Barbara Overton Honored as Upper Keys Neighbor of the Week

When Barbara Overton pulled up stakes from Miami and settled in Tavernier at the height of COVID, she traded a career as a corporate general counsel for a different kind of work: convincing Upper Keys residents to exercise their votes, and to keep their households safer while doing it.

Keys Weekly named Overton its Upper Keys Neighbor of the Week, a recurring profile that honors residents whose civic contributions hold island communities together.

Overton spent years as an attorney for Starwood Vacation Ownership, rising to the position of general counsel. She had already been active with the Miami League of Women Voters before relocating north, and once settled on the islands she stepped into the presidency of the Upper Keys League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization serving voters across a wide stretch of Monroe County, from Marathon to Ocean Reef.

The reach of that work is visible at familiar venues between Key Largo and Islamorada. Overton co-organized a candidate forum at the Murray Nelson Government Center alongside the Tavernier Community Association, the Island of Key Largo Federation of Homeowner Associations, and Upper Keys Business and Professional Women. She led a ballot amendment education session at the Key Largo Library ahead of the 2024 general election, walking residents through six proposed changes to the Florida Constitution, and brought Monroe County Supervisor of Elections Sherri Hodies to the Upper Keys for a community presentation on voting procedures.

One of the League's more tangible initiatives under Overton's leadership is a free gun lock distribution program run in partnership with the Veterans Affairs office. Locks are available at nine locations across the Upper Keys: the Key Largo Library, American Legion Key Largo, KLI Shell Lumber, Mack's Gym, the Key Largo Civic Club, Pilot House Marina, VFW Key Largo, the Islamorada Library, and the Moose Club Islamorada. "Child deaths and teen and adult suicides are real possibilities when there is a gun in a home," Overton said when the program launched. "We are distributing gun locks to keep Keys families safer."

The same commitment drives the League's voter education calendar. "Voting is the cornerstone of our democracy," Overton has said, "and the League is incredibly proud to serve the public as a trusted resource for voters with events like these."

Upcoming events and membership details are at upperkeyslwv.org; the gun locks remain accessible at all nine Upper Keys sites at no cost.