Participants Begin First Virtual Nonprofit Board Institute

October 12, 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 current session which began on October 6,  is Gulf Coast Community Foundation’s first-ever entirely virtual Board Institute. The incoming class is made up of 36 nonprofit board members, who 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. 

                “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 are taking 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 Portugal, 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.