Local industry leaders offer their perspective on the future of sustainability and our economy in Palm Beach North. An impactful Q & A about resilience, as we work to build momentum for a sustainable and prosperous economy for our people and our planet. The panel, which will feature Nick Uhren, Executive Director for the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency, Kevin Webber, President of Florida Public Utilities Company, Jack Lighton, President & Chief Executive Officer, Jack Lighton Consulting, LLC, and Jill Dvareckas, Senior Director of Development, Florida Power & Light (FPL), is a part of the Chamber's Sustainability Subcommittee's programming and will be moderated by Chelsea Reed, Sustainability Subcommittee Chair and Vice Mayor for the City of Palm Beach Gardens.

Our Moderator:
Chelsea Reed

Vice Mayor for the City of Palm Beach Gardens, Chelsea Reed is an award-winning community leader, involved with civic and charitable organizations, as well as in business development as a previous local healthcare practice owner. Chelsea proudly founded and chairs the Sustainability Subcommittee of the Chamber and is on the Board of the League of Cities, Chairs the Women’s Foundation Network of Elected Women, Advisory Board to Resource Depot, graduated Leadership Palm Beach Class of 2020, and sits on the Benjamin School Alumni Council. She was appointed to the Board of Directors for Palm Beach TPA, Board of Directors for Palm Beach County League of Cities, Treasure Coast Regional Planning Council and serves state level on the Florida League of Cities Transportation & Intergovernmental Relations Committee. Chelsea was recently honored as a finalist for; Volunteer of the Year for Hats Off for Nonprofits, PBN Woman of the Year and Complete Streets Champion Award for the Safe Streets Summit.
Chelsea attended The Benjamin School, received her bachelor’s degree from FAU, and holds a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership & Management from UF. She is a marathon and ultra-relay runner, and adventure traveler with her husband of 27 years, Michael, and their two sons.

Our Panelists:

Nick Uhren

Mr. Uhren has over 20 years of transportation planning experience, serving as the Executive Director for the Palm Beach Transportation Planning Agency for the last eight years where he works for 21 locally elected officials to collaboratively plan, prioritize and fund the transportation system of Palm Beach County.
 
The Palm Beach TPA seeks to establish a safe, efficient and connected multimodal transportation system by allocating over $650M annually to transportation projects and services.  The TPA Board has recently focused on safety, sustainability, and the advancement of complete streets and transit services throughout our urbanized area comprised of 1.5 million people within 39 municipalities and the unincorporated county.
 
Mr. Uhren is a civil engineering graduate of the University of Kentucky and resides in Wellington with his wife and three children.

Jill Dvareckas

Jill Dvareckas is a Senior Director of Development at Florida Power & Light (FPL) in Juno Beach, Florida. Jill leads FPL’s Distributed Technology & e-Mobility development team. Jill is responsible for leading the development and execution of new and innovative distributed energy programs, including FPL’s electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure pilot and EV outreach program and Florida’s first large scale battery pilot program. Jill was instrumental in the development and launch of FPL SolarTogether, FPL’s innovative community solar program launched in March 2020.
 
Jill joined FPL from NextEra Energy Resources where she led the distributed generation solar and storage project development team, with overall responsibility for development, financing and execution of commercial-scale solar PV and energy storage projects throughout the U.S. Prior to NEER Jill was a member of First Solar’s Business Development and Project Finance teams. Jill earned a B.A. in International Studies from American University in Washington, D.C.

Kevin Webber

Mr. Webber was promoted to Senior Vice President of Chesapeake Utilities Corporation in 2019. He joined the Company in 2010 and since that time has served as President of Florida Public Utilities Company, as well as Vice President of Gas Operations and Business Development for the Florida business unit. Mr. Webber currently oversees the Company’s propane operations, combined heat and power operations, mobile compressed natural gas (CNG) utility and pipeline solutions, and business development across the Company.   Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Webber was General Manager of TECO Partners and Director, Marketing and Energy Conservation for Tampa Electric. Mr. Webber is active with the American Gas Association and is a founding member of the National Council for Responsible Energy. Mr. Webber has more than 30 years of experience in the energy industry.

Jack E. Lighton

Jack Lighton is President & CEO of Jack Lighton Consulting, LLC a business consultancy that enables for profit and nonprofit businesses to realize catalytic growth and deeper stakeholder engagement through world class awareness and advocacy campaigns. The firm specializes in:
1. Strategic planning
2. Product line optimization and marketing
3. Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) optimization
4. Identifying and developing Boards of Directors
Jack is currently consulting with SeaLegacy, the nonprofit founded by National Geographic Explorers Cristina Mittermeier and Paul Nicklen.

Prior to founding Jack Lighton Consulting, LLC, Mr. Lighton spent eight years as President & CEO of Loggerhead Marinelife Center (LMC), one of Palm Beach County’s most visible cultural and scientific institutions. Under Mr. Lighton’s leadership, the Center:
1. Tripled its annual operations and memberships
2. Established itself as a global leader in sea turtle and ocean conservation
3. Completed a nearly 30,000sqft campus expansion – Opening in September
4. Established an ESG infused endowment strategy
Mr. Lighton’s career began in management consulting where he spent nearly two-decades with the firms of Harris Interactive (Nielsen) and J.D. Power & Associates managing diverse teams based in Detroit, New York, London, and Singapore.
A long-standing resident of Palm Beach County, Mr. Lighton’s is a:
➢ Proud past Board & Executive Committee member at Palm Beach North Chamber of Commerce, a
➢ Past Board Member (ex-officio) at Cultural Council for Palm Beach County and,
➢ A current Founding Board Member at Friends of Manatee Lagoon the nonprofit arm of FPL’s Manatee Lagoon an eco-discovery Center located in West Palm Beach
When out of the office and away from the computer, Mr. Lighton enjoys:
-Advocating for animal rescue,
-Exploring the nature trails in Jupiter Farms,
-Biking with his bike club, “The Rocket Groupies” and,
-Traveling the United States in his family’s motorcoach named, “Karl”
Mr. Lighton’s comprehensive professional achievements are viewable on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacklighton/