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Community Foundation Tampa Bay names new board chair and adds three trustees

| Jo-Lynn Brown

The Community Foundation Tampa Bay has appointed Linda O. Simmons as chair of its board of trustees, alongside the addition of three new board members.

Simmons, a longtime board member and local business leader, will serve a two-year term as chair, beginning July 1, 2025. She currently serves as president and primary shareholder at R.R. Simmons Design & Construction and has held prior leadership roles with the USF Foundation, United Way Suncoast and other civic organizations.

Joining the board are:

Bob Blanchard, Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of WRB Enterprises and founding partner of renewable energy investment firm WRB Serra.

Greg Rosica, retired Ernst & Young partner and past board chair of the Foundation from 2012–2014.

Janice Ferman Straske, director at Ferman Motor Company, philanthropist and former Gasparilla Queen LXXIX.

Founded in 1990, the Community Foundation Tampa Bay has invested more than $450 million into nonprofits across Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties, according to a statement.

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