OUR HISTORY
innovate.
educate.
celebrate.
Meet our Founder & Senior Climate Advisor, Caroline Lewis.
Caroline is an education and engagement strategist. She founded The CLEO Institute in 2010 to help mobilize the masses in support of climate action. Recognizing the urgency of the climate data, Lewis shaped CLEO’s programs to allow multiple access points for diverse learners, building climate literacy and informed advocacy, top-down and bottom-up, simultaneously. Her leadership roles and consultancy helped shape Ransom Everglades Upper School, Cushman High School, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, and several others. She has been recognized locally and nationally.
In 2019 Caroline was recognized by TIME magazine as one of the 31 most influential people in the South. She was also 1 of 12 individuals nationally recognized as a White House Climate Resilience Champion of Change in 2013. That year, Caroline also joined 100 leaders at the White House Leadership Summits on Women & the Environment and on Climate & Energy, co-hosted by the U.S. Dept. of Energy. In 2012, she was appointed 1 of 11 environmental education professionals to the EPA’s National Environmental Education Advisory Council.
OUR MISSION
To educate and promote an informed and engaged public that supports climate action.
OUR VISION
A WORLD IN WHICH ALL PEOPLE, GOVERNMENTS, AND ORGANIZATIONS ARE INFORMED, ENGAGED, AND TAKING ACTION ON CRITICAL CLIMATE ISSUES.
OUR PURPOSE
To educate and empower communities to demand climate action, ensuring a safe, just, and healthy environment for all.
OUR People
Caroline Lewis
Founder & Senior Climate Advisor
Yoca Arditi-Rocha
Executive Director
Natalia Ortiz
Director of Development
Olivia Collins
Senior Director of Programs
Natalie Rivas
Program Manager
Mia Kirn
Events and Development
Katrina Erwin
Associate Program Manager
Ian Quartin
Office Administrator
Bereatha Howard
Program Coordinator
Ashley Campbell
Intern
Laura Betts
Program Manager, Orlando
Hayley Furman
Assistant Program Manager
Betty Jean-Jeremie
Program Manager
Michou Ducilon
Social Media Coordinator
Salome Garcia
Policy and Campaigns Manager, Tallahassee
Karolyn Burns
Programs Manager, Tallahassee
Jackson Oberlink
Policy Coordinator
Daniel Dietch
CLEO Board President, Former Mayor of Surfside and Project Director for SCS Engineers where he provides strategic solid waste and environmental consulting services to municipal and commercial clients worldwide.
John Morales
1st Vice-President of CLEO Board, Chief Meteorologist for NBC6 South Florida.
Lindsey Wolfson Goldsmith
2nd Vice-President of CLEO Board, Asset Manager & Closing Coordinator at Pinnacle, a multi-family development and construction company dedicated to affordable/workforce housing.
Dr. Bernard Horowitz
CLEO Board Treasurer, Recognized internationally for his research on blood viral safety and the preparation and characterization of new therapeutics from blood.
Ed Freedman
CLEO Board Secretary, Consulted for over 40 years in human resources and employee benefits before retiring from the business world and moving to Pinecrest, Fla.
Tomás E. Castellanos
Miami attorney at Holland and Knight, and a member of the firm's Real Estate Practice. Mr. Castellanos focuses his practice on all aspects of commercial real estate transactions, including the financing, acquisition, disposition, leasing and development of real estate assets.
Mario Facella
Senior lender at TD Bank specializing in commercial real estate banking activities.
Cara A. Horowitz
Andrew Sabin Family Foundation Executive Director of the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment at UCLA Law, which is dedicated to advancing climate change law and policy.
Delaney Reynolds
Founder of the Sink or Swim Project MiamiSeaRise.org
Dr. Harold Wanless
Professor at the Department of Geological Sciences at the University of Miami, and was Cooper Fellow in the College of Arts and Sciences 2010-2013. From 1971-1992 he was a faculty member in Marine Geology and Geophysics at RSMAS, and in Geological Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences since 1992.
Dr. F. Lynn Leverett
Board Member EmeritusA native of Lubbock, Texas, graduated from Texas Tech University and then from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio.
Cindy Lerner
Attorney, Former Mayor of Pinecrest, elected in 2008 until 2016. During her two terms, Cindy focused on a number of issues of importance to the community, including climate resilient practices, enhancing transit options, water quality, renewable and efficient energy practices, gun safety and sea level rise.
The CLEO Institute’s Expert Advisory Council has been established to provide local, state, and national guidance and support.
The council is composed of top climate scientists, doctors, environmentalists, teachers, former elected and government officials.
Ricardo Alvarez
President & Director, MITIGAT.com. Specialties: vulnerability assessment & mitigation.
Henry O. Briceño
Ph.D., Professor at Southeast Environmental Research Center & Department of Earth and Environment at Florida International University.
Julie Dick
Environmental lawyer who is a relentless advocate for hurricane and sea level rise preparedness, conservation of coastal resources, and responsible planning.
Nancy Gassman
Ph.D., Assistant Public Works Director - Sustainability, City of Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Maribeth Gidley
Ph.D., Ocean Chemistry and Ecosystems Division (NOAA) CIMAS.
Ben Haley
Co-Founder of Evolved Energy Research
Brian Haus
Ph.D., A Professor in the Ocean Sciences Department at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science.
Ben Kirtman
Ph.D., Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences; Director, Cooperative Institute for Marine & Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS); Director; Center for Computational Science Climate and Environmental Hazards Program UM RSMAS.
Sumita Khatri
Professor of medicine at CCLCM/CWRU School of Medicine and an adult pulmonary and ICU physician with a specialized focus in asthma patient care and clinical research. Director of the Asthma Center at Cleveland Clinic. Vice Chair, Board of Directors and Mission Programs for The American Lung Association
Amy Knowles
Chief Resiliency Officer for the City of Miami Beach.
Michael E. Mann
Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric Science at Penn State, with joint appointments in the Department of Geosciences and the Earth and Environmental Systems Institute (EESI). He is also director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center (ESSC).
Jayantha Obeysekera
Director and Research Professor in the Sea Level Solutions Center, Florida International University.
Jacqueline Patterson
Director of the NAACP Environmental and Climate Justice Program.
Brian Soden
Ph.D., Professor, Department of Atmospheric Sciences, UM RSMAS - Specialization: Tropical Climate Change, Climate Modeling, Remote Sensing.
Philip K. Stoddard
Ph. D., Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, FIU; Mayor, City of South Miami, and appointed by the White House in 2015 to the Governance Coordinating Committee of the National Ocean Council where he developed national policy for sea level rise.
Tiffany G. Troxler
Ph. D., Research Associate Professor, Southeast Environmental Research Center, Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University.