Foundation names three new members to board

VENICE — The Gulf Coast Community Foundation board elected Lisa Krouse, David Sessions and Peter Soderberg as members.

Each began a three-year term March 1, according to a press release. 

Lisa Krouse is a board member, executive vice president and chief administrative officer at FCCI Insurance Group. She has been with FCCI for over 14 years and was the first woman appointed to its board of directors. Krouse is past chair of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, one of only four women to have held the position since the organization’s founding more than 100 years ago.

David Sessions is president and CEO of Willis A. Smith Construction, where he has worked since 1988. He is a U.S. Green Building Council LEED Accredited Professional. Sessions is an executive board member of the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corp. and a former board member and chair of the Economic Development Corp. of Sarasota County. 

Boca Grande resident Peter Soderberg is managing partner of Worthy Venture Resources LLC. He is also board member of several public and private medical technology companies. He is the former president and CEO of Hill-Rom, Hillenbrand Industries and Welch Allyn Holdings and was president of Johnson & Johnson Health Management. 

The other members of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation board are Judy Cahn, Scott Collins, Anne Essner, Janis Fawn, David Green, Rod Hershberger, Tracy Knight, Anand Pallegar, Mark Pritchett, Michael Saunders, Susan Sofia, Joe Stephan, Bayne Stevenson, Tommy Taylor and Pauline Wamsler.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation is a public charity created in 1995 through the sale of the Venice Hospital. It has become the philanthropic home of more than 800 families, individuals, organizations and businesses that have established charitable funds there. It has invested over $320 million in grants in the areas of health and human services, civic and economic development, education, arts and culture and the environment.