MAYANNE DOWNS

GENERAL COUNSEL, GRAYROBINSON; CITY ATTORNEY, ORLANDO, ORLANDO

Downs, who plays the ukulele and sings, was the first female city attorney in Orlando’s history. She was motivated to study law, she says, after she became a party in a civil lawsuit. “I try to remember how awful it felt to be dragged into the legal system,” she says.

Downs chairs a task force created by the Florida Supreme Court to ensure that the money received for pro bono services in Florida is deployed in a manner that helps the most low-income litigants possible.

She hold a bachelor’s and law degree from the University of Florida and points to water as an important issue that the state must deal with: “The management of excess water in the wrong places and the shortage of water in the right places, together with keeping our water clean and usable.”

Among her favorite vacations was a trip to Myanmar, “visiting Buddhist temples.”