Mixed Greens

Tiffany Smith Schroeder grew up in, what was then, rural South Florida. Surrounded by cat tails and cane poles, her connection to the Florida landscape began very early. Maybe it had something to do with her ancestors being pioneers of South Florida, but as a child she simply preferred to be in the woods. She and her neighborhood friends loved to build small huts, or forts as they called them, made from branches, pine needles, and some occasional twine. Spending her formative years roaming around orange groves, pine stands and canal banks, Tiffany developed a unique perspective of Florida and its development trends. She was a young advocate for the protection of natural resources, evident to her high school peers as she involved herself with the school Ecology Club and other environmental actions.

In 1999, Tiffany earned a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Studies with an emphasis on Policy from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. For graduate work, she studied Humanities and Leadership, with an emphasis in Culture, Ecology and Sustainable Community. In 2003, Tiffany received her second Masters degree from the GreenMBA program that now resides at Dominican University in San Rafael, California. Tiffany is the President of Florida Green Guild and provides sustainability consultation to municipalities, the public school system, the green building industry, and the funeral and cemetery industries. She is a certifying agent for the Florida Green Building Coalition and recently managed a green/historic restoration of a 100 year old commercial building in downtown DeLand, Florida. The building was improved according to the guidelines outlined by the US Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program.

Tiffany also maintains an active real estate license with Pioneer Realty of Florida, one of the only certified EcoBrokers in the state.  She serves a niche market, helping people find historic and green homes as well as identifying a home’s green rehab potential.  A downtown dweller herself, Tiffany is very familiar with DeLand’s inventory of properties that are both for sale and for lease.  She also enjoys accomodating the housing needs for Stetson’s visiting faculty and graduate students.

Tiffany holds a seat on the City of DeLand’s Community Redevelopment Agency and assists the Mainstreet DeLand Association in the greening and preservation of the downtown setting.