TAMPA, Fla. (Sept. 21, 2018) – The Community Foundation of Tampa Bay has announced its new Board Chair and the addition of five new members to its Board of Trustees.
Longtime public servant Betty Castor has started a two-year term as Chair of the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay’s Board of Trustees. She began her career in public service with the Hillsborough County Board of County Commission, and went on to serve three terms in the Florida Senate. Castor was the first woman elected to the Florida Cabinet.
Previously, Castor has served as the President of the University of South Florida, Florida Commissioner of Education, and President and CEO of the National Board of Professional Teaching Standards. She’s also a founding member of the USF Women in Leadership and Philanthropy and a past member of the Hillsborough Education Foundation.
In addition, five members have joined the Community Foundation’s Board of Trustees. The new trustees are business and community leaders who have comprehensive knowledge of the region’s needs. Their leadership will help the Foundation bring the right people together to find solutions to the area’s most pressing issues.
The new board members include:
• Richard J. Dobkin, former managing partner of Ernst & Young’s Tampa office. Since his retirement in 2005, Dobkin has served on the board of directors of several major businesses, including Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, Inc., PBS&J Engineering, Blue Pearl Veterinary Partners, and Bay Cities Bank. He’s also a former Chairman of WEDU Public Broadcasting, where he currently serves as a board member.
• Damon C. Glisson, attorney in private practice in Apollo Beach. Glisson has been heavily involved in The Florida Bar, serving as a Past Chair of its General Practice, Small and Solo Firm Section, Council of Sections, Practice Management Section, Coordinating Committee on Technology and its annual Leadership Conference. In addition, he was a founding member of the Florida Bar’s Wm. Reece Smith, Jr. Leadership Academy. In addition to his law practice, he has served as a Hillsborough County Civil Traffic hearing officer for 27 years.
• Oscar J. Horton, owner, chief executive officer and president at Sun State International Trucks LLC. Horton brings more than 25 years of management experience to the board. He’s also a director at The Bank of Tampa, member of the University of South Florida’s Board of Trustees, and the former Chairman of Academy Prep Center of Tampa Bay.
• Mark Sena, president and managing partner of MediaSphere Partners, LLC and president of Mars Communications Inc. Sena has provided mergers, acquisitions and financial services to cable TV, broadcasting radio and TV companies in more than 25 countries in Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean. He has served as advisory council member of USF’s Center for International Business, board member, Chairman of the public policy committee of Creative Tampa Bay, and advisory board member of Arte, the Latin American arts festival in Tampa Bay.
• Dr. Juel Smith, president of JUE-L Consulting Group. Previously, Dr. Smith served in several positions at the University of South Florida, including founder/executive director of the Institute on Black Life and Center for Africa, director of Institutional Development, founding executive director of Women in Leadership and Philanthropy, and as a university counseling psychologist and adjunct faculty. She has also served on International Board of Habitat for Humanity and as NGO Director for the United Nations. In 2013, she was inducted into the Hillsborough County Women’s Hall of Fame.
“We’re very proud to welcome our new board members who have extensive experience in philanthropy – locally and internationally,” said Marlene Spalten, president and CEO of the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay. “Each member brings a wide-range of insight that will further the Foundation’s mission to inspire charitable giving and create a meaningful, lasting impact on our region.”
About the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay
Founded in 1990, the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay connects donors, nonprofits, community and business leaders, professional advisors, volunteers and residents to make the maximum positive impact in the Tampa Bay region. For the last 28 years, the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay has been dedicated to making giving easy and meaningful for donors as a way to strengthen nonprofit organizations and build a better, more vibrant community. Since its inception, its donors have enabled the Community Foundation of Tampa Bay to award more than $200 million in grants to nonprofit organizations across the country.