PRESIDENT'S REPORT
| Kaye Schmitz |
By Kaye Schmitz
Dear FPP Members and Friends,
Happy 2012!!
As you have seen from our newsletters during the past year, a lot of things happened in 2011. Here's just a sample:
* We advanced from a single staff member-me- to becoming a staff of 6 (3 full time and 3 part-time), adding Bill Mills, a former SunTrust banker, as the Director of Strategic Initiatives, Penny Zaphel as the Special Projects Coordinator, Jennifer Cooper as the Graphics Designer, and Lynn Gill as the Bookkeeper
* We just added our sixth staffer, Pat Nelms, retired from Bank of America, as the new full-time Community Education/Program Manager for the FPP. Please see the story about Pat below and send her your congratulations when you have a chance.
* We strengthened Bank On Florida and populated the Bank On Florida Advisory Council, set up committees, established a relationship with Florida CFO Jeff Atwater, who has agreed to do a formal launch of Bank On Florida, and have engaged more than half of Florida's 67 counties in Bank On programs in one way or another
* We have begun work on the Financial Information Network, in conjunction with the University of Florida, the Florida Library System, and the Florida Information and Referral Services System (FLAIRS) so that anyone can find all available services in an online database searchable at the county level; this tool will be especially helpful to the mentors in UF's Florida Master Money Mentor program
* We have established Ways to Work Florida in conjunction with national Ways to Work
* We became the Lead State Organization for CFED's Assets and Opportunities Network and assisted or encouraged six of our affiliates to become Lead Local Organizations for the same network (please see related story below about the Assets & Opportunities Network Steering Committee)
* We were asked to speak at the Florida Association of Community Action Agencies Conference and the Florida WorkForce Development Academy Summit
* We held another 14 FPP Regional Meetings, taking our total up to 42, and held another successful FPP Annual Conference--the third one--at the beautiful Don Cesar Hotel in St. Pete Beach
* We even fulfilled more than 85% of the first year milestones in our Strategic Plan
But mostly, we've solidified relationships, facilitated synergies among stand-alone organizations, expanded programs, and, we hope, helped Floridians to be more aware of the paths available to them to enhance their lives. And we have all of you to thank for that. Please stay with us as we continue to move into uncharted territory. There are no limits to what we can accomplish together in 2012. So...let's get to it!!
Introducing Pat Nelms, the Newest FPP Staff Member
| Pat Nelms, Kaye Schmitz, and Greg Smith, Bank Of America NE FL Market President |
It gives me great pleasure to announce a new FPP staff member, Pat Nelms, as the Community Education/Program Manager. Pat will hit the ground running for the FPP this month and will travel the state to conduct Train the Trainer classes in various financial education curricula, beginning with Money Smart. She will also work with the University of Florida to help coordinate the Florida Master Money Mentor program so that newly certified financial trainers will also have access to trained financial coaches. Pat, a Bank of America retiree, has volunteered for the Real$ense Prosperity Campaign since 2005 to both prepare free income taxes (which she will continue to do) and to teach the FDIC's Money Smart financial education program in Northeast Florida. She also volunteered to conduct a Money Smart class at Stetson University for the FPP late last year.
In Pat's own words:
"Through learning, individuals begin to change their attitudes resulting in changes in their behavior. I am convinced we can effect change in the life of one individual each time we complete a financial education class. The key is to use the connections that the Non-Profits provide within the communities and become involved.
I also believe that the current state of the economy gives us the unique opportunity to not just speak about community involvement, but to also become more deeply involved in the lives of our low-to-moderate income families and individuals. We can reach out to these families and individuals through financial education, which gives them the opportunity to make a change in the way they view their financial health.
We have already witnessed what can happen when like-minded people get together to make change happen. By utilizing grass roots outreach into schools, homes, churches and non-profit organizations, we can bring financial empowerment to these communities.
Passion and determination are key components in making this a successful venture. Florida Prosperity Partners believes our strength lies in the commitment to our mission statement and the encouragement that we receive as champions for community involvement. Great things can happen when passionate people get together for the good of the community."
Please join me in welcoming Pat Nelms to the Florida Prosperity Partnership family. Let's keep her busy training more and more people to impart much-needed financial education to Floridians. You may contact Pat at [email protected].
FPP Fourth Annual Conference
We are happy to announce that both Everbank and Ways to Work (national) have become the first two sponsors for the FPP Fourth Annual Conference. Both Everbank's and Ways to Work's logos will appear on the conference registration website that will open in late February or early March. Thank you to Ruth Owen from Everbank and Linda Brost from Ways to Work for making these sponsorships happen. We have lots of sponsorship interest from other organizations and will keep you posted as they come in. If your organization is interested in becoming a sponsor, please either contact me or go to the FPP website, www.floridaprosperitypartnership.org, to fill out a sponsorship form.
Also, make certain you save the date for the conference to be held at Universal's Portofino Hotel, in Orlando, FL from May 30-June 1, 2012. The room rate is $109 per night, with a reduced self-parking rate of $6 and free in-room Internet. We already have some speakers confirmed and can guarantee that it will be our best conference yet. You won't want to miss it. Stay tuned for registration information so you can reserve your spot early.
CFED National Assets & Opportunities Network Update
The votes are in and CFED has announced the twelve members on its Steering Committee for the national Assets & Opportunities Network. You will be happy to know that as one of 26 Lead State Organizations, the FPP has a seat on this Steering Committee for the next two years. I was fortunate enough to have been on the planning/interim committee for this network and look forward to serving on the permanent committee as well. The twelve members of the Steering Committee are:
* Christina Barsky (Rural Dynamics, Inc., Montana)
* Brent Dillabaugh (Hawaii Alliance for Community Based Economic Development)
* Tamika S. Edwards (Southern Good Faith Fund, Arkansas)
* Lisa Forti (Urban Strategies Council / Alameda County Community Asset Network, California)
* Lucy Gorham (MDC, North Carolina)
* Margaret Miley (The Midas Collaborative, Massachusetts)
* Lucy Mullany (Illinois Asset Building Group)
* Victor Ramirez (Center for Asset Building Opportunities / Citi Community Development, Los Angeles California)
* Kate Richey (Oklahoma Policy Institute)
* David Rothstein (Policy Matters Ohio)
* Kaye Schmitz (Florida Prosperity Partnership)
* Diana Stone (Seattle-King County Asset Building Collaborative, Washington)
Through this network, we will be able to advance Florida causes and engage in national outreach. We will not only have our own microsite on the Assets & Opportunities web page, but we will also have a link to the FPP website as well. There will be opportunities for joint funding and we will work with the Dept. of Health and Human Services Welfare Peer T.A. Network to help determine the organizations that get funded from that group. One of the most beneficial aspects of this organizational affiliation is the opportunity to help shape the messages that go to the entire country about the Assets & Opportunities Scorecard that points out areas where we can make a statewide difference with Florida legislators about policies that would benefit our vulnerable populations. Please stay tuned for more information about this terrific network.
FPP Meeting Schedule for 2012
We will continue our quarterly webinar calls during 2012, utilizing the information we received from you at the recent Regional Meetings about the webinar topics you would like to see. Please don't miss the following FPP learning and networking opportunities in 2012:
* March 12 - Full Membership Webinar, Social Media
* May 30-June 1 - 4th Annual FPP Statewide Conference at the Portofino Bay Hotel in Orlando
* September 10 - Full Membership Webinar, Marketing Tools
* December 10 - Full Membership Webinar, Updates from NCTC, IRS, CFED and Prize Linked Savings
FPP Membership Fees
The FPP Board has worked to establish new fees that will include both individual and organizational memberships on a graduated scale. Please keep watching this space as we put the final tweaks on the plan and roll it out to all of you.
Kaye D. Schmitz
President /CEO
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