Dan DeLisi, AICP

About Dan

Dan (IAC/NMC 87-89, IAA 89-91, IAC/IAA Parent 19, 21-23) is a certified land use planner, circuit civil mediator, and lobbyist with over 20 years of experience in zoning, land development regulations, and water/environmental policy. He is the President of DeLisi, Inc., a consulting firm with both public and private sector clients specializing in finding creative solutions to implement complex land development and environmental restoration projects.

Dan’s clients include large agricultural property owners, local governments, and land developers, and has worked on projects ranging in scale from 5,000+ acre new towns to 1-acre urban redevelopment projects, as well as large- and small-scale ecosystem restoration projects throughout South Florida. He regularly advises clients on regulatory issues that affect property value, lobbies the Florida Legislature for environmental restoration funding, and serves as an expert witness in land use and environmental planning in local administrative forums, State and Federal court, and before State Administrative forums in Florida.  

In addition, Dan has served as an adjunct faculty member in Planning and Real Estate Development at Florida Gulf Coast University and Nova Southeastern University and has given presentations on land use and development issues at numerous conferences throughout the United States for the Urban Land Institute and American Planning Association. He is the former Chief of Staff and a former Governing Board member of the South Florida Water Management District, the primary agency responsible for Everglades restoration. 

Dan earned a Bachelor of Arts in East Asian Studies from Brandeis University and a Master of City Planning in Urban Planning from Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 

Interlochen changed the course of my life and became the base from which every future opportunity followed. My experience at the Academy opened my eyes to see the world in a new way, to value the environment and our planet, and to appreciate and understand how hard work, focus, and dedication lead to success. But the most important thing that Interlochen has given me is the experience of seeing the same happen for my daughter.