Meet the Brevard Native Taking the Lead at Keep Brevard Beautiful
Connie Herring returned home to Brevard and is now leading Keep Brevard Beautiful as the nonprofit approaches 45 years of local service.
Keep Brevard Beautiful has a new executive director with deep roots in the county and more than two decades of nonprofit experience.
Connie Herring began the role July 6. She is a Merritt Island High School and University of Florida graduate who returned to Brevard in 2025 after years working with arts and nonprofit organizations in North Carolina.
From Brevard Zoo partnerships to countywide cleanup work
Most recently, Herring served as associate director of strategic partnerships at the East Coast Zoological Foundation, the nonprofit behind Brevard Zoo. She managed major-donor relationships and helped lead the zoo's 2026 Safari Under the Stars fundraiser, which set an event record.
Before returning to Florida, she held leadership roles with Piedmont Opera, The Little Theatre of Winston-Salem, the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art and the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County.
That background may sound far removed from litter removal, but much of Keep Brevard Beautiful's work depends on the same skills: building partnerships, organizing volunteers and persuading businesses and residents to invest in a shared community goal.
Supporting photo via Wikimedia Commons.
A 45-year local legacy
Keep Brevard Beautiful will mark 45 years of service in October. The organization says its staff and volunteers removed more than 412 tons of litter and debris from Brevard's roadsides, beaches and waterways last year.
Its work includes Adopt-An-Area, organized cleanup events, school recycling education and programs that help residents reduce pollution reaching the Indian River Lagoon.
Herring said she was drawn to both the organization's long record of environmental stewardship and the opportunity to shape its future as Brevard grows.
Residents can find cleanup dates, volunteer openings and adoption information through Keep Brevard Beautiful's volunteer pages.
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Kimberly Smith
Kimberly reports on nonprofits, volunteers, public health, and the neighbors turning good intentions into measurable local change. She looks for clear ways readers can understand a need, meet the people responding to it, and take part themselves.
