wcw AUGUST 2023
Our August issue has a profile with Sarasota artist Linda Richichi. Features include a look at the Little Art Gallery’s new home, Good News Dept., Calendars, Blobfest, You're News, Travel News, Women’s Equality day and the Importance of staying hydrated. Plus, take a visit to the US Botanic Garden in DC.
Our August issue has a profile with Sarasota artist Linda Richichi. Features include a look at the Little Art Gallery’s new home, Good News Dept., Calendars, Blobfest, You're News, Travel News, Women’s Equality day and the Importance of staying hydrated. Plus, take a visit to the US Botanic Garden in DC.
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you’re news<br />
Accolades<br />
■ The Sarasota Memorial Research<br />
Institute and Florida State<br />
University College of Medicine<br />
held their first joint Interprofessional<br />
Research Conference at<br />
Sarasota Memorial Hospital’s Sarasota<br />
campus in May.<br />
The event, along with the groundbreaking<br />
of SMH’s new Research &<br />
Education Institute, reflects the local<br />
health system’s national reputation<br />
as a teaching hospital and expanding<br />
commitment to clinical research.<br />
More than 150 healthcare professionals<br />
gathered to learn about<br />
innovative research projects and<br />
clinical studies led by multi-disciplinary<br />
specialists from across the<br />
region. The event featured dozens<br />
of individual and group poster,<br />
panel and podium presentations<br />
by physicians, pharmacists, nurses<br />
and other clinicians and a keynote<br />
address by National Institutes of<br />
Health award-winning researcher<br />
Irshad Chaudry, PhD.<br />
Sarasota Memorial Chief Medical<br />
Officer James Fiorica, MD, presents<br />
the <strong>2023</strong> Distinguished Physician &<br />
Innovation Award to GYN Oncologist<br />
Beverly Long, MD.<br />
SMH and FSU leaders also presented<br />
nine research and innovation<br />
awards at the event.<br />
The <strong>2023</strong> award recipients are:<br />
• SMH Distinguished Physician<br />
Research & Innovation Award –<br />
Beverly Long, MD<br />
• SMH Distinguished Nurse<br />
Research & Innovation Award –<br />
Bridget Drafahl, PhD, C-ONQS,<br />
CNS, RN<br />
• SMH Research & Innovation<br />
Excellence Award – Colleen<br />
Lindner, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC<br />
• SMH Distinguished Pharmacy<br />
Research & Innovation Award –<br />
Pamela Lewis, RPh<br />
• SMH Pharmacy New Investigator<br />
Research Award – Jonathan<br />
Summerlin, PharmD<br />
• FSU Emergency Medicine Resident<br />
Research Award – Emily<br />
Wheeler, MD<br />
• FSU Emergency Medicine<br />
Distinguished Faculty Research<br />
Scholar Award – Sagar Galwankar,<br />
MBBS, MBA, MPH<br />
• FSU Internal Medicine Resident<br />
Research Award – Stephanie<br />
Williams, MD<br />
• FSU Internal Medicine Distinguished<br />
Faculty Research Scholar<br />
Award – Robert Smith, PhD<br />
For information, visit smh.com.<br />
NBP dragon-boat paddlers<br />
■ Ten NBP dragon-boat paddlers<br />
were selected to represent<br />
Team USA this summer at the<br />
16th International Dragon Boat<br />
Federation (IDBF) World Dragon<br />
Boat Racing Championships. The<br />
biennial event will be held this year<br />
in Pattaya, Thailand on August 7-13.<br />
Hundreds of contenders competed<br />
at national events over the<br />
last two years vying for a chance<br />
to compete on the world stage this<br />
summer. Team USA members are<br />
chosen in age groups and for boat<br />
size, which includes standard boat<br />
crews of 10 paddlers and small<br />
boats crews of five paddlers. Each<br />
boat also has a drummer at the bow<br />
and a steerer who stands in the<br />
stern of the boat with a long oar.<br />
NBP’s newest team member,<br />
Paul Hoffmann, is a threetime<br />
Team USA member, making<br />
the roster in 2019, 2021 and <strong>2023</strong>.<br />
NBP team members selected for<br />
the second time to represent Team<br />
USA are steerer Angela Long and<br />
paddlers Mandy Boyers, Doreen<br />
Clyne and Don Bickel. Making<br />
their world debuts are paddlers Brian<br />
Long, Dana Trimble, Duneska<br />
Grant, Joni Carone and drummer<br />
Paula Murray.<br />
The NBP conservancy provides<br />
coaching, clinics, timing, logistical<br />
support, promotion and communications,<br />
as well as equipment for<br />
the program and its paddlers.<br />
Appointments<br />
■ Erin Silk has taken the leadership<br />
reins for the Economic Development<br />
Corporation of Sarasota<br />
County. Silk first came on with the<br />
EDC in 2019<br />
as director<br />
of business<br />
development<br />
services and<br />
rose to the post<br />
of chief operations<br />
officer in<br />
November. She<br />
has worked<br />
Erin Silk<br />
closely with<br />
Lisa Krouse, who has served as CEO<br />
since 2021.<br />
Silk will continue to focus on economic<br />
diversification in the community.<br />
The region has continued<br />
to make strides in that direction,<br />
growing its manufacturing sector.<br />
She stressed the bulk of that is clean<br />
manufacturing.<br />
The new CEO has been with the<br />
organization through sometimes<br />
fractious periods with the county.<br />
But she said public-private partnerships<br />
remain the key to the organization’s<br />
success. And she noted<br />
the region remains a desirable one<br />
where CEOs often move even before<br />
considering relocating businesses<br />
or launching new ones.<br />
“Our region is undergoing transformation,<br />
and we are at a pivotal<br />
point when it is more important than<br />
ever to focus on workforce retention,<br />
foster an entrepreneurial ecosystem,<br />
and support diverse job creation<br />
while sustaining the environment<br />
that makes our County such a<br />
special place to live, work and play,”<br />
she said. “With a thoughtful eye on<br />
our history, I am excited to bring an<br />
innovative approach to our future.”<br />
■ Danielle Hughes, Team<br />
Coordinator of the Child<br />
Protection Team (CPT) at the<br />
Child Protection Center (CPC),<br />
has been named next year’s cochair<br />
of Sarasota County’s Sexual<br />
Abuse Response Team (SART).<br />
This will be Danielle’s second<br />
time serving as a chair for SART.<br />
Danielle has served as a child abuse<br />
expert for 17 years at the Child<br />
Protection Center, where she leads<br />
the Child Protection Team in coordinating<br />
and providing intervention<br />
services in cases of children who<br />
are suspected victims of sexual<br />
abuse, physical abuse and neglect.<br />
Services include medical exams,<br />
forensic interviews, psychological<br />
and psychosocial assessments, and<br />
court testimony. CPT is a legislatively<br />
mandated program and the<br />
only provider authorized by the<br />
state to perform these intervention<br />
services in Sarasota County.<br />
Danielle’s additional contributions<br />
to improving the welfare<br />
and safety of victims include her<br />
founding of the PAWS (Pet Advocates<br />
Working in the Suncoast) pet<br />
therapy program, her service on<br />
the Department of Health’s Quality<br />
Assurance Team, member of the<br />
Critical Incident Rapid Response<br />
Team, member of the Child Death<br />
Review, member of the Child<br />
Interview Advisory Committee,<br />
and Supervisor of the VOCA Victim<br />
Advocate/Administrative Duties.<br />
Danielle’s expertise has also been<br />
utilized in training Child Protection<br />
Team Case Coordinators across<br />
Florida. For over 40 years, CPC has<br />
been serving Sarasota and DeSoto<br />
Counties in the State of Florida.<br />
For more information on CPC,<br />
visit www.cpcsarasota.org or call<br />
941-365-1277.<br />
■ Ringling College of Art and<br />
Design has appointed Dr. Tiffany<br />
Holmes as Vice President for<br />
Academic<br />
Affairs. Holmes<br />
has served at<br />
two peer institutions,<br />
first for<br />
18 years at the<br />
School of the<br />
Art Institute<br />
of Chicago<br />
(SAIC) as<br />
Dr. Tiffany Holmes<br />
a full-time<br />
faculty member, department chair,<br />
and dean, and then for five years at<br />
the Maryland Institute College of<br />
Art (MICA) in Baltimore as its vice<br />
provost for Undergraduate Studies<br />
followed by her interim appointment<br />
as provost in 2021.<br />
In her role as VP for Academic<br />
Affairs, Holmes will serve as a<br />
strategic and innovative leader on<br />
campus. She will work closely with<br />
the College’s senior leadership<br />
team, academic department heads,<br />
faculty, and the members of the<br />
Board of Trustees to develop and<br />
execute strategies that will enhance<br />
Ringling's academic excellence<br />
and success.<br />
Holmes has developed training<br />
programs to support equitable faculty<br />
hiring processes resulting in<br />
more diverse faculty hires, provided<br />
opportunities to engage more<br />
BIPOC speakers, and collaborated<br />
with faculty to build community<br />
and appreciate the individuality<br />
and unique perspectives both<br />
students and faculty bring to their<br />
classrooms.<br />
■ Lisa Scrafford has joined RE/<br />
MAX Platinum Realty as a Realtor<br />
in the Wellen Park office. A member<br />
of the Seaside Living Group team,<br />
she brings extensive knowledge of<br />
the Florida Suncoast, specializing in<br />
residential real estate from Sarasota<br />
to Punta Gorda.<br />
Scrafford lived in Santa Fe, New<br />
Mexico, for 35 years before moving<br />
to Venice in 2013. Prior to discovering<br />
her love for home design and<br />
real estate, Scrafford had a long<br />
career in nursing. The Wellen Park<br />
office is located at 19503 S. West<br />
Villages Parkway, Venice. Scrafford<br />
can be reached at lisa@seasidelivingfl.com.<br />
■ Tammy Oakes has joined RE/<br />
MAX Platinum Realty as a Realtor<br />
in the Venice<br />
office. She<br />
has 35 years<br />
of real estate<br />
experience,<br />
specializing<br />
in residential<br />
resales, new<br />
construction,<br />
second homes<br />
Tammy Oakes<br />
and vacation properties.<br />
Prior to her career in real estate,<br />
Oakes worked in hotel group sales.<br />
She said she joined RE/MAX Platinum<br />
Realty because it offers the<br />
best of both worlds, blending the<br />
international recognition and resources<br />
of the RE/MAX brand with<br />
the small boutique feel of RE/MAX<br />
Platinum Realty. The Venice office<br />
is located at 307 W. Venice Avenue,<br />
Venice. Oakes can be reached at<br />
realtortammyoakesllc@gmail.com.<br />
■ VISIT FLORIDA’s Board of<br />
Directors has elected Jennifer O.<br />
Rominiecki, president and CEO of<br />
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, as<br />
Chair for the<br />
<strong>2023</strong>-24 fiscal<br />
year. Rominiecki,<br />
who<br />
is currently<br />
Vice Chair<br />
of the state’s<br />
official tourism<br />
marketing<br />
corporation,<br />
Jennifer O. Rominiecki<br />
she began her<br />
one-year term as Chair on July 1.<br />
Rominiecki has served on the<br />
VISIT FLORIDA Board since July<br />
2020. During the 2022-23 fiscal<br />
year, she has chaired the organization’s<br />
Industry Services, Small<br />
Business and Rural Development<br />
Council, in addition to serving as<br />
Vice Chair. VISIT FLORIDA’s Board<br />
of Directors consists of tourism-industry<br />
experts from across the state<br />
who, along with the members of its<br />
committees and councils, provide<br />
guidance, input, and insight into<br />
the evolution of VISIT FLORIDA<br />
programs, processes, and messaging.<br />
The organization’s <strong>2023</strong>-24<br />
Board of Directors will serve from<br />
July 1, <strong>2023</strong>, through June 30, 2024.<br />
Rominiecki has served as Selby<br />
Gardens’ chief executive since 2015.<br />
After arriving, she repositioned the<br />
institution as The Living Museum®,<br />
enacting a new operating model<br />
that has yielded increases of 75%<br />
in membership and 74% in overall<br />
earned revenues.<br />
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24 WEST COAST WOMAN <strong>AUGUST</strong> <strong>2023</strong>