Vickie Oldham M.F.A. is president and CEO of the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition, Inc. SAACC’s goal is to open an art center and history museum. The precursor of this historic preservation initiative is “Newtown Alive.” Led by Oldham, the project traces the history of Newtown, one of Sarasota’s oldest communities.
Newtown Alive products include a research report, a book, historical markers, a documentary short, a guided trolley tour, traveling exhibition, walking tours, a mobile app, oral history interviews, an inventory of historic structures, a podcast series, and newtownalive.org, the official website. The project has received local and state awards. Visit Sarasota County named Ms. Oldham the 2020 Voice of Tourism.
Marvin B. Austin is Director of Finance at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota and Desoto Counties, Inc. Before moving to Sarasota in 2021, he was Director of Finance and Operations for the Milwaukee Urban League in Racine, WI. Mr. Austin continues as Principal Consultant at RB Legacy Enterprises, LLC which provides services designed to improve the quality of life in African American communities. A commitment to build strong neighborhoods is the impetus that led to his work with civic groups.
Austin is a member of the Newtown Business Council, a founding member of Black Community Working Together, Inc. and treasurer of the Howard Club of Southwest Florida.
A native Floridian, grew up in Pensacola, and is a trial attorney with a 43 year track record of success in Sarasota. Dannheisser graduated cum laude from the University of Florida, the University of Florida Spessard Holland School of Law and holds the highest Martindale Hubbell’s trial lawyer rating (an “A” and “very high” peer ranking)
The senior partner at Paderewski and Dannheisser is committed to family, community and clients. He devotes extensive time and resources to support professional, community, civic and nonprofit organizations. Dan is board chair and trustee at Sarasota Safe Children Coalition, the Sarasota YMCA, Temple Sinai, the Sarasota Rotary Foundation and he coaches youth baseball and football. “It is an honor to serve on the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition board of directors and participate in diverse and inclusive work that SAACC’s board and partners have created,” said Dannheisser.
A third-generation Sarasotan, Kaveecia Moore is a business analyst and contractor for the Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM). In addition to working with FDEM, she is an independent financial consultant. Ms. Moore serves on the community advisory board for the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe. She holds a B.S. from the University of Florida and a MBA from Barry University.
Jennifer O. Rominiecki began her tenure as President and CEO of Marie Selby Botanical Gardens in February 2015. She possesses twenty years of experience at major New York City cultural institutions, including The New York Botanical Garden, The Metropolitan Opera, and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
Since her arrival at Selby Gardens, Mrs. Rominiecki has overseen the re-positioning of the institution as a “Living Museum” and enacted a new operating model. There’s a 55% increase in admissions, a 67% increase in membership, and a 70% increase in overall earned revenues in just four years under her leadership. She has also overseen the creation and execution of a new five-year Strategic Plan and the development of a new Master Site Plan.
Mrs. Rominiecki completed the Women’s Leadership Forum at Harvard Business School in June 2017 and currently serves as a board member of the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County and the Science and Environment Council of Southwest Florida. She is the recipient of SRQ Magazine’s Women in Business “Hear Me Roar” Leadership Award and a “Woman of the Year” honoree of the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
Ian Black, CCIM is a prominent fixture in the Sarasota / Manatee County real estate market since the early 1980s. Local real estate developers respect Ian’s creativity and integrity in the industry, as well as his commitment to the community’s betterment. Those qualities have earned Ian some of the area’s most prestigious brokerage assignments. Ian’s real estate brokerage career began in 1964 after working with, and later co-owning Brian Morton and Company in Northern Ireland, his homeland. In 2003, he opened a commercial real estate brokerage and management office. Ian is one of the few commercial brokers in the area who holds the prestigious CCIM (Certified Commercial Investment Member) designation of the Commercial Investment Real Estate Council of the Realtors Institute of the National Association of Realtors. It’s the highest designation given to commercial real estate specialists.
Newtown leaders such as the late Neil Humphrey Sr., an entrepreneur, also Sarasota’s first NAACP president and the late John Rivers, the second NAACP branch leader made an indelible impression on a young man who would hold the same position decades later.
Walter Gilbert, III participated in a federal lawsuit filed against the City of Sarasota for single member district voting. The court’s decision favored the plaintiffs and opened the way for African American representation on the Sarasota City Commission.
Gilbert spearheaded the recognition of Dr. John W. Chenault, the first African American physician to receive practicing privileges at Sarasota Memorial Hospital and a mural project that bears his name honors the contributions of African American pioneers in Overtown (aka The Rosemary District). It’s called the Walter Gilbert Mural Initiative.
At the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, he is the Vice President of Diversity, Inclusion and Equity.