Proposed by: Trustees' Garden Club, Zone VIII

After retiring from a 30-year career in the chemical and materials industry, having lived and worked globally, Pitts became the executive director of Ocean Exchange in 2013. From its founding in 2010, the Fort Lauderdale-based organization has facilitated the adoption of products, technologies, and applications to keep oceans healthy. It has awarded over $2 million to more than 150 international finalists whose innovations must meet the criteria to operate in diverse settings across multiple industries, countries, and cultures. But it is Pitts’s soft power, collaborative nature, and strategic vision that have built a network of experts, funders, and innovators, and motivated the nonprofit’s success and global reach.

Pitts is credited in the development of Ocean Visions, a consortium of academic institutions that are facilitating the transition of research into ocean-based solutions to climate change. She serves on the steering committee of 1000 Ocean Startups in collaboration with the UN Decade Collaborative Center for Ocean Climate Solutions. 

Roger Strevens, vice president, regulatory & environmental affairs for the shipping logistics company and Ocean Exchange sponsor Wallenius Wilhelmsen ASA, says about Pitts, “the role of a creative leader is not to have all the ideas, it’s to create a culture where everyone can have ideas and feel that they’re valued. When that is done then the exchange truly begins…. I once wondered if Milly is inspiring because of how she leads, or if she leads successfully because she’s inspiring. Of course it’s both.”