who we are
We are two mid-career professionals in environmental conservation who apply care, curiosity, and a “let’s do this” mindset to our work. We created Lighthouse to bring new resources to eastern North Carolina that facilitate community-driven adaptation to changing environments. As Co-Directors, we rely on collaborative leadership to ensure we are building a healthy, adaptable organization to advance our mission and build effective partnerships.
The Power of Two
Care and Connection
now more than ever
We care deeply about people and how we can together face the intensifying challenges of climate change. We work with and through communities to bring new resources, skills, and perspectives that will help people remain rooted along the NC coast.
We greatly value organizations working to ensure a healthy environment and help it retain its natural beauty in the face of growing threats. We provide adaptive and responsive support, assisting organizations that are working to bring out the best in their teams and fulfill their missions.
our team
Leda Cunningham
Co-directoR
Leda Cunningham is Co-Director of Lighthouse Environment Partners, where she leads organizational growth and operations. She is based in Morehead City, NC.
Leda spent 14 years with The Pew Charitable Trusts, with her work in North Carolina focused on protecting and restoring seagrass, oysters, and coastal wetlands that promote healthy fisheries and resilient ecosystems in the face of climate change. One key outcome was the state’s adoption of a Coastal Habitat Protection Plan with new policies to improve water quality and preserve salt marsh in North Carolina’s 2 million acres of nearshore habitats, the second largest estuary in the U.S.
Prior to Pew, she served as executive director of the Reef Environmental Education Foundation, where she led fundraising and strategic planning initiatives and managed a team of staff and volunteers whose achievements included developing the world’s largest database of marine life sightings by citizen scientists.
Leda holds a bachelor’s degree in biology from Macalester College and master’s degrees in business administration and global environmental policy from American University. She is the founder of Wild East Strategies consulting and spends her free time traveling, hiking, and sharing her love of the natural world with family and friends.
Kelly Garvy
Co-director
Kelly is Co-Director of Lighthouse Environment Partners, where she leads programmatic growth and development. She is based in Beaufort, NC.
Kelly thrives at the intersection of science, technology, and people. Most recently, Kelly helped the North Carolina Coastal Federation with its salt marsh conservation and water quality initiatives, including through North Carolina's adoption of a Coastal Habitat Protection Plan. While assisting the South Atlantic Salt Marsh Initiative, Kelly designed, organized and facilitated creative and innovative approaches for engaging stakeholders. She built her skills as a grassroots campaign organizer, a digital director for a winning Congressional campaign, and by designing and building an app to help citizens, organizations and even the state's General Assembly more easily track changes in bills and policy measures.
She has her bachelor’s in Environmental Sciences from the University of Notre Dame and her master’s in Environmental Management in Environmental Economics and Policy from the Nicholas School of the Environment at Duke University. When she isn’t working with people to protect nature, Kelly enjoys camping, fishing, diving, surfing, poetry, writing, travel and yoga.
Partner with us
As Lighthouse grows, we seek financial partners to provide operational support and project partners to explore and launch new ideas. Please contact us if you’d like to collaborate.