Leadership & Staff

Doug has more than two decades of professional experience in Florida as a planner, clean energy policy expert, small business owner, and elected official, including 12 years as a St. Lucie County Commissioner (1998-2010). He attended Florida State University earning a Master’s Degree in Urban and Regional Planning, with an emphasis on economics and the environment. In addition to more than a decade of public service, Doug has worked as a Senior Environmental Planner with St. Lucie County, an Environmental Specialist and Clean Energy Executive in the private sector, and Community Planner with 1000 Friends of Florida.

Coward is the Executive Director of the Solar and Energy Loan Fund (SELF), which is a non-profit clean energy bank certified as a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) by the U.S. Department of the Treasury.

Coward also owns and administers his own clean energy consulting business that is helping schools and large energy consumers shift to more cost-effective clean energy solutions, such as Solar PV and LED lighting.

Robert Crippen is a former Naval Aviator and Astronaut. He was pilot of the first Space Shuttle flight into orbit and Commander of three subsequent flights. He also served in NASA management where his last government job was as Director of Kennedy Space Center. In industry he served as President of Thiokol Propulsion, a company that builds large Solid Rocket Motors. He is currently retired living in Florida.

Jane Goodall is widely recognized as the world’s authority on chimpanzees. She spent more than forty years living with the chimpanzees of the Gombe Stream Reserve in Tanzania. Her popular books, National Geographic documentaries and scientific publications provide a decades-long picture of the development, social behavior, ranging patterns and lifecycle of wild chimpanzees. Dr. Goodall has established several sanctuaries in Africa for chimpanzees confiscated from the illegal wildlife trade.

Dr. Forrest “Woody” Hayes is a veterinary consultant helping to provide high quality preventative and emergency medicine for the chimpanzees at Save the Chimps. Prior to specializing in ultrasounds and endoscopy, Dr. Hayes owned a small animal practice for 16 years. His mobile imaging practice has been providing veterinary hospitals all over Florida with advanced diagnostics for 14 years. Although very busy, he always fits us in when one of the chimps needs his help. He is passionate about medicine, compassionate about the chimps and tireless in the pursuit of a diagnosis.

An award-winning actress and director, Anjelica Huston continues her renowned family’s legacy in film, which began with her grandfather, Walter Huston and her father, John Huston.

Throughout her career, Anjelica has received honors from the National Society of Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the Independent Spirit Awards, the Los Angeles, New York and Boston Film Critics Awards as well as multiple Oscar, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Emmy nominations for her body of work. She recently received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Anjelica won an Academy Award for Best Supporting actress for her portrayal of “Maerose Prizzi” in Prizzi’s Honor making the Huston family the first to include three generations of Oscar winners. Huston won a Golden Globe Award for her role in HBO’s original movie “Iron Jawed Angels”.

Her directorial debut was an unflinching adaptation of Dorothy Allison’s best-selling memoir, “Bastard Out Of Carolina”, which garnered Huston critical acclaim. She received an Emmy nomination for her work on the controversial drama as well as a Director’s Guild nomination. Huston directed, produced and starred in “Agnes Browne”, which was presented at the Directors’ Fortnight at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival.

Huston currently serves on the Board of Directors at the National University of Ireland Galway’s John Huston School of Film and Digital Media. She is a member of the Film Foundation’s Artist’s Rights Council and is a recent spokesperson for PETA and the US Campaign for Burma.

Former Corporate Vice President of Brand and Product Marketing for UPS™. Under Gary’s direction, UPS launched its most aggressive advertising campaign in its 100 year history. The “What can BROWN do for you?” campaign. He also guided UPS through the largest rebranding program in U.S. Corporate history, and established the company’s International Sales and Marketing organization. Gary served for 7 years as a board member for the Georgia Economic Development Council, and was a member of The Conference Board. He is currently the Managing Director of a Marketing Consulting firm and resides in Florida.

Mariana Tosca is an actor, producer, fine art portrait photographer and social activist. Her latest film “Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission” tells the extraordinary true story of a US Army Air Corps squadron, which flew over 800 rescue missions to save the lives of hundreds of downed airmen adrift in enemy waters of a war-torn South Pacific. Other Advisory Boards: TheTenDollarClub.org, a nonprofit organization which funds poverty alleviation projects in developing countries, DreamCatcher Wild Horse & Burro Sanctuary, which takes in previously rounded up and/or adopted wild horses and returns them to their natural wild state within a herd environment, Rex & Friends Foundation, a nonprofit group providing music education and music therapy to people who are blind and/or living with autism, and ElephantVoices, a nonprofit dedicated to the protection of elephants through conservation, advocacy, research and education. She founded the Los Angeles Homeless Coalition, which offered shelter, relief and skills training to the homeless population there. She is an adopted member of the Sac and Fox nation. Please visit: www.mtosca.com and www.ToscaPhotography.com.

Brian Vassallo is an attorney and the managing partner of The Law Offices of Vassallo, Bilotta, Friedman & Davis. In addition to the law practice, Brian owns and is a franchisee of nine quick service restaurants. Brian Vassallo was a former member of the district advisory committee, regional advisory committee, and profitability committee of the franchise company. He is also a former member of the board of directors for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Palm Beach County. Currently, Brian is a member of the Palm Beach County Bar Association, the National Organization of Social Security Claimants’ Representatives (NOSSCR), the Florida Bar, and the United States District Court for the Southern District.

Alan Cumming, OBE, is an acclaimed Scottish actor best known for his roles in Cabaret on Broadway, for which he won a Tony Award, and The Good Wife on CBS, for which he was nominated for multiple Emmy and Golden Globe awards.
His films include X-Men 2, GoldenEye, Spy Kids, and Buddy, a 1997 comedy in which he appeared with a young chimp named Tonka. Years later, Cumming learned the sad fate of chimps used in show business: at 7, when they become too strong to manage, they are discarded to roadside zoos, labs, or, in Tonka’s case, a Missouri breeding compound that ran afoul of the law. Cumming joined forces with PETA—and a federal judge—to free Tonka from a solitary basement cage and help bring him to Save the Chimps, where he enjoys the outdoors and the companionship of other chimps.

Danielle lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico and worked for New Mexico state government for more than 35 years. She worked as a volunteer for Save the Chimps in Alamogordo from the time that Carole Noon took over the management of the Coulston chimps until the last group left New Mexico and is an active supporter for Animal Protection New Mexico as well as other animal rights groups.