Gamechangers2013

Each year, the IN compiles a list of people in our community whose efforts improve various aspects of local life in meaningful ways—individuals we consider Game Changers. Many game changers have worked consistently behind the scenes and have come to the IN’s attention through the stories we cover; others are so large and visible (think: Pensacola Ice Flyers) that everyone in town knows their name.

Regardless of their lines of work, Game Changers are among the most innovative and dedicated of Pensacolians. From coaches and politicians, to businesspeople and farmers, these Game Changers strive to make Pensacola the best it can be for everyone through their respective endeavors.

Here’s our list of people who are working to make Pensacola better—the 2013 Game Changers.

June 13, 2013

Interviews by Jeremy Morrison | Photos by Samantha Crooke

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2013 Game Changers

Justin Beck

President, Beck Property Company

The president of Beck Property Company, LLC, was looking to move his family’s real estate operations to downtown Pensacola. He started eyeing parcel one at the Community Maritime Park—arguably one of the most cherry plots of land in town.

To be sure, Beck was warned.

Friends and associates advised against the park property. They had watched the YMCA-meltdown and feared the realtor would suffer the same fate.

Such warnings only served to whet Beck’s appetite.

“Made me want to go after it,” he explained, “see if we could make something happen.”

Properties at the Community Maritime Park are a perilous prize. In order to secure one of the park parcels—clustered around the Blue Wahoos stadium and meant to collectively serve as a sort of centerpiece for downtown Pensacola—prospective projects must traverse a treacherous path lined with bureaucratic booby traps and plenty of opportunities for public floggings.

The YMCA had hoped to land a new, state-of-the-art facility on one of the

park’s waterfront parcels. After getting snared in the process—languishing in the crossfire of the Community Maritime Park Associates, the Pensacola City Council and Mayor Ashton Hayward’s administra-

Beck tends to view his success as part of a bigger movement. He feels that Pensacola as a whole is in the process—perhaps at the climax—of its renaissance.

“I think we are taking off,” Beck said.

“I think you’ll look back in five years and say, ‘Wow, 2012, 2013, that’s when we really started to kick it into high gear.”

The area is certainly much different than it was when Beck returned home to join the family business after Hurricane Ivan. That revitalization—much of it centered in downtown—is in some part due to the drive of the younger generation.

Beck likes to think it’s also due to his generation’s attitude and outlook. He believes his contemporaries are shedding the us-versus-them, I-win-you-lose mentality.

“We’re much more collaborative then we’ve seen in the past,” Beck explained.

Such a collaborative spirit will be useful as his generation searches for solutions amidst a field of problems. For example, is the city’s stock of vacant properties a problem or opportunity?

“These are good problems to have,” Beck explained.

“We’re much more collaborative then we’ve seen in the past.”

Justin Beck

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his spring, Justin Beck slipped into the hot seat. Maybe the hottest seat in town. The seat that had weeks earlier collapsed under the weight of the YMCA.

Jenny Doyle

tion—the Y reluctantly walked away.

Into this landscape stepped Beck. And with surprisingly little drama, it appears the property company will most likely be claiming parcel one. There are plans to construct an 18,000-square foot, threefloor development; the project will be mixed-use, encompassing retail on the first floor, office space for Beck’s company on the second floor, and residential units on the top floor.

Beck’s success at the park has garnered the 31-year-old father of three a good bit of attention lately. He is getting a reputation as the tip of his generation’s spear.

Fundraiser, PACE Center and Autism Pensacola

trustees president for the Escambia-Santa Rosa center.

Part of a statewide network, the PACE center strives to provide girls with an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training and advocacy.

PACE is recognized as among the most effective models for keeping teenage girls out of the juvenile justice system.

“There’s so many ways that bad things can happen to girls,” Doyle explained why she felt the need to serve at the center.

One the most effective ways she serves is through fundraising. The Men Who Cook event afforded the local PACE center a new kitchen.

Doyle’s fundraising efforts are not limited to the PACE Center. Another local organization that benefits from her service is Autism Pensacola.

Doyle became involved with the group after she and her husband—Pensacola News Journal Publisher Kevin Doyle—re-

alized that area children diagnosed with autism were not receiving the same level of care as their granddaughter.

“We have a granddaughter in California that has autism,” Doyle explained. “She got a lot of care that kids here weren’t getting.

We didn’t think that was right.”

After moving to town in 2006, the Doyles became involved with Autism Pensacola. The couple was instrumental in seeing the organization become incorporated and receiving non-profit status, and also assembling a board of local community leaders to guide the group’s efforts.

“I think putting together a board with community leaders was very, very, very important,” Doyle said. “They weren’t just people that wanted another notch.”

Doyle has also played a large role in Autism Pensacola’s fundraising efforts.

Beginning in 2007, she helped grow the

“The summer camp has provided services that kids had never had before.”

Jenny Doyle

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his spring, Jenny Doyle was able to get about 50 men to participate in a cooking fundraiser.

Dubbed Men Who Cook, the event raised $35,000 for the PACE Center for Girls.

The PACE Center is an organization near to Doyle’s heart. She is the board of 010 1

organization’s annual fundraising gala, Connecting the Pieces, which funds the highly-praised Kids for Camp program.

“It’s been very, very successful,” Doyle said of the group’s fundraising effort. “And the summer camp has provided services that kids had never had before.”

At this year’s Connecting the Pieces gala, the Doyles were honored with the Autism Community Spirit Award. In accepting the award, Kevin informed the gala’s attendees that this would be the fifth and final year the couple would be leading Autism Pensacola’s fundraising efforts; he heralded the $850,000 that the community had donated during that time.

Jenny then took to the microphone for a tearful address. She explained why the couple was so committed to local autism efforts and thanked everyone for their charitable giving.

“I’m a crier, so please forgive me,” Doyle said after accepting the Community Spirit Award. “This is in honor of our granddaughter, Bella—she doesn’t even live here, she lives in California—she is the love of our life and this is in honor of her and this is the most fulfilling thing I’ve ever done in my whole life.” inweekly.net

2013 Game Changers

Mark Faulkner

courtesy photo

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here are some big things afoot at Baptist Hospital. President and CEO Mark Faulkner isn’t revealing anything yet, other than to say there are “two really, really good things” brewing on the horizon.

“Just say Baptist Hospital is looking forward to some major unveilings in the coming days,” he said.

Faulkner’s clearly excited about the hospital’s news. But it will have to wait.

There are other matters to discuss—like the region’s bleak health outlook.

Northwest Florida is not a healthy place. Repeated studies have concluded such. Escambia and Santa Rosa counties have increased rates of diabetes and asthma, a big problem with sexually transmitted diseases, a high rate of Alzheimer’s disease, breast cancer and more.

As head of one of the area’s major health care facilities, Mark Faulkner is one of the people working toward changing these dismal statistics.

“I think it’s our responsibility,” he said.

Recently, Faulkner attended the Community Health Summit. It was a chance for area stakeholders—members of the health care, business and governmental communities—to get together and forge a path out of the woods.

The Baptist chief walked away from the summit hopeful, calling it a “good launching point.”

“I think the pieces already exist,” he

Robert Hill

R

obert Hill came to town on a mission.

“Informing and empowering the community,” he explained. “We saw a need to educate and empower the community.”

June 13, 2013

President, Baptist Health Care

said. “The boxes are there, but the arrows directing us are not.”

In addition to being a key player in the regional health care scene, Faulkner also oversees one of the area’s major employers. On that end, the president plans to continue fostering a culture that encour-

“We keep our true North about ourselves, that’s why we exist,” he said. “We talk about our values, we talk about our vision. It’s constantly in front of us. It’s not just something that hangs on the wall.”

Faulkner is a long time member of the community he now serves. He grew up in Milton, graduated from the University of Alabama and has worked for Baptist since the early 1990s.

“My entire career has been at Baptist,” Faulkner said.

Faulkner landed his position as the head of the hospital a year ago. He has held various positions within the hospital administration and was awarded the 2002 Young Healthcare Executive of the Year by the American College Healthcare Executives.

The president said that, as head of Baptist Health Care, he feels a greater sense of responsibility to the community he serves. His community. He described his promotion as “a humbling experience.”

“I’ve never felt more accountable,” Faulkner said. “My accountability isn’t to a boss, but to a community.”

“My accountability isn’t to a boss, but to a community.”

Mark Faulkner ages community involvement.

He wants his employees to plug-in, become engaged. Maybe coach a T-ball team. Faulkner serves on local committees and teaches Sunday School.

“We’re of this community and for this community,” he explained. “And that’s what our mission is all about, we want to improve the community.”

The president said that the concept of giving back to the community is something the health care corporation places a great emphasis on.

Broadcaster, WRNE 980 AM

More specifically, Hill came to town to put WRNE 980 AM back on the air. That was in 1990. He only planned to stay six months before returning to Alabama.

“It’s been good,” he said, looking back on his time in Pensacola.

“There’s just an unbelievable connection that you can establish with the community.”

Over the last couple of decades, Hill has established such a connection.

Through WRNE, he has helped inform, entertain and foster a community.

The AM station caters primarily to the area’s minority community. It serves up news, along with a format centering on R&B oldies and urban contemporary music.

The radio station also serves to bring issues important to the community front and center. In addition to politics, the station focuses on health and education issues. WRNE has also conducted voterregistration drives and coordinated with local AIDS organizations to raise awareness about the area’s STD problem.

And over the years, Hill has seen his new hometown change—for the better.

“There’s been a transition,” he said.

“Years ago you saw a lot of things that needed to be done, now things are happening and you want to be a part of it.”

individuals who want to make a difference in the school system.”

In a few years, another opportunity for someone to impact their community will open up. Hill—who describes himself as a “workaholic”—is planning on taking leave of his post at WRNE. “For 40-something years I have dedicated my life to radio. I love it. I love every minute. I love every day. I love this minute that I’m living right now,” Hill said, before laying out his plans for retirement. “I want to spend whatever time I have left reading and watching western movies.”

And while there are certainly footsteps to follow, whoever eventually takes over the lead at WRNE will need to forge their own path. Hill shaped and molded the radio station during his years in Pensacola, and he understands that it will soon evolve again.

“I consider my mission finished,” the broadcaster said. “It’s up to that person to do whatever they want to do.”

Hill, meanwhile, will be enjoying his time off-air.

“I love to wake up and open a book and not have to go to a meeting,” he laughed.

“I love every minute. I love every day. I love this minute that I’m living right now.”

Robert Hill One positive change the broadcaster has noticed is the increasing number of young black leaders—he mentions Lumon May and Lonnie Wesley—that have emerged in the area.

“Ten, 20 years ago there were very few of these political leaders there,” Hill said.

“But they’re showing up right now.”

When asked how today’s youth might best contribute to their community, Hill pointed toward the education system.

“If they want to impact their community, get involved with any public school system,” he said. “There’s a great need for

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2013 Game Changers

Pensacola Ice Flyers

courtesy photo

T

he Pensacola Ice Flyers had a good season. A really good season.

“The highlight would be winning the championship in front of 4,700 people in Pensacola,” said team owner Greg Harris. “It would have been great to win it anywhere, but it was great to do it at home.”

The Flyers clinched the franchise’s first Southern Professional Hockey League championship in April with a 2-0 victory against the Huntsville Havoc at their home rink inside the Pensacola Bay Center.

“Without being too cliché, it was a lot of hard work,” said Harris. “We had a team that didn’t give up, that could come from behind if they wanted to.”

Harris came on board following a 2011-2012 season that saw the Flyers make the playoffs. He joined owner, and former Philadelphia Flyers standout Tim Kerr and new head coach Gary Graham.

“Even though we made the finals we were in the middle of the pack during the regular season,” Harris said last fall. “This season we want to be in the front of the pack all year long. We’re going to be a high-paced, highscoring, hard-hitting team this year. It’s going to be a completely different style of game from what our fans have seen in the past.”

The Flyers slugged their way through this season and ended up with the President’s Cup.

IMPACT 100

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MPACT 100 is enjoying its 10th year.

Holly Jurnovoy, the non-profit’s current president, has been enjoying IMPACT for much of that run.

“It gives me the opportunity to work with some brilliant, bright women,” she explained. “Just brilliant women.”

The women of IMPACT aren’t just “brilliant.” They’re also charitable.

IMPACT 100 is an organization for women looking to make a contribution to the community. Each member pays in 212 1

Hometown hockey heroes who brought home the 2013 President’s Cup

“On the ice, we had a lot of one-goal games,” Harris said, “but we came out on top of those.”

The owner said he was proud that the Ice Flyers were able to provide Pensacola with a championship—“I think people take pride in winning a championship”—and offered a nod to the fans that cheered them through the season.

“They’re extremely loyal and dedicated, that’s for sure,” Harris said.

The Ice Flyers have developed a relationship with their fans since hitting the rink in 2009. Some have enjoyed Pensacola hockey since the 1990s, as the Flyers follow in the footsteps of the Ice Pilots.

Harris said the team enjoys a reciprocal relationship with the community. Players and staff are encouraged to engage themselves off the rink.

“We are all about community,” Harris

said. “We have our guys out visiting the schools, visiting the hospitals.”

At the onset of this past season, Harris announced that the team would be raising money for the Gulf Coast Kid’s House, among other charities. In addition, the Flyers’ opening home weekend would function as a food drive for Manna Food Bank.

“It’s great to support national charities, but we want to be sure that this year money that is raised in Pensacola stays in Pensacola,” he said at the time.

Harris said the Ice Flyers organization would continue to cultivate the relationship with the local community, as well as “increasing the fan experience.” Also, they’re shooting for another championship.

“We’re working hard again to come up with that right mix of individuals and players to wear an Ice Flyers jersey and hopefully have a repeat championship.”

“We are all about community. We have our guys out visiting the schools, visiting the hospitals.”

Greg Harris

Women’s Philanthropy Organization

$1,000 annually. That money is then put toward several grants to area non-profits.

“We’ve funded big organizations, we’ve funded small organizations that people would have probably never heard of if they hadn’t been in IMPACT,” said Vice President Cyndi Warren.

Over the past 10 years, the organization has awarded over $5 million in grants throughout Escambia and Santa Rosa counties. This year IMPACT has 836 members, which equates to $836,000 in grants being

distributed in the community; grants are awarded in increments of at least $100,000.

The group focuses on various aspects of the community. It considers non-profits geared toward the arts and culture, education, environment and preservation, families and health. Non-profits may apply for the funds, and grants are announced each year in the fall.

One thing that IMPACT members look for when deciding which groups will be getting grants is sustainability.

“We have to be convinced that this is going to be an ongoing thing,” Warren said. “How is it going to support itself?”

Early on, IMPACT awarded a grant to help build a “ReStore,” which allows new and used building materials, appliances and household goods—all donated from businesses and individuals—to be sold with the proceeds benefiting Habitat for Humanity.

Thus far, the program has diverted more than 1,800 tons from the landfill.

Last year, an IMPACT grant allowed Milk and Honey Outreach Ministries to purchase two mini-buses. The buses support that non-profit’s efforts to provide early intervention programs for at-risk children. Also in 2012, the Escambia

Search and Rescue was awarded a grant that funded the purchase of technologically advanced equipment needed for recovery efforts.

ARC Gateway, an organization serving individuals with developmental disabilities, has benefited several times from IMPACT grants. In 2005, the non-profit received a grant that was used to further ARC’s employment-training efforts.

In 2008, another grant allowed ARC to create a shredding program that generates revenues and employees more than 40 adults. In 2011, IMPACT awarded ARC a grant that enabled the organization to improve its operations via technology.

“We help them do things they could never do on their own,” Warren said.

IMPACT 100 does not have any paid staff. That ensures that 100 percent of its members’ contributions go toward the grants.

In addition to the non-profits that benefit from IMPACT’s grants, Warren feels that members of the charitable organization also benefit from their involvement.

“Especially in these economic times, I think people get a great deal of satisfaction in giving,” Warren said. inweekly.net

2013 Game Changers

Buck Lee

B

uck Lee is a permanent fixture in these parts. He has always been here and, presumably, will always be here—soaking up salt and sun underneath the brim of his hat.

“Only time I’ve lived north of I-10 is

Executive Director, Santa Rosa Island Authority

when I was in college or in the army,” Lee said. “I love this area down here.”

Lee has served this area in various capacities. In the early 1990s, he sat on the Escambia County Commission. More recently, he held a seat on the Santa Rosa County Commission.

For the past eight years, Lee has become the public face of Pensacola Beach through his position as executive director of the Santa Rosa Island Authority.

He took the job as the area struggled to recover from Hurricane Ivan.

“About six weeks later Dennis hit,” Lee recalled.

It was an appropriate way to begin, as the director has since repeatedly ushered the beach through one kind of hit or another. If not a hurricane, then the economy. If not the economy, an oil spill.

“It was a complete headache trying to get our beaches back to normal,” Lee said.

The oil spill was a new kind of monster. Instead of holding tight through the high winds and water of a hurricane, the beach suffered a long, hot summer of uncertainty.

The spill sent oil washing up on beaches across the Gulf Coast, with Pen-

sacola Beach on Florida’s front lines. Lee watched as BP contractors and the U.S. Coast Guard scrambled to respond. It was bad for the environment and bad for the beach’s economy.

“I think it’s terrible—you know, last month we removed over 400 pounds of a tarmat,” Lee grumbled. “And now they say, ‘Okay, the beach is clean, let’s go.’ Well, it’s not.”

The SRIA director said the move from BP should not have been totally unexpected.

“I’ve heard all the horror stories from the Exxon Valdez in Alaska,” Lee said. “It’s the first thing they wanted to do, was get out of there, and that’s what they want to do here.”

But Lee can’t spend too much time dwelling on how BP is shafting the Gulf Coast—something he commiserated about recently with oil spill-icon and Plaquemines Parish, La. President Billy Nungessor—because he’s currently busy trying to figure out how the beach will weather the summer since the national sequester has grounded the Blue Angels and knocked out the traditional July 4 air show.

Don’t worry. Lee’s already coordinated a backup plan for civilian planes to provide the annual overhead entertainment. The show must go on.

“Only time I’ve lived north of I-10 is when I was in college or in the army.”

Buck Lee Throughout the summer of 2010, the SRIA director helped keep the public informed of the situation on Pensacola Beach.

Three years later and Lee, in fact, is still dealing with the spill—tarballs and tarmats are still being removed from the beach.

Until recently, BP funded patrols to monitor gulf beaches for oil. Although the British petroleum company had previously vowed to stay until there were no signs of oil, that guarantee apparently evolved.

Success. “ The UWF College of Business is in the business of changing lives, and through our graduates UWF is shaping the destiny of Northwest Florida.”

—Dr. Ed Ranelli, UWF College of Business Dean

June 13, 2013

The University of West Florida congratulates College of Business Dean Ed Ranelli as an Independent News Game Changer. UWF is honored by Dean Ranelli’s commitment to helping our students achieve their goals and create successful career paths for our alumni.

uwf.edu 13

2013 Game Changers

Mark Lee, Cherry Fitch & Gary Michael

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he housing market has been in a slump the last few years. Apparently, no one told Mark Lee’s team over at Levin-Rinke Resort Realty.

And they have run away with top-seller accolades for the past five years.

Lee’s team consists of himself, Cherry Fitch and Gary Michaels. They know how to sell a house.

“It’s kind of basic,” explained Mi-

chaels.

“You just take care of your customers.”

After years away, Lee returned in 2000 to practice realty in his hometown.

He had grown up in East Hill and on Pensacola Beach. He is now the managing broker for Levin-Rinke.

Fitch began working with Lee in 2006.

It was a second career after 35 years in the Gulf Breeze school system. She had been a teacher, a guidance counselor, an assistant principal and, finally, a principal.

In her final year working in education, she was named as Principal of the Year.

Anita Lesko

courtesy photo

A

nita Lesko is up to something.

“I’ve got a really, really big plan in my head,” she said. “It’s kind of a really big thing.”

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“The two of them are like best friends, brother and sister,” Michaels said of Lee and Fitch. “They just compliment each other. Sometimes they’re like twins.”

Michaels joined Fitch and Lee in 2007 after retiring from the health care industry. He worked in numerous elderly-care facilities throughout the state.

“I think I left a record of 5-Star facilities,” Michaels said.

Michaels said that both his and Fitch’s former occupations were geared toward caring for others. He said that both had similar values when it came to contributing to one’s community.

“It gets tiresome, but it’s so rewarding,” he explained.

Those values were right in line with the culture Lee was fostering. While working with a top-selling team is nice, Michaels points to the culture as the reason he’s with the team.

“The culture aligned very much with what our beliefs are,” he said, explaining that all three team members are active participants and contributors to their community.

Lee recently received the Distinguished Service Award for 2013 for his

Realtors, Levin-Rinke Resort Realty

service with the Favor House. He is also the incoming board chair for the Pensacola Symphony.

Fitch currently serves on the Santa Rosa Education Foundation. She also sits on the Gulf Breeze City Council.

Michaels currently serves as the board chair for the Children’s Home Society of Northwest Florida.

“There’s a lot of families that find themselves on the verge of crisis,” Michaels said, “but we get in there.”

While the Lee team values its extracurricular community involvement, the area real estate market values its professional contribution. Having performed well in a down market, the crew appears set to continue that trend now that the market has shown signs of an upswing.

“Our last quarter last year, we tripled our business,” Michaels said.

The realtor excitedly explained that he’s seen signs of an improving housing market across the board—from high-end, high-dollar properties to first-time-homebuyer-fixer-uppers.

“There’s somethings we’ve seen up, like, 18 percent,” Michaels said. “It’s just like, ‘Oh my God!’”

Author, Asperger’s advocate

When Lesko has a big plan, it’s a good idea to listen. Her latest big plan was a smashing success.

“It exceeded my expectations,” Lesko said. “It was really outstanding.”

In May, Lesko helped pull off the first Flying High with Autism conference at the University of West Florida. It started as an idea in her head. It materialized with speakers like Dr. Temple Grandin and Robert Kennedy Jr.—rock stars in the onthe-spectrum community—making their way to Pensacola for the three-day event.

“Tomorrow, I have a meeting to start planning for next year,” Lesko said, explaining that the conference will likely become an annual event.

Lesko discovered she had Asperger’s syndrome a couple of years ago. Though she was a registered nurse, Columbia University graduate and competitive equestrienne, she also knew she was somehow different.

“I just never fit in,” Lesko explained.

When a co-worker’s son was diagnosed with Asperger’s, something clicked with the 50-year-old nurse. She suddenly made sense.

Lesko proceeded to become an advocate for people with Asperger’s. She

started a support group, and also founded Born With Asperger’s, meant to serve as an educational source for people with Asperger’s and their families.

And then there’s the “big plan.” Lesko isn’t elaborating too much just yet, other than to say she’s hoping to “put Pensacola on the map.”

Prior to the Flying High conference in May, she hinted at similar ambitions, saying she envisioned Pensacola becoming “a Mecca, if you will, for Aperberger’s-related things.” More recently, Lesko talked about how she would like to see speakers at next year’s conference participate in workshops, providing attendees with more intimate venues.

“Parents will be able to be interactive with these people,” she said excitedly.

Dipping briefly into her “big plans,” Lesko talked a bit about the possibility of expanding on the conference concept.

What if she could arrange for experts in the on-the-spectrum community to extend their stays—“utilizing all the brain power that I know and bringing it here to Pensacola to be available”—beyond the conference?

It’s just a thought in her head.

“I’ve got big things planned for our community,” Lesko said.

“I’ve got big things planned for our community.”

Anita Lesko Lesko also wrote a book about her experiences with Asperger’s. Following the release of her book—entitled “Asperger’s Syndrome: When Life Hands You Lemons, Make Lemonade”—Lesko was also featured in Grandin’s “Different... Not Less.”

The local author has been working on a project with Dr. Tony Attwood, considered to be the world’s leading authority on Asperger’s, and Craig Evens, founder of Autism Hangout. That book—entitled “Been There. Done That. Try This! An Aspie’s Guide to Life on Earth,” and set for global release—will come out early next year.

inweekly.net

2013 Game Changers

John Myslak

L

ast year, John Myslak helped upstart a fall baseball league for Pensacola youth. It was about more than baseball.

“Baseball is just a tool,” Myslak said.

With Pensacola Youth Baseball, Myslak hoped to provide an organization that served the minority community. More than a simple baseball league, he wanted to focus on building character and sportsmanship. He wanted the league to be a

Founder, Pensacola Youth Baseball

place where role models mentored kids.

Last fall, 120 local youths participated in the league. This year, more are expected.

But Myslak is taking his concept further than the fall league. He has launched a non-profit, Pensacola Training Academy, Inc., and is offering baseball clinics to local players out of the Pensacola Pelicans’ old training facility.

“It’s been nothing but positive,” Myslak said. “We’ve got a lot of buy-in at the local level, everybody’s excited about it.”

Recently, the training academy joined forces with Major League Baseball’s RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities) program and is working together to better the lives of area youth, both on the field and off. One primary benefit of connecting with the RBI program is increased funding opportunities.

“It’s opened up a huge amount of doors for us insofar as fundraising,” Myslak explained.

At the moment, the local non-profit is eyeing funding opportunities with the Cal Ripken Sr. Foundation (up to a half-million dollars), as well as with the Reds Community Fund, the charitable arm of the

Cincinnati Reds, the major league team that the local double-AA Blue Wahoos feed into.

The funding obtained by the non-profit will be used to improve a local baseball field. PTA is looking to make improvements to Terry Wayne Park, located at the

“It gives these kids some life experience and some exposure that otherwise they would never have.”

John Myslak intersection of Gadsden and J streets.

“It’s right in the middle of the neighborhoods we’re trying to impact,” Myslak explained.

Myslak said that the connection with the RBI program would also afford local players the opportunity to travel to com-

petitions. These ventures will provide not only a richer sports experience, but also serve as a source of invaluable lessons beyond the field.

“It gives these kids some life experience and some exposure that otherwise they would never have,” Myslak explained.

Already, the relationship has resulted in a back-and-forth with an RBI league out of Montgomery, Ala. The two organizations recently held a series of games in Pensacola.

“It was an unbelievable success— all the kids had a blast, the adults had a blast,” Myslak said, adding that local players will be traveling to Montgomery in late June to play the other side of the series.

And while Myslak’s goals—building character, instilling values—are lofty, he understands that the ills of a troubled world demand more remedies than afforded through batting practice and pep talks. But, maybe, baseball isn’t a bad place to start.

“We’re not on a white horse trying to save the world,” Myslak said. “It’s going to be one kid at a time. But that’s the way it works, I guess.”

lo c a l ly ow n e d . n at i o n a l ly r eco g n i z e d .

Baptist Health Care is more than just a health care system.

Baptist is part of a community. We’re locally owned, and that means our top priority is the health and well-being of those we serve. In fact, we’ve invested so much into this locally focused Mission that we’ve been recognized nationally for everything from the way we care for our patients to the way we train our team members. In each of the communities we serve around our region, our entire system is built around caring for you and the ones you love.

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8 5 0.4 3 4 .4 0 8 0 / eB a pt i st H e a lt H c a r e . o r g June 13, 2013

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2013 Game Changers

Ed Ranelli

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ast year, the University of West Florida opened the doors of its new College of Business Education Center. The center could well serve as a monument to the success of the school’s business college.

“We’re on a roll right now,” said College of Business Dean Ed Ranelli.

When the 36,000-square foot complex was announced in 2011, UWF President Judy Bense noted that the building

Dean, UWF College of Business

would “reflect the College of Business’ excellence.”

“Everyone has worked very hard,” she said, “and students and faculty are very worthy of this building.”

The new student center is designed to accommodate about 1,800 students. It is a state-of-the-art facility catering to the 21st-century business student.

“We’re quite proud of it,” Ranelli said.

“It’s really an iconic structure.”

While everyone is psyched about the new student center, the real jewels— UWF’s business students and faculty— reside inside of the building. It is those students and professors that give Ranelli the biggest sense of pride.

“It’s a real noble experience to provide students with the knowledge, values and skills to be successful in business,” the dean said. “We take a lot of satisfaction in doing that.”

The business college also derives satisfaction from the awards and honors bestowed upon it. The school and its students are regularly singled out for recognition.

UWF’s accounting program is considered one of the best around. The school

Elaine Sargent

F

or a lot of people, the 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was a warning. Elaine Sargent is one of those people.

“It really opened our eyes,” she said.

“It was a wake-up call.”

BP’s disaster in the gulf struck Sargent as a symptom of a larger problem. Against the backdrop of a warming planet, the oil company was pursuing increasingly risky 616 1

ventures in the race toward fossil fuel’s end game. She saw the Gulf Coast as a victim in a global environmental struggle that wasn’t going very well.

“It may be the most important issue of our time,” Sargent said, “because it threatens our future.”

Inspired by Bill McKibben’s international 350.org group, Sargent started the local 350 Pensacola in the fall of 2010 with intentions of actively addressing climate change-related issues. A few months later, Sustainable Gulf Coast peeled off from the group to focus on environmental education efforts.

Sargent’s local 350 group hosts regular meetings to discuss various environmental issues and strategize about regional efforts and interests. They orchestrate bike rides and organize the annual Hands Across the Sands event on Pensacola Beach.

The group also actively engages local officials.

“When they’re continuously being given ideas by big businesses and corporations,” Sargent said of leaders, “they’re not going to hear us unless we also get our voice out there.”

boasts the distinctive accreditation of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business—fewer than 4.7 percent of the business schools worldwide have earned this accreditation—and the college’s students have consistently scored in the top 20 percent nationally on

dated repeatedly by the accomplishments of the college’s students and faculty members. Last year, accounting student Megan Wise was among 37 recipients (out of a field of 90,000) to be awarded the American Institute of CPA’s Elijah Watt Sells Award. Larry Strain, director of UWF’s Small Business Development Center, won the 2012 Pensacola Area Commitment to Excellence (PACE) Professional Leader of the Year award.

“We’ve got a great team,” Ranelli said.

It is a team committed to the school’s mission.

“Our mission is to prepare students for a successful career and we do that,” the dean said. “You get a top-rate education that I think is competitive to any in the country.”

Beyond all the awards, beyond the bells and whistles of the new education center, the dean’s main instruction to his students can be boiled down to practical simplicity: “hustle.”

“To be successful, you’ve got to hustle,” Ranelli said. “You’ve got to hustle, that’s the take away.”

“You get a top-rate education that I think is competitive to any in the country.”

Ed Ranelli the ETS Major Field Test in Business.

Ranelli attributes the school’s success to its faculty. He has made a point of assembling a team that has experience beyond the halls of academia. The dean himself worked for about 20 years in the health care industry.

“Most of our faculty have had business experience as well,” Ranelli explained.

“You know, been-there-done-that.”

The dean’s formula for success is vali-

Environmentalist, 350 Pensacola Recently, Sargent became a leading voice in the local environmental scene, taking an instrumental role in the process that saw a collection of environmental

“It’s a challenge I think for the environmental community to present to those who are looking at it from a strictly economic standpoint,” she said. “It’s going to be a challenge to show them that if we don’t have a healthy environment we won’t have a healthy economy.”

The environmentalist is hoping that commissioners at least adopt a do-no-more-harm approach when reviewing potential projects.

“We don’t want a lot of road projects, let me put it that way,” Sargent said. “We don’t think that’s what this money’s for—putting more cars on the road.”

The 2010 oil spill may have been an environmental disaster for the Gulf Coast, and possibly a warning shot across the planet’s bow, but it also served to spark a passion within future environmentalists.

Environmental warriors like Sargent.

And she’s just getting started. Or, as she says, “finding my voice.”

“Yeah, finding my voice,” Sargent explained. “I’m good at making events happen and getting people together, but finding my voice so I can serve this cause.”

“It may be the most important issue of our time because it threatens our future.”

Elaine Sargent organizations select Christian Wagley to represent environmental concerns on Escambia County’s RESTORE Act Advisory Committee. The committee is tasked with advising the county commission on how best to spend funds that will result from Clean Water Act penalties—estimated to be between $100 and $200 million dollars for Escambia—connected to BP’s spill.

Commissioners have indicated that the local RESTORE money will be focused on economic development and infrastructure projects. Sargent’s hoping for the best.

inweekly.net

2013 Game Changers

Albert Sengstock

E

arlier this year, Al Sengstock launched Good Works Partnerships. The organization is sprucing up the Pensacola area, one property at a time.

“It makes you feel better,” Sengstock said back in January, as he stood admiring a Saturday morning’s worth of work.

On that early job, volunteers from Marcus Pointe and Greater Little Rock Baptist churches gathered together to clean an elderly women’s property. They cleared brush, cut grass and fixed broken windows.

“I bet you come back here in two weeks and you’ll find the neighbors sweeping their sidewalks,” Sengstock said. “You have to start somewhere.”

That’s the idea. With the Good Works Partnership, Sengstock is hoping to empower, inspire and help the community clean itself up.

Good Works Partnership is a non-profit organization that provides people with the tools needed to tend to their properties.

Hammers, lawnmowers, rakes and pretty much anything else are lent out to people looking to clean up lawns and fix up houses.

The organization also coordinates volunteer work crews. The crews target individual properties for cleaning.

Sengstock got the idea for Good Works during his years as a code enforcement manager. He saw the impact that financial penalties could have on a person, a person who wanted to address their property but was unable to do so.

“It would be heartbreaking and frustrating when confronted by the dilemma of working with people who, due to physical or financial limitations, could not comply with the various property maintenance codes,” Sengstock explained. “I also concluded that

Founder, Good Works Partnership

much of the conflict and unintended ‘bad will’ was actually born of the frustration by those who couldn't comply, even though they wanted to.”

While visiting his cousin in Pensacola, Sengstock relayed the success he had experienced in Arizona. His cousin—Quint Studer—thought such a program would be beneficial to the Pensacola area. A few months later, Good Works Partnership was born.

Since he began, Sengstock’s organization has been warmly received in the area. Code enforcement officers, from both Pensacola and Escambia County, have embraced the concept and direct their citizens to it. Organizations such as the Pensacola Young Professionals, Pathway for Change, Habitat for Humanity and Catholic Charities have also developed relationships with Good Works.

The non-profit is growing just as Sengstock had hoped. The effort is helping to beautify the area, giving residents pride in their properties, contributing to neighborhood safety and promoting a sense of community.

“It is a real joy to see the change in those who, through such programs, were once again able to be positive, empowered members of their neighborhoods,” Sengstock said.

“It is a real joy to see the change in those who, through such programs, were once again able to be positive, empowered members of their neighborhoods.”

Al Sengstock After trying out the Good Works model, Sengstock was encouraged by the results.

“By making tools and supplies available to the able-bodied, and by organizing volunteers to assist the physically challenged, much of the conflict was eliminated,” he said.

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June 13, 2013

17

2013 Game Changers

Rev. Rick Sosbe

A

t the age of 10, Rev. Rick Sosbe became a Christian. He felt at that time that he was called to serve God and become a pastor. He also felt that he was gay.

Sosbe currently serves the Metropolitan Community Church in Pensacola. He moved to town about a year ago, and lives with his partner, Michael, along with their Jack Russell Terrier, Zoe. “We enjoy it here,” Sosbe said.

The Metropolitan Community Church, or MCC, has its roots in 1968 Huntington Park, Calif. Its founder, Rev. Troy D. Perry, penned “The Lord Is My Shepherd, And He Knows I’m Gay.” “We are Christian-based, and yet we are also accepting of all people,” Sosbe explained. “Years ago, we were known as the ‘gay church.’”

The church has grown to an estimated 43,000 members, with 300 congregations spread throughout 22 countries. It still serves the gay community, but also caters to those looking for a more inclusive environment in general.

“Simply because they believe in what we stand for,” Sosbe said, “which is fairness to all people.”

And though the church has broadened the scope of its focus beyond the gay community, it still very much focuses on gay rights issues. That can be a tough sell in Northwest Florida.

Sandy Veilleux

S

ome people are wild about food.

Wild about fresh food, local food.

Foodies, they’re called.

Sandy Veilleux is a foodie. She approaches food with an almost spiritual intensity. She embarks on “crazy, culinary adventures.”

As co-owner of Flora Bama Farms, Veilleux is also passionate about making fresh, locally produced food available to the community. She provides both private and commercial customers with food grown and produced in the area.

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“That’s probably our mission statement: From our farm to your family,” Veilleux smiled.

Veilleux preaches the gospel of the farm-to-table philosophy, which embraces the eat-local ethos. It espouses a more environmentally and socially sustainable way to feed people. It also means fresher eating.

“We can literally bring something from a farm to someone’s restaurant that’s only three hours old if we hustle,” Veilleux said.

This passionate foodie is driven by her mission. She’s constantly networking, making connections between the farming and consumer communities. Constantly searching out farms and fresh food and something new and wonderful to get excited about.

“Crane Farm was a fantastic, lucky adventure,” Veilleux described one her favorite farms. “Their basil is so insane. Their hybrid lettuces—it’s hard not to get excited. You’re literally Googling in the field.”

Rudy Rudolph, executive chef at the Sunset Cork Room in Gulf Shores, Ala., likened that farm to “going to Epcot.”

“They can do amazing things,” he said.

“She could grow something out of her living room floor if she wanted.”

Pastor, Metropolitan Community Church

“There are pockets of people that are fair minded,” Sosbe said, “but there are a good amount of people that are clearly discriminatory and not in favor of gay rights.”

ordinances that critics claim criminalize homelessness. A minister with the church showed up at the council meeting and made some noise.

“She’s the one that made the comment that her vagina was not weak,” Sosbe said.

The homeless are a segment of society that the local MCC has focused on. They feed and minister to the local homeless population. Sosbe wonders what impact the new ordinances will have on the area homeless.

“There’s a lot of people that are just a paycheck or two away from being in the same position,” Sosbe noted. “It’s always a struggle in every community. You always have homeless people. It’s a long and elaborate dance as to how to deal with it. I think to just kind of push it under the rug, or criminalize it, isn’t a solution.”

The reverend doesn’t have the longterm answers for homelessness, but he’s committed to the search.

“I don’t,” Sosbe said. “But I think we need to be constantly talking about it.”

“We are Christian-based, and yet we are also accepting of all people.”

Rev. Rick Sosbe The reverend mentions the passage several years ago of Amendment 2, an amendment to Florida’s constitution that defines marriage as being only between a man and woman.

“We still have a long way to go,” he said. “And Florida is one of these states that needs help moving forward.”

While the MCC has always been an advocate for gay rights issues, the church also focuses its energies elsewhere.

“We are serious about social justice,” Sosbe explained.

Recently, the local MCC entered into the debate surrounding the city of Pensacola’s decision to pass a number of

Co-owner, Flora Bama Farms “It’s as captivating as it is inspiring to be around,” Veilleux concluded.

Veilleux and Rudolph are akin to two fresh, locally grown peas in a pod. They share a passion for good food and community. They

the festival’s VIP section.

“So, farm-to-family became farm-tofestival for a hot minute,” Veilleux laughed.

“We got serenaded by Stevie Wonder Sunday morning,” Rudy said.

“I was like, ‘Wow, could this get any better?’”

Veilleux said.

“Everything you dream about.”

It looks like the pair will be living that dream again next Hangout. The food was a hit.

“They made us promise we would before the festival was even over,” Veilleux said.

Between now and then, the foodies will be focusing on providing the community with fresh, local food options.

“We really want to grow the community in every way we can,” Veilleux explained, noting that she is constantly running into passionate people with new ideas. “There’s so many amazing minds doing so many great things for this community.”

“We can literally bring something from a farm to someone’s restaurant that’s only three hours old if we hustle.”

Sandy Veilleux feed off each other’s energy and brainstorm “big ideas” about feeding the poor, teaching children about agriculture and bringing farming back into the region’s urban areas.

Together, Veilleux and Rudolph have formed the non-profit Four Blades of Grass.

The organization is striving to raise funds to pay area farmers to grow food for families in need, to distribute that food and also to educate the community.

The pair also recently shared the area’s offerings of fresh food with the Hangout Music Festival. They were invited to prepare meals in

inweekly.net

2013 Game Changers

Christian Wagley

I

n 2010, the oil spill in the gulf hit the Gulf Coast. It was the worst spill in the country’s history.

Congress responded by passing the RESTORE Act, which requires 80 percent of funds collected through Clean Water Act penalties—a yet undetermined amount—to be spent on Gulf Coast

restoration efforts. It could mean between $100 and $200 million dollars for Escambia County.

County commissioners have established a RESTORE Act Advisory Committee to provide them with some direction when it comes time to spend the expected windfall. There is one voice on the committee that is representing environmental interests. That voice belongs to Christian Wagley.

“I like to try to find places to bring people together and talk,” Wagley said.

Although, the oil spill was an epic environmental disaster, it also had an economical impact. With that in mind, the county commissioners have made it clear that local RESTORE dollars will be primarily focused on infrastructure and economic development efforts.

The nine-member advisory panel consists of individuals hailing from various fields of expertise. There are realtors, a hotelier, a Gulf Power executive and several chamber of commerce members.

Each seat is tasked with representing different interests: economic development, transportation, the financial sector and government. Commissioners allowed

Environmental Seat, Escambia County RESTORE Act Advisory Committee

a collective of environmental groups to select one representative.

“I think I have a great role to play in trying to bring together different voices in the community that don’t always talk to each other,” Wagley said.

“I’m hoping to have that discussion,” Wagley said, laying out a vision for a more progressive urban landscape via oil spill money. “I think we have a wonderful opportunity to make it bike/walk-friendly— realizing that it was our addiction to fossil fuels that brought us to this oil spill in the first place.”

Wagley was a natural choice for the local environmental community, receiving sweeping support. He’s an active participant in local environmental issues and owns Sustainable Town Concepts, a green-building consulting business.

Wagley decided to live in Pensacola after receiving his Master’s in Biology and Coastal Zone Studies from the University of West Florida. He made the decision while bicycling back home to Maryland.

As the lone environmental voice on Escambia’s RESTORE committee, Wagley is on a mission. He’s hoping he can wrest a silver lining from the oil spill.

“If you leave your own ego behind it opens you up to do great things—great things for the community for all the right reasons,” Wagley said.

“If you leave your own ego behind it opens you up to do great things.”

Christian Wagley He understands that other members of the committee will likely be focused on “big ticket” items— “a very, very easy way to spend a lot of money”—like the chamber’s suggestion to spend up to $60 million buying land and readying build-it-theywill-come sites in hopes of feeding off the Airbus subcontractor market. But he’s also hoping to sell his fellow committee members on projects that address the region’s water quality issues or pave the way for a more pedestrian-friendly community.

Rev. Lonnie Wesley III deposit something positive into the life of a child.”

Pastor Wesley serves at Greater Little Rock Baptist Church in Pensacola. But it might be more accurate to describe his congregation as community-wide.

Recognizing his home is rife with racial and economic disparities, Wesley has set out to serve the area’s minority community. He wants to help his community better their circumstances and opportunities.

“Every community is in need of the kind of spirit that is a helping spirit, a hand-up spirit,” Wesley said.

The community Wesley serves is one he is intimately familiar with. The youngest of eight children, he was born and raised in Pensacola.

“I grew up on Michael Drive, brother,” the pastor said. “Michael Drive is a stone’s throw from Truman Arms. So, I was in Truman Arms everyday, behind B and C buildings, by the basketball courts.”

After school, Wesley left the area and earned his degree in Mass Communications at Alabama State University. After a couple of public relations jobs with the National Football League—working for both the Dallas Cowboys and Cleveland Browns—he returned home.

Back in Pensacola, Wesley participated with the One Hundred Black Men’s Moving Forward program.

A taste of things to come for the pastor, this early-‘90s effort aimed to serve the educational needs of students who were expelled from school.

“Gave them the opportunity to keep up with their class work while they were out of school,” Wesley recalled. “It was tremendous. It really kept a lot of kids in the loop.”

After a couple of years back in town, Wesley left again. This time for a job with Jackson State University in Mississippi.

“The top of a community is only as strong as the bottom of the community.”

Rev. Lonnie Wesley III

P

astor Lonnie Wesley III has just returned from speaking with local students at C. A. Weis Elementary School. He’s still riding off the buzz.

“This is like the fifth straight year of being a speaker for the fifth grade class, and, man,” Wesley said, “it’s just a joy to June 13, 2013

Pastor, Greater Little Rock Baptist Church

“While over in Mississippi, that’s when I started preaching,” Wesley said, explaining that the church he attended asked him to preach; he ended up serving there for seven years.

In 2004 , the pastor and his wife began to think again of home.

“I prayed the Lord would allow both my wife and I to come back here to help our siblings and our parents,” Wesley said.

“And the Lord blessed.”

It was a homecoming 10 years in the making.

“We love Pensacola,” Wesley said.

“We didn’t know how much we loved Pensacola until we moved away.”

It is this community that he so loves that the pastor hopes to serve. It is this community—that so often neglects to accommodate the less fortunate—which he hopes to help.

“The top of a community is only as strong as the bottom of the community,” Wesley said.

That’s where the pastor is putting his energies. Into the foundation. Into the people.

“I try to invest in people,” Wesley explained. “We are the best resource we have.”

19

2013 Game Changers

Steve Williams

G

rowing up in Baton Rouge, La., Steve Williams was a member of the YMCA. Today, he chairs the Board of Directors of the YMCA of Northwest Florida.

“The Y has always had a place in my heart, I’ve always had a passion for the Y,” Williams said. “When people think of a Y, they think of a gym. That’s true, we do offer that. But we offer so much more than a gymnasium.”

These days, Williams is fighting for a new YMCA facility in Pensacola. The current downtown facility is showing its age after years of wear and tear.

“I think a new, modern Y would just inject new life into the Y,” Williams explained.

Recently, Blue Wahoos owners Quint and Rishy Studer put up $5 million dollars toward a new Y. They tied the offer to a waterfront parcel next to the baseball stadium at the Community Maritime Park.

“When the $5 million offer was made, we thought, ‘Wow, this really is a possibility for us,’” Williams said.

There were plans for a 40,000-square foot, state-of-the-art facility. The concept was taken to the city of Pensacola.

“We had no idea it would become so political,” Williams said.

Denny Wilson

A

s this academic year drew to a close, Escambia County School District Superintendent Malcolm Thomas paid a visit to Oakcrest Elementary School. He told the students he had an announcement to make and, for a brief moment, Principal Denny Wilson got a little nervous.

020 2

Wilson half-thought the superintendent was about to announce he was being transferred to another school. Instead, Thomas told the students that Wilson was being named as the district’s Principal of the Year.

“It’s very humbling,” Wilson said, redirecting the honor, “but to me it’s a recognition of what’s going on at Oakcrest.”

What’s going on at Oakcrest can only be described as a dramatic turnaround. It’s been a gradual progression since Wilson took the reins a few years ago.

“It didn’t happen over night,” the principal said. “We’ve made a lot of progress.

We went from an F to a B, we went from a low-F to a B.” When Wilson found out he was headed to Oakcrest he was excited. It would be his first gig as principal.

“Then reality set in,” he recalled his realization that he was headed to the district’s only F school at the time.

The first few years were tough. The new principal faced an uphill trek.

“That third D, I’m not gonna lie, that’s when I was like, ‘Mr. Thomas, I don’t know what to do, you might need to find somebody else,’” Wilson said.

Chairman, Board of Directors of the YMCA of Northwest Florida

While the notion of a new downtown, waterfront YMCA got a lot of support, there were procedural questions raised—the city, as well as the Community Maritime Park Board are involved in the

“I think a new, modern Y would just inject new life into the Y.” Steve Williams process—and also concerns over what constituted the best use of the park property.

In the end—after being approved conceptually by the city council, but then rebuffed by the CMPA—the Y board walked away from what it deemed a “broken” process.

“I was disappointed people didn’t share the long-term vision. I think there was some short-sightedness on some people’s parts.”

Williams is still working toward a new facility. He believes it would be good for

both the Y and the greater community. The organization is currently assessing possible locations and the Studers have taken the parcel eight-stipulation off their offer.

“We will have a new Y,” Williams said.

Although the YMCA’s attempt this winter to relocate its downtown facility to the park was unsuccessful, Williams isn’t entirely disappointed with the results.

The publicity surrounding the Y’s attempt has yielded some positive results.

“Just from the publicity, we’ve seen an increase in our membership,” Williams said.

The board chair described how he now gets asked regularly about the YMCA. People have taken an interest.

“Absolutely, I get stopped at least three times a day—‘Hey, what’s going on with the Y, man?’” Williams said. “They just want know the situation. There is an increase in the awareness of the Y in downtown Pensacola. People know a lot more about the Y than they would otherwise.”

Williams hopes he may soon be able to point people interested in the YMCA toward the organization’s new facility.

“We still think Maritime Park would be a great place for a ‘Maritime Y,’” he said.

Principal, Oakcrest Elementary School But over time, Oakcrest experienced what Wilson describes as a “culture change.” The principal focused on things like reading instruction, reducing the num-

“Kids all have the same ability,” Wilson said. “It’s not determined by what we grew up thinking, or what neighborhood we grew up in, or how much money we have.

Kids all have potential.”

Wilson also credits the school’s faculty with its success. He describes his teachers as “incredibly, incredibly dedicated” and “almost missionary-like to be here.”

That’s exactly the kind of people that Wilson has tried to staff his school with. He wants people that are as excited and passionate as he is about educating children and involving the community. He wants people that want to be there.

“You’ve got to believe that you’re at the right place. If you’re not where you feel like you’re called to be, I don’t know how you can be successful,” Wilson said.

“I see this as my mission field. I feel like teaching is a calling. I feel like being a principal is a calling. I’ve felt like for seven years I’ve been at the right place at the right time. I wouldn’t trade places with anybody right now.”

“I’ve felt like for seven years I’ve been at the right place at the right time. I wouldn’t trade places with anybody right now.”

Denny Wilson ber of suspensions and increasing the level of parental involvement.

“This place is going to become a lighthouse for this community,” Wilson remembered thinking.

The principal pointed to the Oakcrest school motto: “Every student, every day, whatever it takes.” He takes these words seriously, offers it up as the foundation of the school’s philosophy and reason behind its success.

inweekly.net

2013 Game Changers

Beverly Zimmern Mayor, Gulf Breeze

B

everly Zimmern has been mayor of Gulf Breeze for three years.

“Four years next month,” Zimmern said upon reflection. “You lose track of time, it seems like yesterday.”

As mayor, Zimmern oversees a community that is in a state of evolution. The Gulf Breeze of old has long since faded, but the Gulf Breeze of tomorrow is still being realized.

“We’re emerging,” Zimmern said.

“We’re not that sleepy village anymore.”

When the mayor envisions the future, she looks to the Andrews Institute. She looks to AppRiver. She embraces the coming “nexus of excitement,” and hopes the city will grow into a place its children can return home to with expectations of viable career options.

“They want to come back, but they don’t have a place to come back to,” Zimmern said.

At the same time the mayor is excited about future growth, she also hopes her community is able to retain its “smalltown feel.”

“It’s a big responsibility being in the driver seat,” Zimmern said. “I don’t take it lightly.”

The mayor credited her city’s administration and staff with any success she might seem to be experiencing. She described them as “strong and true to what they do.”

“To do what I do for $1 a year, it’s easy by virtue of the people I’m surrounded with,” Zimmern said.

The mayor said she also appreciates that Gulf Breeze is not evolving in a vacuum; it plays a role in a larger regional picture.

She’s a supporter of the Greater Pensacola Area Chamber of Commerce’s Vision 2015—which focuses on bringing jobs to the area—and believes her community will play an integral role in a community on the verge.

“Northwest Florida is really poised to bloom, to blossom, to expand, to grow,” Zimmern said.

The mayor said one positive that Gulf Breeze brings to the regional table is a stellar education system. The community’s schools—part of the Santa Rosa County School District—are considered some of the region’s best public schools. Employees of businesses looking to expand anywhere in the area, will likely consider residing in Gulf Breeze for this reason.

“That, to me, is an economic driver,” Zimmern said. “People are not going to want to come here to work if they’re not going to get a good education.”

Prior to becoming mayor, Zimmern was a nurse for 18 years. She also served for 13 years on the Gulf Breeze City Council.

It is not lost on Zimmern that she is a rare breed in this area. There aren’t many elected female officials in the Panhandle.

“It is a man’s world in politics, particularly in Northwest Florida,” the mayor said.

Zimmern is, in fact, the first female mayor of Gulf Breeze.

“I’m proud to be that,” Zimmern said.

“I hope that I will inspire future women.”

One of those future women watching is Zimmern’s granddaughter. That’s also one of the reasons she’s doing what she does.

“It’s not just political, it’s personal,” the mayor said.

“To do what I do for $1 a year, it’s easy by virtue of the people I’m surrounded with.”

Beverly Zimmern

June 13, 2013

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4920 N. Davis Hwy Pensacola, FL 32503 Phone 850-607-6633 21