Leadership Florida announces new class members

Twenty-nine Tampa Bay area professionals have been tapped to join the next class of Leadership Florida.

Created in 1982 by the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Florida seeks to build a sense of statewide community by identifying, and educating, individuals who show promise to be leaders in their respective communities.

As part of the program, participants attend sessions on leadership and issues critical to Florida and after graduation, they stay connected through ongoing meetings. There are more than 3,300 diverse alumni across the state, ranging from CEOs and elected officials to farmers, managers of high-tech consortiums, hospital administrators and heads of Florida’s most important agencies, according to a statement.

The new members include:

Cornerstone Class

The Cornerstone Class program is for leaders aged 40 that are chosen to participate in a nine-month educational program.

Karen Bell, A.P. Bell Fish Company

Maria Brous, Publix

Vickie Chachere, Florida Trend

Nick Dewan, GuideWell – Florida Blue

Katie Duty, HDR

John Flanagan, CareerSource Tampa Bay

Mark Gordon, Observer Media Group

Heather Kasten, Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce

Darren Richards, Tucker Hall

Kirsten Russell, Community Foundation of Sarasota County

Erica Shea, Shumaker

Ryan Sladek, PNC Bank

Mercedes Soler, Solmart Media

Connect class

Leadership Florida Connect is for professionals ages 25 – 39.

Lauren Albaum, Florida Southern College

Josh Baumgartner, TECO

Clayton Clemens, Florida Internet and Television

Tommy Culligan, Publix

Paige Geers, University of South Florida

Albie Kaminksky, Charter Communications

Nishit Patel, Tampa General Hospital

Education Class

The Education class is for professionals in Florida’s K-12 public schools.

Patti Folino, Sarasota County Schools

Kim Jowell, Hillsborough Education Foundation

Harriet Moore, Sarasota County Schools

Shalia Moore-Hayes, The Patterson Foundation

Sarah Ann Painter, Eisenhower Elementary School

Chris Renouf, Sarasota County School District

Cyndi Saunders, School District of Manatee County

Latrina Singleton, School District of Manatee County

Es Swihart, The Out-of-Door Academy

 

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