As vice president of Champions For Learning, a foundation that benefits Collier County Schools, Manchette has helped develop multiple programs and initiatives that directly impact more than 250 students in the organization’s programs and over 12,000 high school students through outreach and support initiatives throughout the county.

Additionally, Manchette has a passion for helping students and families plan for life beyond high school. For more than 10 years, Manchette has been leading the charge to help students and families in Southwest Florida complete college access applications, such as the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

And when an immediate, critical need arises, she has stepped up to provide help. For example, less than a week after Hurricane Irma had hit Collier County, Manchette and her colleagues at Champions For Learning were in the Collier County Public School administration building with the superintendent of schools and her team discussing how to help the class of 2018 be on track with tasks like college applications and financial aid since they had missed 14 days of school at a very critical time. Not knowing when all the schools would be back up, they created a plan to help school counselors, parents and students receive the information they needed.

“I consider myself truly blessed to work in a community that is so generous in giving of their time and their treasure,” she says.

Manchette is also fond of her American Bulldog, Jake, that she and her husband rescued three years ago through Brooke’s Legacy Foundation. So far, he’s earned two American Kennel Club Trick certifications and is now working on his Canine Good Citizen testing to become an adolescent therapy dog.