Roxie works closely with Community Foundation donors, along with area nonprofits, businesses, and foundations, to solve important issues affecting our community, always searching for answers that impact multiple generations through shared values. Under her leadership, the Community Foundation has inspired philanthropy across the region through The Giving Partner, as well as the Giving Challenge, which has raised more than $75 million for local causes over eight challenges hosted over the last decade. Other initiatives Roxie oversees include Season of Sharing, the Campaign for Grade Level Reading and EdExploreSRQ, and the Suncoast Disaster Recovery Fund; while all unique, each of these programs expands opportunities and ideas for everyone in our community.

Marilyn Thompson is the incoming board chair of the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. She is a retired human resources executive who held high-level global roles at General Electric, GlaxoSmithKline and Johnson & Johnson. She applied her leadership and organizational development expertise to build high-performance organizations. Marilyn began her journey at the Community Foundation as a volunteer consultant, creating and implementing a leadership development program that provided executive coaching to several nonprofit leaders across our region. Along with serving as vice chair on the Community Foundation board since 2021, Marilyn has served in various capacities on a wide range of community organizations, from the Women’s Resource Center to Take Stock in Children. She’s also on the Bradenton/Sarasota Chapter of The Links, Incorporated Executive Board and the International Women’s Forum’s membership committee. She is a founding member and past president of the Masala Giving Circle, which focuses on strengthening minority-serving organizations.

About The Community Foundation

• Founded in 1979 by the Southwest Florida Estate Planning Council, the Community Foundation of Sarasota County connects individuals’ personal passions to the fulfillment of their charitable goals.
• By actively listening to our donors and connecting them to community needs, we proactively create responsive and long-term charitable funds that have an enduring impact on our community, so everyone thrives.
• With assets of $460 million in more than 1,570 charitable funds, we have the expertise and ability to award millions of dollars in grants and scholarships to local students and nonprofits each year. Since our founding, more than $396 million has been invested back into our community to support many causes, from education to the environment.

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2635 Fruitville Road
Sarasota, Florida
cfsarasota.org
941-955-3000