Miami Can Still Save Biscayne Bay. Boston Harbor Shows the Way.

I hope you will take a few minutes to read this opinion piece on a strategy to Save Biscayne Bay by my friend Paul Grogan, CEO Emeritus of The Boston Foundation and me, which ran in the online edition of the Miami Herald on August 15 and in the print edition on September 10. 

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Miami Can Still Save Biscayne Bay. Boston Harbor Shows the Way.

If government can't or won’t invest today, Miami’s foundations and billionaires should.

By
Paul S. Grogan
President & CEO Emeritus, The Boston Foundation

E. Bruce Berman, Jr.
Director of Strategy & Communications Emeritus, 
Save the Harbor/Save the Bay

 

In the 1980s, Boston Harbor was a national disgrace. Sewage from 43 communities poured into the water, fouling beaches, fueling algae blooms and fish kills that festered in the summer heat.

 

Today, Boston Harbor is home to the cleanest urban beaches in the nation. Flounder and striped bass have returned. Herring runs are thriving. Clam beds have reopened. Public beaches once written off as polluted are now civic assets. The recovery drove billions of dollars in investment to Boston’s waterfront neighborhoods and coastal communities.

 

That transformation happened because citizens organized, nonprofits advocated, lawyers litigated, courts compelled action and government ultimately invested more than $4 billion in modern wastewater infrastructure.

Philanthropy did not pay for the Boston Harbor cleanup. It supported the advocacy, research, coalition-building and public engagement that connected community outrage to legal strategy and political action.

 

Today, Biscayne Bay is flashing the same warning signs as Boston Harbor in the 1980s...

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E. Bruce Berman, Jr. is an environmental advocate and communications strategist best known for his long leadership role with Save the Harbor/Save the Bay in Boston, where he served as Director of Strategy & Communications from 1990 to 2022. 

He played a central role in building the public awareness, political support, and cross‑sector partnerships that sustained the multi‑decade effort to transform Boston Harbor from a polluted “Harbor of Shame” into one of the cleanest urban waterfronts in the nation.

 

In addition to his advocacy work, Berman taught public policy and marine science at Boston University, helping connect environmental science with civic leadership and public decision‑making. Today, Berman leads the Miami Beach Cupid Splash, raising funds to help jump‑start restoration efforts for Biscayne Bay, reflecting his continued commitment to clean water and resilient coastal communities.

 

Paul S. Grogan is an American civic and philanthropic leader best known for serving as President and CEO of The Boston Foundation from 2001 to 2021.

During his tenure, he helped expand the Foundation’s role as one of the nation’s leading community foundations, advancing work in urban and regional economic development, education reform, workforce development, public policy, and environmental initiatives — including support for the transformation of Boston Harbor.

Before joining The Boston Foundation, Grogan served as Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs at Harvard University, where he oversaw government relations, community partnerships with Boston and Cambridge, and external communications. He also served as President of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and a Trustee of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, contributing to its national work in civic engagement, and community vitality.

He is widely recognized for advancing “civic leadership philanthropy” — using foundation resources not only for grantmaking, but to drive systemic change through research, public policy engagement, and cross-sector partnerships.