$25 million gift from John and Carol Walter powers visionary nature experience to preserve region’s natural environment
Conservancy of Southwest Florida has formally launched a $25 million campus transformation in Naples, underpinned by the philanthropy of John and Carol Walter, whose long history of strategic giving is reshaping how the region experiences and protects its natural environment.
The couple’s latest commitment, made through the John & Carol Walter Family Foundation, marks the largest philanthropic investment in the Conservancy’s six-decade history and cements the Walters as leading conservation benefactors in Southwest Florida.
The John & Carol Walter Family Foundation, created in 2011, reflects decades of invitation-only, highly targeted philanthropy by John R. and Carol A. Walter, now based in Naples.
The foundation’s stated mission is to back “distinctive” organizations and programs that create meaningful community partnerships and deliver transformational improvements to community life, with a focus on conservation, the welfare of children and animals, health and well-being, performing arts and education.
Their $25 million grant to the Conservancy will fund the reimagined John & Carol Walter Nature Experience, a comprehensive overhaul of the 22-acre campus that will add a 7,000‑square‑foot welcome center, interactive exhibits, traveling nature installations, and expanded outdoor learning spaces, all designed to move visitors from passive enjoyment of nature to active environmental stewardship. The project also supports immersive habitat areas, enhanced boat and trail access, and capital improvements intended to broaden the Conservancy’s reach to families, students and year‑round residents across Collier County and beyond.
John Walter’s philanthropy is informed by a high-level corporate career and deep governance ties to the Conservancy, where he serves as vice chair and treasurer of the board.
A retired president and COO of AT&T and former chair and CEO of R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company, Walter also leads Ashlin Management Company, a private investment and management firm, drawing on experience that informs his emphasis on long-term institutional sustainability and endowment-building.
The Walters’ conservation giving in Naples builds on a broader philanthropic portfolio that uses large, catalytic gifts to elevate organizations they view as pivotal to a community’s quality of life.
Their foundation’s recent Form 990 filings show steady, seven‑figure annual grantmaking, with dozens of grants each year, underscoring a disciplined approach to supporting environmental initiatives alongside causes benefiting children, animals, and the arts.
For the Conservancy, the Walters’ involvement is positioned as both capital and leadership leverage: the $25 million commitment is described as a “seed investment” meant to invite additional major donors into a new chapter for the organization, with permanent endowments to underwrite education, outreach and operations well beyond the campus construction timeline.
As the John & Carol Walter Nature Experience moves toward its planned 2028 completion, the couple’s gift is being framed as a generational legacy—one intended to protect Southwest Florida’s water, land and wildlife while reinforcing Naples’ identity as a community that invests in its natural heritage.