“Hers is the swirl of skirts they watch for, the careful waves of honey-colored hair,” Shelby Oppel wrote for the St. Petersburg Times in a 1999 profile for a series titled “25 Who Mattered.”

“One glimpse, and a host can breathe again, enjoy the party, record the glittery success. Mary Wyatt Allen has arrived. Her presence has rare currency in St. Petersburg society…but it is in another, equally extraordinary world, where her reign has mattered more. It is a world of abused girls and homeless men, of the mentally ill and the hungry. Allen has worked a lifetime to help the people she was never born to be.”

The list of places Allen worked with, both before and after that profile, could make up this entire remembrance.

Here’s a fraction: All Children’s Hospital. Florence Crittenton Home. Christmas Toy Shop. YWCA. Centennial Celebration Activities Committee. Family Service Centers. She also served on an equally long list of city boards and committees. Another fraction: St. Petersburg Housing Authority. Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County. St. Petersburg Firefighter’s Pension Board. Pinellas County Arts Council.

“I think just everyone knew that if you asked Mary Wyatt to volunteer for something, not only would she jump in, she would get the job done,” said son Niel Allen.

Allen died May 19 at 90 of natural causes. She leaves behind dozens of causes that are in better shape because of her.

Not Mary

“She is the first to say she is lucky she could give so much,” that 1999 profile reported. “Her father was Nathaniel W. ‘Niel’ Upham, the man who built Shores Acres … With family money and a knack for investing, she never needed to do more than raise her two sons — alone for the most part after an early divorce. But she did much more, with stubbornness and grace and a notorious precision.”

Allen’s father helped spur the foundation of All Children’s Hospital. Her mother lobbied for the county tax authority to raise money for children’s services and juvenile welfare. She took their example, son Niel Allen said, “and ran with it, and it went to levels beyond what I’m sure they could have imagined.”

Allen was known for getting things done. And if you didn’t know her full first name was Mary Wyatt, you soon would.

More than a few people have their own “not Mary” stories, friend Elise Minkoff said.

“It’s a club with a unique membership because you truly only make that mistake once.”

Allen became a mentor for Minkoff and showed her that volunteering isn’t glamorous work.

“You are never just to chair a committee,” Minkoff said. “You must be able to step in and do the things that need to be done to fulfill a charity’s mission, whether it be stuffing envelopes, packing food. No job was too small and no job was too big.”

But when Allen did it, it was work that broke barriers.

“She wasn’t exactly a feminist, she liked to have men open doors for her and things like that,” said Niel Allen. “But she was able to sit at a boardroom table with men on an equal level, and she did command respect.”

“She was ahead of her time. Her mom was ahead of her time,” Minkoff agreed. “It’s been a generation of women who advocated for our community and served on boards where women didn’t serve and didn’t do it for the glory and didn’t do it for anything but the fact that they were serving.”

When Pigs Fly

Allen’s accomplishments match her long list of causes.

Her work earned her the first Ms. Sun award from civic group The Suncoasters. Before her, there had only been misters. She helped raise money to enlarge and modernize the St. Petersburg Museum of History. She was one of a few people who helped open the Palladium Theater. She spent eight years with the Juvenile Welfare Board, the Times reported in 1999, “where she steered a mismanaged group back into voters’ good graces, even helping it win a tax increase to better aid struggling children.”

Allen brought logic to every cause and group she worked for, said longtime friend Sharon Jackson. And in her home, Allen had a whimsical collection that showed her gumption.

“She had a collection of flying pigs,” Jackson said.

Allen believed in St. Petersburg. And she believed that, with dedication, anything was possible.

“It was the way she functioned,” Jackson said. “If she saw a need and she had answers to it, even if it was far out, she worked for it and got it done.”

Read the article, and additional images, as originally published at https://www.tampabay.com/life-culture/2023/06/17/mary-wyatt-allen-obituary-st-petersburg/

Summer vacation has started for Pinellas County school students, meaning thousands of kids will be heading to private and public pools during the next two months. But last year’s test program by CFY, formerly Clearwater For Youth, showed many youngsters can’t swim.

That pilot program targeted Pinellas County families in Title 1 elementary schools and encouraged children grades K-2 to participate in program on water safety skills. It featured 650 students from two area elementary schools and revealed that 80% of the kids had never received water safety instruction and 45% were unsafe swimmers.

This year, CFY expanded the program to include five Pinellas schools—McMullen Booth, Skycrest, Eisenhower, Belleair and San Jose. It also has partnered with the Juvenile Welfare Board, the American Red Cross, Epic Wings, PDQ and the city of Clearwater, with the aim of teaching upwards of 1,100 kids how to swim.  

“The financial obligations per school are close to $15,000, so it takes great partners like JWB and the Red Cross, who are able to assist in the instructor cost, transportation, swim shirts and other supplies,” said Brooke Bennett, the three-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer who serves as CFY’s development manager.

CFY Executive Director Kevin Dunbar said officials are “looking forward to expanding the Title 1 Water Safety Program to all areas of Pinellas County (and) are already in discussion with St. Pete, Pinellas Park and Tarpon Springs on how we can add this program to their areas.”

Dunbar also highlighted CFY’s growth over the past two years, which includes investing more than $500,000 in post-secondary education needs for 72 local kids, as well as awarding $175,000 so far this year to help fund youth athletic registration fees, travel grants and athletic equipment purchases.

“I think those are some pretty impressive numbers,” said Dunbar.

For more information on CFY and its youth sports and academic programs, visit cfypinellas.org.

View the article as originally published at https://www.tbnweekly.com/clearwater_beacon/article_15ed2ede-03cf-11ee-bec0-576a7ae85805.html

The summer break has just begun, but it’s not too early for families to get a jump on the next school year by taking care of their child’s health screenings starting Monday, June 19.

The Florida Department of Health in Pinellas County (DOH-Pinellas) is again offering its annual summer Back to School clinic services to kindergarten through grade 12 students to prepare for the 2023-24 school year.

Please note that children going into Pre-K are not eligible.

The school-based health clinics will provide school, sports, and well-child physicals, including immunizations, at no cost to clients.

Vision screenings provided by Preserve Vision Florida will be available at select locations, and basic dental services provided by DOH-Pinellas will also be available. The last day to receive services is Monday, Aug. 7.

The services will be provided at no cost by appointment only between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. at the following locations:

• Boca Ciega High School Clinic: 924 58th St. S., St. Petersburg
• Gibbs High School Clinic: 850 34th St. S., St. Petersburg
• Pinellas Park High School Clinic: 6305 118th Ave N., Pinellas Park

For appointments, call (727) 824-6900 and select menu option 4.

A parent or guardian must bring the child’s immunization and medical records and be present for services. If the parent is not able to be present, a Designation of Health Care Surrogate form must be completed in advance and brought to the appointment. Forms are located at bit.ly/SummerClinicForms

All Pinellas children entering kindergarten on Aug. 10 or any students enrolling in the state for the first time must present a school entrance physical, dated within one year of school enrollment.

DOH-Pinellas’ school-based health clinics are a partnership with the Juvenile Welfare Board, the Pinellas County School Board, Suncoast Center, Inc., and the administrations of Boca Ciega, Gibbs, Northeast, Largo, and Pinellas Park High Schools.

The clinics provide services to students attending the five schools during the school year.

View the article as originally published at https://www.tampafp.com/no-cost-summer-clinic-screenings-pinellas-county/

Over 300 gathered at the Hilton Tampa Downtown on May 31 to celebrate the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s 2023 CFO of the Year honorees.

Twenty financial executives from businesses across the Tampa Bay area were named CFO of the Year.

These awards recognize the top financial executives who help grow their companies and are active in the Tampa Bay economy and community. These CFOs go beyond the job parameters to help their businesses thrive. This year’s honorees come from a wide range of industries and locales.

Readers will notice a large majority of them this year are women. This tracks national trends. A 2022 Crist Kolder Volatility Report found that 16.3% of CFOs at Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies were women — a record-high increase from 6.3% in 2004 when tracking began.

View the photo gallery above for images from the event. This week’s digital edition honors these financial executives, so be sure to take a look inside.

Find all of this year’s coverage of CFO of the Year here.

View the article as originally published at https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2023/06/02/2023-cfo-of-the-year-photos.html

View the event photo album at https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2023/06/02/2023-cfo-of-the-year-photos.html

View the digital edition of the CFO Year of the Award issue at https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/digital-edition?issue_id=38291&loc=pcmod

After a decorated 40-year public accounting career, Laura Krueger Brock came out of retirement to work in her current role, which began in April 2020.

Under her leadership, she was able to keep the nonprofit’s doors open and staff employed by deploying emergency funds and working to secure government aid. She also oversaw the implementation of a Workforce Stabilization Program last year, granting funds to 55 nonprofit agencies, with a total annualized investment forecasted at $7.9 million. In fiscal year 2023, these grants are estimated to total $5.8 million.

Outside work, Krueger Brock serves on the Florida State University Department of Accounting’s Professional Advisory Board Executive Committee and has been a guest speaker at the university’s accounting classes.

She is also a member of the Rotary, where she has been an active member, past president, and assistant district governor. She is also the finance chair at St. Jerome Catholic Church, where she recently led the $1.4 million roof capital campaign.

View the article as originally published at https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2023/06/02/laura-krueger-brock-cfo-juvenile-welfare-board.html

Laura Krueger Brock is the CFO of the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County.

What inspired you to become a finance executive? I had an aptitude for math and business, and this allowed me to pursue a profession that included obtaining my CPA license and working in public accounting for 40 years. 

I was able to utilize my accounting and financial analysis skills serving my government and nonprofit clients — and my community — which ultimately provided me the opportunity to work as the CFO for Juvenile Welfare Board for the past three years. 

What technology, if any, has been introduced in the past few years that has helped the most in your job? The past few years have been a challenge for most organizations, which opened the door for many to work in a remote environment. 

I was semi-retired providing consulting services when the pandemic hit, and was able to come out of retirement to fill the void of CFO at JWB. Technology has been extremely helpful in reviewing and executing volumes of records and documents with the ability to effectively interact with others. 

These tools have enabled me to obtain timely financial information and furnish responses, provide support and supervisory responsibilities within the organization, and stay current with the accounting profession. 

What drives you to succeed? My parents were my mentors and were highly ethical people. 

They raised and educated eight children, worked hard and became successful. They showed me, through their actions and words, that if you have goals, work hard and treat people the way you want to be treated, that success will be yours.

I am a glass-half-full person and strive to be the best I can be, both on a personal and professional level. I have been a lifelong learner and believe that you can take small steps every day to accomplish your goals. Even though there may be adversity in your life, never give up; with faith, you have the strength within yourself to achieve anything.

What is your favorite book? “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen R. Covey

What’s a hidden talent few people know about you? I have a twin sister, and we both were collegiate athletes (volleyball).

If you weren’t a CFO, what would you be? Growing up, I wanted to be a dental hygienist.

What was your first ever paid job? I worked in my dad’s dental office.

What’s your favorite movie of all time? “The Sound of Music”

Read the article as originally published at https://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/news/2023/05/24/laura-krueger-brock-cfo-honoree.html

On Friday, April 28th, nearly 600 Pinellas County community leaders and child advocates gathered at the St. Pete Coliseum to celebrate JWB’s annual awards luncheon with a theme of “Imagine.”

Last year, JWB celebrated its 75th anniversary, marking the milestone of our nation’s first independent board enacted to guard the rights and needs of children. And it’s hard to imagine where our county would be today had it not been for courageous leaders and citizens who had the foresight to tax themselves to invest in children’s futures.

JWB packed the room again this year to cheer on our amazing honorees:

• Our KidsFirst Cooperman-Bogue Winners who work tirelessly to strengthen the lives of children … Summer Kirk with the Pace Center for Girls, Christina Mokhtar Hassan with Suncoast Center, Johnareus Young with Clearwater Parks & Recreation, and Mary Wooding with the Florida Department of Health’s Healthy Families Pinellas program.
• Our H. Browning Spence Education Award Recipients whose stories of overcoming each earned standing ovations … Gloria Richardson, April Dempsey-Adams, and Joanna Steenberge.
• And our numerous Nominees for this year’s coveted Dillinger-McCabe “Putting Children First” Leadership Award, named in honor of two long-standing Board Members Bob Dillinger and Bernie McCabe, which was presented to Ray Hensley of the Florida Department of Health in Pinellas. His decades of leadership and dedication to young children and their families is undeniable and unmatched!