Meet Catherine

After moving to Florida to attend Florida International University, I fell in love with the weather and the beach. After graduating, I went back to school to take Elementary Education courses at both FIU and Barry University. I have been a Hollywood resident for over 20 years, residing in District 1 with my husband, 2 sons, and rescue dog (Holly).

I taught elementary school in the Broward County Public School System for 15 years, 13 of those in Hollywood. Both of my sons have attended Hollywood public schools from elementary through high school. While teaching, I was a competitive stand up paddle racer and saw firsthand the ways in which our beaches and waterways were suffering, particularly from plastic pollution. Because of my concern for the environment, I began volunteering for ocean conservation causes and eventually became Chair of the Surfrider Foundation Broward County Chapter. While serving as Chair, I launched the chapter’s first Ocean Friendly Restaurant Program, which encouraged restaurants to reduce their use of single-use plastics, and began the chapter’s Blue Water Task Force lab program which involved testing Broward beaches for harmful bacteria. I also served on the City of Hollywood Sustainability Advisory Committee, where I helped to make recommendations to the City Commission on the development of environmental goals and the implementation of plans to reach those goals. As part of this committee, I also helped promote environmental awareness through public events and webinars.

I served as Chair for the City’s Parks and Recreation Advisory Board, helping to make recommendations for the City’s Parks and Recreation Master Plan and providing input on community needs. During my time as Chair, I helped to update and improve the rules for recreating in the ocean, including a massive expansion of the paddle zones. 

In 2018, I left teaching to spend more time protecting the ocean, waterways, and marine life. For the past 5 years, I have been the South Florida Field Representative for Oceana, an international nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of the oceans through policy change. I work with the public, business leaders, coalition partners, and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle to pass local, state, and federal legislation to protect the environment. This work brings me to many city, county, and state delegation meetings, as well as to Tallahassee. I’ve attended environmental conferences and summits across the state, where I gained knowledge about Florida’s unique environmental challenges.