of the real estate auction company, Tranzon Driggers, in Ocala. Previously, she lived in Tallahassee and served for 19 years for the State of Florida in various capacities. She was Director of the Office of Greenways & Trails in the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for 10 years and prior to that served as Chief Cabinet Aide to the Florida Commissioner of Education, as well as working in the Department of Insurance, the Department of State, and the Florida Senate.

She has served as a member of various statewide planning boards and worked on numerous projects over the years involving land management issues, land conservation and acquisition, trail planning and advocacy, multi-agency partnerships, and statewide planning efforts for regional trail development.

Prior to her years with the State of Florida, Jena was a high school English and creative writing teacher. Volunteer activities include Cops for Kids, the Marion County Literacy Council, Cross Florida Greenway, and Ocala Mountain Biking Association.

Jena is a graduate of Florida State University with a concentration in English and communications. Jena has been a member of the Florida Greenways and Trails Foundation since November 2011.

Mark T. Llewellyn, P.E., Secretary

As a Professional Engineer, Mark Llewellyn has had the opportunity to lead the planning and design of multiple Greenway, Trail, and Park projects across Florida. The most notable greenway and trail projects include the Withlacoochee Bay Trail, Four Freedoms Trail, O'Leno to Ichetucknee Trail, Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail, Gopher Frog and Alligator Trail, and Capital Cascade Trail.

Mark is a Brigham Young University graduate with over 30 years of Civil Engineering experience. He enjoys both on and off-road cycling, and is an avid backpacker. Service to his community has included being actively involved in the Greater Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Development Council of Tallahassee and Boy Scouts of America. His professional affiliations include the Florida Engineering Society, Institute of Transportation Engineers and the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Mark co-founded Genesis Group in 1987 and currently serves as the firm's President and CEO. Genesis Group has a long history of providing professional planning and engineering design services for both private and public sector clients with a passion for taking projects from Vision to Reality. Throughout his career, Mark has been an advocate and supporter of the ever expanding greenways and trails across the state.

Brian Smith, AICP, Board Member

Brian Smith was the Director of Planning for Pinellas County. He had held that position since 1981. He retired in November of 2011 with the commitment to continue to be involved in planning work without being a consultant for hire. ), Mr. Smith also served as the Executive Director of the MPO for over 30 years.

Mr. Smith has been involved in a number of successful environmental initiatives for land acquisition, a sales tax initiative to fund the infrastructure program for the County, the establishment of a countywide transit system, the development and implementation of a Geographic Information System, organized the county's first managed growth plan and has had a key role in the Pinellas Trail from it's inception. He was a significant player in the development of the Friendship Trail and the Progress Energy Corporation extension of the Pinellas Trail. For his work with trails in the region and state he was recognized by the RTC as a Trail Champion in 2011.

Mr. Smith has been a professional in the planning field since 1969. He has been a planner with Hillsborough County, Florida, and the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council. He began work as a Planner in Pinellas County in 1970. He has a Masters Degree in Urban Regional Planning from Florida State University and a Bachelor's in Physics from the same University. Prior to entering the planning field, Mr. Smith had gained several years experience in engineering design in the defense industry.

He was certified to the American Institute of Planners in 1974 by examination. He is a Charter member of the American institute of Certified Planners, which was established in 1978. In 2006 he was inducted as a Fellow of the American Institute of Certified Planners for his contributions to the profession and community.

John William Harper, Board Member

Born and raised in Jacksonville Florida, John was was active in sports and Boy Scouts where he achieved the rank of Eagle Scout. John received a degree from Florida Technological University in Civil Engineering and after graduation he worked for a major Engineering Company in Jacksonville where his major focus was the design of water and sewer treatment plants.

John beecame the Capital Projects Coordinator in Community Services for Volusia County in 1982, where he was charged with the design and construction of projects in the low-income areas of the county. Typical projects included a dirt road elimination project, Nancy Cummings Park, and the Babe James Center.

Later, John transferred to the Engineering Department where he was Principal Designer / Project Manager for numerous road and bridge projects. When the County dedicated itself to expanding it's parks and trails systems John was assigned to the Leisure Services Department. He served as Facilities Planning Development Manager, with responsibility for 25 Park construction projects, some of these were Gemini Springs, Green Springs, 27^th Ave., Frank Rendon. Sun Splash, Tom Rennick, Bennett Sports Complex. Lake Bresford, Debary Hall Visitors Center and Barn renovations, Lake Monroe Park, and North Shore Park.

He was Project Manager for the first trails project, Spring to Spring Tail Segment One connecting Gemini Springs to Debary Hall. During his service he oversaw all the trails construction and maintenance more than 50 miles of trails, including, the East Central Regional Rail Trail first segment that opened its first segment in March of 2113.

John co-authored the Grant Application that began the process of OGT purchasing the East Coast Regional Rail Trail corridor and worked very closely with the OGT acting as the local liaison. After the purchase he co-wrote the Management Plan and then moved into design and construction of the project.

He has worked with outside groups and agencies to promote trails and outdoor activities including, The Regional Planning Council, FDOT, OGT, Florida Trails Association, Bike Florida, Florida Bicycling Association, Rails to Trails Conservancy, and the East Coast Greenway Council as well as numerous Cities and Counties.

John has received awards from Bike Florida, Florida Bicycle Association, and Brevard County for my work on trails. Over the years John wrote many Grant applications and was very successful in bringing in an estimated $40-million in State and Federal grant dollars to Volusia County before retiring from Volusia County in April of 2012.

John and his wife Annette currently reside in DeBary, Florida