Education Matters

Creating Leaders at The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce

By Ryan G. Van Cleave 

When Sara Rachon moved to Sarasota ten years ago, it was to work as a dancer for The Sarasota Ballet. After it was time for her to move on from a career as a dancer, she switched over to working as the outreach coordinator for the ballet—and she loved it. Interacting with such a range of people, organizations, and nonprofits proved especially appealing. That’s why she applied to work for The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce as their Program Coordinator, a position she started in January 2019.

“I liked that idea that working with the Chamber meant interacting even more with both for-profits and nonprofits,” she says. Sara works with the Chamber’s two main programs, The Leadership Program and the Young Professionals Group. The Leadership program consists of Adult Leadership, Youth Leadership and the Engage Sarasota series.

Established in 1992, the Youth Leadership Program is for rising high school juniors, who apply as sophomores. The program runs with the school calendar, so it begins in late August and the students graduate from it in late April. “This year,” Sara says, “we’ve had a record number of applicants. For the first time ever, every single area high school—including home school and Montessori—has at least one student who sent us an application.”

The goals of the Youth Leadership Program are to nurture and develop positive leadership qualities in area youth, and, along the way, help them learn about Sarasota with an eye toward seeing how young people can make it a better place. One of the ways that happens is by having them participate in a half-day of community service work. “This year they removed debris from the shoreline on Little Sarasota Bay,” Sara explains. “They weighed the debris at the end and talked about some of the impacts to the environment, with guidance and support from the Elling Eide Center.” The Chamber hopes that the program in general, and activities like this in particular, will help these young leaders see the appeal and merits of living in Sarasota so that they choose it for their future home.

“The program evolves every year,” Sara says. “The students are always excited to go to new locations and meet leaders who take the time to explain what they do and how they do it.” It’s a rewarding, fun experience for everyone. But a terrific perk for students is how great this leadership training looks on a college application. And for those who might have trouble affording the program’s $175 cost? There are a limited number of partial and full scholarships built into their budget, which is funded by dues, event fees, and fundraising.

Sara says, “We want this opportunity to be available to any young person in our area who demonstrates an interest in leadership.”

Targeted at a slightly older demographic, the Young Professionals Group has been around since 2003. Part of its ongoing popularity—witness 400+ members who pay the annual $60 dues—is the high-quality monthly happy hour networking meetings, and the opportunity for professional development classes/workshops at a highly discounted rate. “We are always encouraging local young professionals to join the group,” Sara notes. “We have such good offerings for them to take advantage of.” Membership is open to all individuals aged 21–40 who live, work, or spend time in the Sarasota area.

The adult leadership program goes another step further, allowing members access to additional positions of community leadership in an informed and responsible manner and the opportunity to communicate with present and future leaders. Applications open in April every year and around 40 applicants are selected for the program.

Besides taking advantage of the many training opportunities, the adult leadership program participants take on a significant community service project each year. This past March and April, all 39 members of the Leadership Sarasota Class of 2019 renovated the Sarasota YMCA Robert Leventhal Sudakoff Youth Shelter, which provides temporary housing and safe care for kids 10 to 17 who have run away, are experiencing family conflict, or have been locked out of their homes. The adult leaders painted everything—including creating a striking mural—added additional seating areas, created an interactive chalk wall, restored a storage shed, and enlarged a kitchen passthrough window in the dining area.

The Engage Sarasota series is a community orientation program, where participants can attend a monthly lunchtime event to establish civic and business relationships, meet area leaders, and increase their knowledge about the innerworkings of Sarasota. “It’s an appetizer for our other leadership opportunities,” she says. “It’s inexpensive and it’s a good place to begin for people who don’t yet have the time to commit to one of the other programs.”

A group of “tremendous and amazing” volunteers helps keep things running and make Sara’s job far easier than it might otherwise be. But what really makes her job so rewarding, she reports, is the clear impact she can see in the community and in the lives of the aspiring leaders of all ages she encounters on a daily basis.

For more information about The Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce’s programs, please contact srachon@sarasotachamber.com.