The Rappaport Speaker Series returns in 2026 with a trio of compelling thought leaders whose insights promise to challenge, inspire, and spark meaningful conversation on the Treasure Coast.
As a meeting place for sharing ideas and a center for intellectual debate on the Treasure Coast, the Rappaport Center will host three nationally recognized voices tackling these intriguing topics.
About this lecture:
Eve Samples is executive director of Friends of the Everglades, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1969 by Marjory Stoneman Douglas. Prior to joining Friends of the Everglades, Eve worked as a journalist for 20 years, including roles as the statewide opinion editor for the USA TODAY Network-Florida, as a local news columnist for Treasure Coast Newspapers/TCPalm, and as a reporter for The Palm Beach Post and Pittsburgh-Post Gazette.
She is a native of Miami and a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she received her B.A. in Journalism with an outside concentration in Comparative Literature. Eve joined Friends of the Everglades in early 2020, recognizing an opportunity to meld her passion for environmental journalism with Friends’ legacy of grassroots advocacy and education.