Selby Gardens CEO Elected Board Chair of VISIT FLORIDA

June 12, 2023 – Sarasota

VISIT FLORIDA’s Board of Directors has elected Jennifer O. Rominiecki, president and CEO of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, as Chair for the 2023-24 fiscal year. Rominiecki, who is currently Vice Chair of the state’s official tourism marketing corporation, will begin her one-year term as Chair on July 1.

“I am deeply honored to serve as Chair of this vital organization that is so essential to the state of Florida’s record-breaking success in tourism and the resulting economic impact,” said Rominiecki. “It’s a privilege to work with President and CEO Dana Young and the whole VISIT FLORIDA team.”

Rominiecki has served on the VISIT FLORIDA Board since July 2020. During the 2022-23 fiscal year, she has chaired the organization’s Industry Services, Small Business and Rural Development Council, in addition to serving as Vice Chair. VISIT FLORIDA’s Board of Directors consists of tourism-industry experts from across the state who, along with the members of its committees and councils, provide guidance, input, and insight into the evolution of VISIT FLORIDA programs, processes, and messaging. The organization’s 2023-24 Board of Directors will serve from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024.

Rominiecki has served as Selby Gardens’ chief executive since 2015. After arriving, she repositioned the institution as The Living Museum®, enacting a new operating model that has yielded increases of 75% in membership and 74% in overall earned revenues. Rominiecki also has overseen the creation and Phase-One construction of an innovative, three-phase Master Site Plan for the Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus. Phase One of the project is expected to open this November, resulting in the first net-positive energy botanical garden complex in the world. In 2020, under Rominiecki’s leadership, Selby Gardens adopted Historic Spanish Point in the Osprey area of Sarasota County as a companion campus to its flagship Sarasota location. Together, Selby Gardens’ two campuses provide 45 acres of bayfront sanctuaries connecting people with air plants of the world, native nature, and regional history.

Prior to joining Selby Gardens, Rominiecki gained 20 years of experience at major New York City cultural institutions.