FOUNDATION ANNOUNCES 2018 GULF COAST LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE CLASS

Gulf Coast Community Foundation has selected 26 participants from across the region for its 2018 Gulf Coast Leadership Institute.

Class members will take part in seven training sessions from April through June conducted by the acclaimed Leadership Development Institute of Eckerd College. Gulf Coast provides all training and resources at no cost to participants in exchange for their commitment to use their new skills to benefit the community.

The 26 participants selected for the 2018 Gulf Coast Leadership Institute are:

• Laurie Birnbach, National Account Director, The Coca-Cola Company
• Kelly Carlstein Buehler, Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator, Blake Medical Center
• Beth Bush, Vice President of Philanthropy, All Star Children’s Foundation
• Leroy Butler, Community Engagement Specialist, SCOPE
• Janet Carrillo, Social Services Manager, City of North Port
• Eric Collin, President, Firmo Construction
• Jennifer Fagenbaum, Executive Director, Family Promise of South Sarasota County
• Samantha Gholar, Founder and Executive Director, Emerge Sarasota
• Susan Goldstein, Commercial Real Estate Specialist, Michael Saunders & Company Commercial
• Lauren Kurnov, Assistant Vice President for Student Success, University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee
• Brian Mariash, Senior Vice President, Mariash Lowther Wealth Management–Merrill Lynch
• Dean Miller, Retired Managing Director, JPMorgan Chase
• Kim Mullins, Chief Operating Officer, The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee
• Dino Perakis, Attorney, Fowler Law Group
• Justin Powell, Vice President, Palmer Ranch Holdings
• Rae Ramos, External Relations and Programming, Sarasota Museum of Art
• Renee Ryckman, Owner, Escape Countdown
• Kristie Skoglund, Vice President of Clinical Services, The Florida Center for Early Childhood
• Jamie Smith, Director of Communications and Marketing, State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota
• Julia Stalnaker, Certified Financial Planner and Financial Advisor, Raymond James–Korszen Financial Group
• Jake Tate, Financial Advisor, Green Fairways Financial
• Justin Taylor, Executive Vice President, MRT Lawn and Garden Center
• Gerhard Toth, Commercial Banking Manager, Regions Bank
• Daniel Tullidge, Attorney, Williams Parker Harrison Dietz & Getzen
• Dan Weiss, President, Counterpart CFO
• Keenan Wooten, President, Sarasota-Bradenton Kappa Alpha Psi Project Guide Right

This is the 11th year of Gulf Coast Leadership Institute, which was preceded by two classes of the foundation’s North Port Leadership Institute. In all, nearly 300 community members have completed the training provided through this leadership-development initiative.

This marks the first year that Eckerd College’s Leadership Development Institute will provide all training for the Leadership Institute. Eckerd is one of six institutions that make up the Cross College Alliance, a regional higher-education consortium supported in part by Gulf Coast Community Foundation.