NextGen series blends leadership, mentorship, giving

When Michael Benson founded the NextGen speaker series in 2013, he envisioned it as a way for leaders-in-the-making to learn from experts in a wide variety of fields — not just about business, but about life.

Benson, managing partner of Naples-based financial services firm Benson Blackburn, said the mentorship angle remains key to the success and popularity of the invitation-only luncheon series that also focuses on leadership, empowerment and philanthropy.

He said speakers are selected each season not only because of their success in business, but because of what they can share about their life experiences — and he always asks them to talk about both the ups and the downs.

The 2026 series kicked off in January with Marillyn Hewson, former chair, president and CEO of Lockheed Martin Corp., and the first woman to lead a global aerospace and defense company. The Feb. 18 luncheon features Naples philanthropists and community leaders Patty and Jay Baker, and the series concludes for the season March 18 with NASCAR legend Rusty Wallace.

“Obviously, the NextGen speaker series has the business leadership tilt to it, but the mentorship and empowerment also means what you can learn from this person’s life in your own life,” Benson says. 

Regarding the philanthropic aspect of the series, Benson said he wants to “raise the level of social responsibility” through the NextGen platform by contributing a $5,000 grant to a local nonprofit in the speaker’s name at each event.

“By bringing in charities and making that grant, we can elevate that particular organization’s mission to the audience, and hopefully they are motivated to become involved philanthropically with social responsibility, because I think that what makes a community is people being involved with philanthropy,” Benson says.

February’s speakers, Patty and Jay Baker, are a Naples power couple known for their successes in business and on Broadway, and for transforming communities through their philanthropy.

On the business front, Jay retired as president of the Kohl’s department store chain, which he helped transform into a multibillion-dollar company, following leadership roles with other legendary retailers including Macy’s, Orbach’s and Saks Fifth Avenue. After Jay’s retirement, the couple settled in Naples full-time in 2000 and quickly became involved in local causes including health care, theater and the arts.

While the couple established themselves as powerhouses on the Naples scene, Patty also was becoming a successful Broadway producer, winning Tony awards in 2010 for Best Musical for Memphis: The Musical and in 2013 for Best Revival of a Play for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Recently, she also has helped produce Broadway hits including Hamilton; Goodnight and Good Luck; Beautiful; Diana; and Tina: The Tina Turner Musical.  

Philanthropically, the Bakers give generously in other places, including Milwaukee, where they lived before Jay retired from Kohl’s; Philadelphia, where Jay studied at the University of Pennsylvania; and New York, where Patty went to Hunter College and where they both remain involved with the Fashion Institute of Technology.

But in Naples — which they consider their “real home” — a simple drive around town shows the scope and scale of their influence on the community: The Baker Museum of Art at Artis—Naples; Naples Comprehensive Health Baker Hospital downtown campus; the Patty and Jay Baker Pavilion at the Hospital for Special Surgery at NCH; Baker Park; Baker Senior Center of Naples; the Baker Theater and Education Center at Gulfshore Playhouse; and Patty Baker Humane Society Naples.

The couple shares a philosophy about their philanthropy, preferring to make their gifts while they are still here to see the effects.

And when it comes to ups and downs in business, life and on Broadway, the couple said they have plenty to share with the NextGen audience this month.

Patty quips that Jay’s business life was “downs and ups, ups, ups,” while her life on Broadway has been “ups and downs, downs, downs.”

“With the Broadway shows, it’s still charity,” Patty says. “I look at it as supporting actors and stage managers and wig designers and makeup artists, because you never know what you’re going to get. I always say, when I get my investors, it’s like the stock market: It’s a gamble. You don’t know if you’re going to make money or lose money, but if you like theater, you’ll enjoy this part of it.”

As for general advice to the next generation of Southwest Florida leaders, Jay says, “You’ve really got to love what you do.

“You’ve got to have a passion for it, for whatever you do,” he says, “because you’re going to be spending a lot more time at work than you are at any other thing. When you meet people who are great leaders, they have passion for what they’re doing. And I think if you don’t have that passion for something, you might do OK, but you’ll never do great.”

Those interested in attending the NextGen series can request invitations at nextgennaples.com and follow up with organizers to confirm eligibility.