Participants Selected For First Virtual Nonprofit Board Institute

October 5, 2020 – Venice

A record number of nonprofit board members from across the region have been selected to take part in the Fall 2020 Gulf Coast Board Insititute. The upcoming session will be Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s first-ever entirely virtual Board Institute. The incoming class is made up of 36 nonprofit board members, who will have access to the same high-level governance training as past Board Institutes, but from the safety and comfort of their own homes and offices. The participants will begin the four-week program on October 6.

                “As a community foundation, one of the most important things we can do is help ensure that our nonprofit partners have adequate access to highly skilled and knowledgeable volunteers to serve on their boards,” said Veronica Thames, Gulf Coast’s chief operating officer and staff lead on the Board Institute. “Due to the unexpected obstacles brought on by the pandemic, we believe this resource is more important than ever and have increased our capacity.”

The following community members will take part in the Fall 2020 Board Institute:

•             Angela Abrams, Lighthouse Vision Loss Education Center

•                    Brad Bryan, Neuro Challenge Foundation for Parkinson’s

•                    Laura Carson, Safe Children Coalition

•                    Jeanne Chinnis, The Haven

•                    Elizabeth Christoffel, Venice Area Quilters Guild

•                    Christine Coviello, Jessica Costanzo Scholarship Board

•                    Dawn Doughty, Forty Carrots Family Center

•                    Debbie Frank, Friends of Boca Grande Community Center

•                    Erica Gregory, Sarasota Medical Pregnancy Center

•                    John M. Halstead, Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota

•                    Shawn Hanlon, Goodwill Manasota

•                    Melissa Hembree, The Junior League of Sarasota

•                    Judge Karimu Hill-Harvey, Forty Carrots Family Center

•                    Jennifer Infanti, Education Foundation of Sarasota County

•                    Linda Jellison, Education Foundation of Sarasota County

•                    Brian Jones, WSLR/Fogartyville

•                    Craig Kaplan, ALSO Youth

•                    Christine Kasten, The Venice Symphony

•                    Cynthia Kemp, JDRF (formerly Florida Suncoast Chapter)

•                    Kevin Labrecque, Sarasota Scullers Youth Rowing Program

•                    Dawn Laidlaw, Sarasota-Manatee HR Association

•                    Gino LaMarca, Resilient Retreat

•                    Raymond Leather, Plantation Community Foundation

•                    Patricia Loftus, SCORE (Association and Foundation)

•                    Ethan Massa, Mangrove Coast Fly Fishers

•                    Tamson Milton, The Haven

•                    Carmela Pedicini, WSLR/Fogartyville

•                    Marc Portugul, Community Volunteer

•                    Jennifer Rippel, WSLR/Fogartyville

•                    Alan Ross, Forty Carrots Family Center

•                    William Rusling, Players Centre for Performing Arts

•                    William Skaggs, Players Centre for Performing Arts

•                    Ron Tuerk, The Center of Hope of South County

•                    Dana Watkins, Florida Center for Early Childhood

•                    Anne Weintraub, National Alliance on Mental Illness

•                    James Russell Wiltshire, Artist Series Concerts of Sarasota

The next Gulf Coast Board Institute will be offered in February. Applications for the Winter 2021 Board Institute will be available online at GulfCoastCF.org in November.