Sarasota foster care and children's nonprofit names new CEO

A new CEO has been appointed at a Sarasota nonprofit that works with children and families in foster care. 

Following an eight-month search, Denise Marzullo stepped into the role for All Star Children’s Foundation. She was most recently the president and CEO at the Early Learning Coalition of Duval in Jacksonville.

“Denise brings a wealth of expertise, education and vision to All Star that will take us to new levels,” Graci McGillicuddy, ASCF board chair and founder, says in a release. “Denise achieved record success managing a $100 million annual budget and ensuring the organization’s fiscal integrity.”

Other notable career highlights include being an adjunct psychology professor at Barry University in Jacksonville and the president and CEO of Mental Health America of Northeast Florida. 

“I am thrilled to be joining All Star at such a pivotal moment of growth,” Marzullo says. “Working together with our compassionate and talented staff, we will continue to improve the experience of children living in foster care through direct trauma-informed services, advocacy and supportive care for children and their families.”

The nonprofit, which is partially funded by the State of Florida, uses trauma-informed therapies to interrupt the intergenerational cycle of abuse and neglect that children and families in foster care face. It has a five-acre campus in Sarasota with a 13,000 square foot clinical treatment center and six foster homes.