Becky Lucas

LEE, HENDRY HABITAT NAMES INTERIM CEO

Habitat for Humanity of Lee and Hendry Counties has named Becky Lucas as interim CEO following the recent announcement that former president and CEO Katherine “Kitty” Green has accepted the position of vice president for advancement at Florida Gulf Coast University. Lucas has served Habitat for Humanity in various roles over a span of 19 years including volunteer, director of construction, executive director and her most recent role as vice president of community outreach. Lucas previously served as as associate director of philanthropy for The Nature Conservancy and as a director of the Children’s Hunger Alliance in Columbus.

TECHNOLOGY AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED

The Southwest Florida Regional Technology Partnership (SWFRTP) has announced the winners of the 11th annual Technology Awards, held on May 16 at the Club at Grandezza in Estero. Ann E. Joyce of Chico’s FAS served as keynote speaker and the emcee was Lindsey Sablan of WINK-TV. The winner of the Innovention Award is Cigent Technologies. Vectra Digital and VeraData were finalists. The winner of the Transformation Award is Chico’s FAS. BMP Logic and NCH Healthcare System were finalists. Reema Bhatia, Managing Partner, Stickboy Creative won the Woman in Technology Award. Michelle Borders, Naples Network Services and Priya Janardhanan, Chico’s FAS were also finalists. The winners of the Technology Student Award are Klaudia Fisheku, Florida Gulf Coast University; Elisabet Ortiz, Cape Coral High School; and Sophia Vellozzi, Gulf Coast High School. The Partnership Award was awarded to Linda Lyding. Other finalists were Jon Boynton and Dr. Robert Totterdale.

Dena Rae Hancock

C’MON WELCOMES CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER

The Golisano Children’s Museum of Naples (C’mon) has welcomed Dena Rae Hancock as its first chief advancement officer. Hancock is a professional fundraiser and leadership development expert with broad experience in the education sector. She’s been vice president of institutional advancement for Marian University and executive director of the Indiana Essential Schools Network as well as the Indiana Campus Compact. Her volunteer work for the Metropolitan School District of Washington Township includes serving as president of the School Foundation and Advancement Center and campaign chairing. Hancock served as youth director for Hope Evangelical Church and has been a long-time volunteer with the Young Life organization. Hancock graduated from Indiana University in Bloomington in Indiana and began her career at the Indiana University Center on Philanthropy as a research associate focusing on service learning.

PATHWAYS DEDICATES BENISON CENTER FAMILY ROOM

Pathways is dedicating a new “Benison Center Family Room” to honor its ongoing relationship with the Benison Center to provide critical support services to the families of Pathways. The purpose of the family room is to give Pathways teachers a more comfortable and private place to discuss each individual child’s needs with their parents. The Benison Center Family Room was painted and decorated by the Ohio State University Buck-I-Serv student volunteers. Pathways’ future leaders also joined in the celebration, helping cut the ribbon and giving visitors from the Benison Center a personalized tour of the classrooms, projects, and gardens.

MULDER EARNS DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Jeff Mulder, executive director of the Lee County (Florida) Port Authority, has received the American Association of Airport Executives’ (AAAE) Distinguished Service Award (DSA), which is presented to airport executives in honor of an exemplary career and contributions to the airport industry. The Distinguished Service Award is one of AAAE’s highest levels of recognition. All DSA winners are Accredited Airport Executives (A.A.E.) and exemplify the standards accreditation seeks to inspire. Mulder received the award last week at a meeting of the Lee County Port Authority Joint Board.

STAY SOCIAL, AR3BIZ PARTNER

Stay Social, a digital creative agency, is collaborating with AR3Biz, a digital ad agency specializing in real estate lead generation services. AR3Biz is currently operating in Texas. The collaboration with Stay Social has been initiated to further assist the Florida real estate market. The AR3Biz lead-generating system targets marketing and an unbeatable lead generation service. Potential homebuyers and sellers fill out short contact forms which are shared directly to brokers via SMS text messages. This organic collection of information leads to much more success than the data capturing used by large competitors, such as Zillow, Chime and BoomTown, according to a press release.

KRAFT HENDRICK GRADUATES FROM OU EDI

Phyllis Kraft Hendrick graduated on May 2 from the University of Oklahoma Economic Development Institute, an intensive 117-hour certificate program for economic development professionals. Kraft Hendrick works in the executive offices of Collier County government. She’s a Certified Fraud Examiner whose past experience includes more than 25 years as a National Bank Examiner for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency/U.S. Treasury, where she later focused on large bank supervision and global credit portfolios in New York City.

MATT RUSSO REJOINS RMC GROUP

Matt Russo has rejoined RMC Group as vice president of operations. Russo will be responsible for providing direction and assistance to each division head in connection with the placement of business, as well as developing new processes and procedures for multiple divisions within the RMC Group. Russo previously worked for RMC from 2009 to 2014. He brings more than 14 years of experience to the agency with a diverse background in risk management and engineering. Russo graduated in 2005 from the Florida Institute of Technology with a civil engineering degree.

CHARITABLE NOTES

R.S. Walsh Landscaping raises $2,400 from fishing tournament

R.S. Walsh Landscaping held its fifth annual Sanibel Causeway Fishing Tournament on May 4. Approximately 100 employees and family members attended the event. The catch and release tournament raised $2,400 for the Sanibel Captiva Conservation Foundation (SCCF) and Captains for Clean Water. The event included lunch cooked by R.S. Walsh team members and guided fishing. Prizes were awarded for longest Snook, longest redfish, longest catfish, top boat and mystery fish.

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