For the Love of Whales

The Amelia Island Whale Ambassadors held its annual meeting on February 7, 2026, at Story and Song Center for Arts & Culture. We celebrated our theme, “For the Love of Whales” with an update from our Board of Directors and a riveting presentation from Katherine Sayler of Defenders of Wildlife.  

We need 50+ new births to regenerate the right whale population and prevent extinction. Thus far this season, 22 calves have been born near Amelia Island!

Source: Google Gemini created image

For more information about the Amelia Island Whale Ambassadors, please watch our 2025 retrospective Volunteer Video below or on our YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1SQqknZRKQ

Dr. Emme Devonish

Emme Devonish is Principal and Executive Consultant at Creative Compliance Communication Services, LLC. She provides strategic advice, executive coaching, corporate governance guidance, compliance risk assessments and program evaluations, and leadership training on ethics and organizational culture to organizations across multiple sectors. Her work focuses on delivering tailored services that respond to client specifications, emerging industry trends, and regulatory requirements. 

Dr. Devonish is a Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional and a SHRM Certified Professional. She maintains a license to practice law in the State of New York and retired from the Bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 2012. She began her career as an Attorney-Adviser at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Later she worked as a Director in the Compliance Department at The Prudential Insurance Company of America and then as a Vice President at Nomura IBJ Global Investment Advisors before joining the Corporate Department at Kelley Drye & Warren as a Senior Associate.

Her knowledge of securities law and regulatory compliance best practices led her to several high-level project-based roles, including as International Legal Counsel at Crédit Lyonnais Asset Management and as Finance Counsel at the Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations in Paris, France. Upon her return to the United States, she served as Vice President and Chief Compliance Officer at Transamerica Investment Management in Los Angeles, and thereafter formed her consulting practice, Creative Compliance Communication Services, LLC.

Dr. Devonish is certified in Distance Education and has taught online, hybrid, and face-to-face courses in Law, Communication, English, Literature, Writing, and Film at various universities across the United States and abroad. She holds PhD in Film Studies from The University of Sydney, an MFA in Creative Writing from Carlow University, a JD/MA in Law and International Affairs from The American University, and a BA in French and International Relations from Syracuse University.

http://www.emmedevonish.com
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Dr. Devonish Named President-Elect 2025-2026 of the Rotary Club of Jacksonville-Oceanside