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 include Laurie Birnbach, national account director with the Coca-Cola Company; Kelly Carlstein Buehler, marketing and public relations coordinator with Blake Medical Center; Beth Bush, vice president of philanthropy at All Star Children’s Foundation; Leroy Butler, community engagement specialist for SCOPE; Janet Carrillo, social services manager for the City of North Port; Eric Collin, president of Firmo Construction; and more. 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.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation