November 10, 2022 / Guardian Works at Echo Street / Atlanta, GA

GC Board Chair Virginia Harman, Cathy Sakas, Becky Kelley, Tony Aeck, GC President Katherine Moore

Thank you to all the ecoBenefête 2022 sponsors, supporters, and attendees who made this evening so wonderful! In joining together to celebrate 55 years of the Georgia Conservancy and honoring this year's three Distinguished Conservationists - Tony Aeck, Becky Kelley and Cathy Sakas - you are helping to ensure that our mission continues into the future!

These three individuals have had a tremendous impact on Georgia’s natural resources and communities. Their passions for conservation and sustainability align with our mission and exemplify our strategic focus areas of thriving communities, engaged Georgians, and healthy natural systems.

A big thank you to Georgia Conservancy Natural Partners and ecoBenefête Sponsors: Georgia Power, Cox Enterprises, Norfolk Southern Corp, Georgia-Pacific, Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta, Novelis, Kia America, The Home Depot Foundation, Southwire, BakerHostetler, Connect South Public Affairs, Impact Public Affairs, Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP, Ross & Claire Arnold, Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr., Tim & Alison McKinley, Rutherford & Laura Turner Seydel, and Michael & Jenny Stubbs.

MEET Our Distinguished Conservationists

Antonin “Tony” Aeck

Few have forwarded the philosophies and practices of historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and sustainable development in Georgia more than Tony Aeck. As founding principal of the innovative architecture firm Lord Aeck Sargent, Aeck has advanced the firm’s focus on the preservation of the state’s historic built environment and has led preservation projects at such acclaimed Georgia locations as The Fox Theatre, Paradise Gardens, the Georgia State Capitol, Andalusia, Ebenezer Baptist Church, and the Martin Luther King Jr. Federal Building. Under his leadership, Lord Aeck Sargent has been an innovator in the design and construction of sustainable buildings for public institutions throughout the Southeast and beyond, including Georgia Tech’s Kendeda Building. As a steward of our local natural resources, Aeck has put 7.8 critical acres in-town acres of his property along the Chattahoochee River into a conservation easement.

 

Becky Kelley

Georgia’s State Park system is among the most celebrated in the nation because of the leadership and vision of Becky Kelley. From 2002 to 2018, Kelley served as Director of Georgia State Parks, overseeing the state’s sixty-three state parks and historic sites, from Cloudland Canyon and Black Rock Mountain State Parks in the north to Seminole and Crooked River State Parks in the south. Her leadership during the Great Recession is widely lauded as she successfully navigated the financial challenges faced by Georgia State Parks without any permanent park closures. Kelley began her career with the Dekalb County Department of Recreation, Parks, and Cultural Affairs and was instrumental in the establishment of the Arabia Mountain National Heritage Area. She currently serves as vice chair of the Arabia Alliance.

 

Cathy Sakas

Renowned naturalist, environmental educator, filmmaker, and author Cathy Sakas has spent decades advancing the conservation and understanding of Georgia’s coastal lowlands, saltwater marsh, and nearshore waters. Sakas has led a varied and exciting career on our coast, including years as a diver, aquanaut, and educator for NOAA at Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary, a naturalist at Little St. Simons Island, and a producer and host of Emmy Award-winning nature documentaries. She is the founding chair of the Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary Foundation and currently serves as Board Chair of the Tybee Island Marine Sciences Center. Additionally, Sakas continues to educate Georgians as a guest naturalist on Georgia Conservancy trips to the Okefenokee and Georgia’s Coast.

Past ecoBenefête Distinguished Conservationist Award recipients: Mayor Shirley Franklin, Dr. Johnny Bembry, Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Rob Williams, Governor Nathan Deal, Lieutenant Governor Pierre Howard, Georgia Tech’s College of Architecture, The City of Columbus, Ben Slade III, Will Harris III, E. Cody Laird, Jr., The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Emory University, Jim Kennedy, Atlantic Station, Ray Weeks, Charles Brewer, Clay Long, Garden Club of Georgia, Laura and Rutherford Seydel, Congressman John Lewis, James Mackay, Governor Zell Miller, Atlanta Journal-Constitution Horizon, Ray C. Anderson, Senator Sam Nunn, Ted Turner, Chuck Leavell, and Eugene Odum.

Thank You Georgia Conservancy Natural Partners and EcoBenefete Sponsors

Ross & Claire Arnold

Mayor Hardie Davis, Jr.

Tim & Alison McKinley

Rutherford & Laura Turner Seydel

Michael & Jenny Stubbs

2022 ECOBENEFETE PHOTOS

ecoBenefete 2022 photos by CaseLove Productions

 
 

Founded in 1967, the Georgia Conservancy’s is to protect Georgia through ecological and economic solutions for stewardship, conservation and sustainable use of the land and its resources.