SARASOTA, Fla. (August 17, 2022) – The Education Foundation of Sarasota County (Education Foundation) announced that Nelle Miller has been elected as the new chair of the board of directors and will serve a two-year term.
Miller has extensive experience in nonprofit leadership. She has served as board chair for the Community Foundation of Sarasota County, All Faith’s Food Bank, Glasser/Schoenbaum Human Services Center, and the Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee.
Her additional former board service includes Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital Foundation, Institute for Learning and Development, Lexington Montessori School, and Children’s Center of Lexington.
Currently Miller is the interim President/CEO of Jewish Family & Children’s Services of the Suncoast during the organization’s search for a permanent replacement. Miller is a graduate of Brandeis University and completed a governance executive program at Harvard Business School.
Other Education Foundation board officers elected include: Brock H. Leach, immediate past chair; Kent Hayes, first vice chair; Kara Saunders, second vice chair; Dr. Lucie Lapovsky, treasurer; and Anne Rollings, secretary.
In addition, five new members were added to the board.
Kari Johnson, program specialist with Sarasota County Schools and the 2021 Sarasota County Teacher of the Year, was elected as teacher representative for a three-year term.
Student representatives elected to one-year terms are Aubrianna Hobbs, North Port High School, and Karolina Paulus, Riverview High School. Both are seniors in the Class of 2023.
Community members elected to three-year terms are Heather Kasten, Dona Scott and Rebecca (Becky) van der Bogert.
Kasten is the president and CEO of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce. Additional community involvement includes serving on the boards of CareerSource Suncoast and United Way Suncoast. Kasten also is a community partner in PLANit Sarasota, a cross-sector group of education and youth services organizations and community partner focused on increasing the rate of students who pursue a purposeful postsecondary pathway. The Education Foundation is the convening organization for PLANit Sarasota.
Scott has extensive education-related nonprofit experience, including having served on the board of Providence-St. Mel School in Chicago and After School Matters, a Chicago program for teens. Locally, she is on the board of Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe. Scott has a degree in business management.
Van der Bogert’s varied educational experience includes having been a classroom teacher, guidance counselor, principal, school superintendent, and university instructor at public and private institutions in Massachusetts, Illinois, and Florida. She earned her doctorate in education from Harvard University, where she also cofounded and directed the International Network of Principal’s Centers.
Additional board members include Beth Donofrio, Jennifer Infanti, Steve Krause, Lisl Liang, and Es Swihart. Jennifer Vigne is the president and chief executive officer.