Deering Estate at Cutler announces new director

Deering Estate at Cutler announces new director
Deering Estate at Cutler announces new director
Jennifer Tisthammer is pictured with Jack Kardys, director of the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department.

The Deering Estate at Cutler begins its new fiscal year with a new director, Jennifer Tisthammer, who will lead this crown jewel of the Miami Dade parks system through its next era of growth and community service.

She will be in charge of managing the Deering Estate’s day-to-day business operations, which has fiscal responsibility for a $2.8 million budget and 40-plus part-time and full-time staff. Managing the more than 40 different parcels of land that compose the aggregate 450 acres is complex and requires specialized cultural and natural resource knowledge as well as business acumen.

The Deering Estate is a public park owned by the State of Florida and managed by the Miami-Dade County Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces Department. Located in the South Miami Dade residential community of Palmetto Bay, the Deering Estate welcomes some 75,000 visitors each year and includes five historic buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places, regionally significant archaeological sites, seven native habitats, including bay resources, coastal habitats, a seven-acre island restored as a bird rookery, and a 10-acre demonstration wetland, part of the Biscayne Bay Coastal Wetland Project (expedited by the Army Corps of Engineers, South Florida Water Management District, and authorized and funded by the Water Resources Development Act of 2000).

Tisthammer is not new to the Deering Estate, nor new to executive management. Most recently serving as the assistant director of the Deering Estate, Tisthammer brings more than seven years of experience in natural and cultural resource management to the community and more than 19 years of experience in financial management, nonprofit governance, strategic planning, fundraising, and community engagement to the position.

“I look forward to continuing our great partnership with the Deering Estate Foundation and being a good neighbor to the surrounding communities,” Tisthammer said. “We hold such a dear place in the hearts of residents and visitors alike and we will continue to work tirelessly and passionately to create and offer unique cultural, educational and recreational programs and activities for all ages, abilities and interests.

“The Deering Estate is an extraordinary resource,” she added. “It brings together nature and history in a most spectacular setting that serves as inspiration for artists and environmental research and science, while showcasing so well what is quintessentially Miami.”

“For the past seven years, Jennifer has been central to the estate’s growth and expanding mission-driven programs that have significantly broadened our audiences and more deeply engaged our community. With the acceptance of the new Weeks- Wulf gift of an 8.75 acre, multi-million dollar property which includes more than seven acres of pristine native tropical hardwood hammock, and a 10,500-square-foot energy efficient home built in 1982, we look forward to Tisthammer’s expertise heralding yet another new era of conservation, science, education and FUN,” said Mary Pettit, executive director of the Deering Estate Foundation.

“We are delighted that Ms. Tisthammer has decided to continue her legacy of remarkable experience and accomplishments in leading the staff of the Deering Estate forward, and we look forward to continuing to engage our community, philanthropically and collaboratively, as powerful allies in helping us achieve our goals,” said Foundation board chair David A. Marley Jr.

The Deering Estate at Cutler, a Miami- Dade County Park, is located at 16701 SW 72 Ave. For more information on the Deering Estate’s educational and cultural programs, visit www.deeringestate.org.


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