Leadership Pasco Newsletter - Summer 2023

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Carla Armstrong '14 Honored as Director Emerita By Jason Longo '17 Ballet Faculty member of Contempo School of Dance in Lutz – and I find the work for each very rewarding in different ways. How did you come to be a class member and then board member? I was a graduate of Leadership Tampa when I began working at Gulfside in 2011. I found that program to be extremely valuable so, when I wanted to learn about Pasco County and its leaders, it made perfect sense to start with Leadership Pasco’s program. Gulfside’s President & CEO, Linda Ward '05, had graduated from Leadership Pasco and she was very supportive of my participation as well. I joined the Leadership Pasco board immediately after graduation from the Class of 2014 – Focused To Do More! Serving as the Vice President of my class, I had the opportunity to attend the board meetings throughout my class year. There, I came to appreciate all of the work each board member contributed to shaping the year-long program. I wanted to be a part of that and it became quite the nine-year adventure! Tell us about some of the rewarding experiences as a board member or program day leader? Photo by Amanda VanMeter Burch/Avy Photography How did you find your way to where you are today? Share a little about your professional journey. My career path has been an unusual one in that I have always had two jobs – one in business and another in the arts. After graduating from The Juilliard School with a BFA in Dance, I danced professionally for 8 years in NYC. While performing, I also worked for a pointe shoe manufacturer called Gaynor Minden as their Operations Manager, and then later became the Associate Publisher of Stage Directions Magazine, a national B2B publication. When I moved to Florida in 2001, I retired from performing and began teaching dance in the New Tampa area. I then joined the Straz Center as their Director of Corporate Giving, which was my first fundraising job and later became a Certified Fund Raising Executive (CFRE) in 2014. Today, I still have two jobs – I am the Director of Philanthropy at Gulfside Healthcare Services and a I really enjoyed working on the LP newsletter from 2015 – 2017, which felt like reliving my days as a magazine publisher so many years ago. In 2017, I began co-chairing Healthcare Day with Kurt Conover '92 and continue this today with Mary Sommise '20. We have worked hard to expand the program into areas of healthcare that happen outside of hospitals, which proved helpful when the COVID pandemic hit in 2020. While the 2020 Healthcare Day was cancelled, hospitals were still unable to host the day in 2021, so we adapted to focus on other areas of healthcare, such as public health, mental/behavioral health and legislation which affects how we all receive healthcare. Congratulations on being voted as a Director Emerita. How do you plan to stay engaged with the board and Leadership Pasco? I still plan to co-chair Healthcare Day each year. I’m look forward to creating a program that helps future classes better understand the complexities and challenges faced by healthcare providers in Pasco County, and how they can get involved to make a positive impact. SUMMER 2023 NEWSLETTER
What's something about you that not many people know? I’m proud to be a 6th generation Floridian married to my husband, Robert, for 21 years and we have two amazing children – Naomi, who is majoring in psychology at UCF, and Joshua – who will major in dance at The Juilliard School this fall. I also have a First Degree Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do and was a national champion at both the US Open for Martial Arts in 2012 and the Battle of Atlanta in 2013. Photo by Amanda VanMeter Burch/Avy Photography Leadership Pasco LEADERSHIPPASCO.COM 9
Page 1 and 2: Newsletter Summer 2023 Congratulati
Page 3 and 4: Features 2 2 3 4 6 7 8 10 11 12 4 8
Page 5 and 6: Welcome New Board Members Paul Conl
Page 7 and 8: n - Welcome New Alumni Visit us on
Page 9: Sponsor Spotlight: Olympus Limo By
Page 13 and 14: Meet the Leadership Pasco Class of

Leadership Pasco Newsletter - Summer 2023

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