2017-18 WLP Annual Report
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<strong>WLP</strong> honors visionary leaders and philanthropists throughout the community doing extraordinary<br />
things to make the Tampa Bay region a better place for women to live and work. The Community<br />
Leadership Awards program celebrates the immense contributions and achievements of women<br />
in our communities with the intent of raising public awareness and inspiring the leadership and<br />
service potential of current and future generations of women.<br />
Elizabeth (Liz) Kennedy ’80 Elizabeth (Liz) Kennedy has made a substantial mark<br />
on our region by helping to improve the lives of women, children and families<br />
through her professional, volunteer and philanthropic endeavors. The graduate<br />
of Plant High School, who earned her bachelor’s degree at Duke University and<br />
master’s degree at USF, has been involved in a wide array of social service<br />
initiatives. She was a founding board member and past president of the nonprofit<br />
Child Abuse Council (now known as Champions for Children or CFC) from<br />
1976-2001. Since 2011, she has been on staff with CFC, which provides support<br />
and education for some 40,000 people throughout the region.<br />
She was a founding board member and chair of Hillsborough Kids, Inc.; a past board member of<br />
Healthy Start Coalition; and co-founder of the Baby Bungalow, a resource center for parents. She<br />
founded Ophelia Project-Tampa Bay through the Tampa Metro YMCA, serving as director from<br />
2002-2009, and she helped create Layla’s House, a Sulphur Springs early childhood development<br />
center that provides free programs and services focused on helping newborns and children through<br />
age 5. Kennedy also made her presence felt at USF, where she served on the College of Education<br />
Development board. A tireless servant, Liz still volunteers roughly 100 hours each month, just as she<br />
has done for the past two decades, and her impact has not gone unrecognized, as she has been<br />
named a Lightning Community Hero (2013), a Civitan Citizen of the Year (2006) and a Bank of<br />
America Local Hero (2005), among many honors for her invaluable, impactful work.
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