You're Invited
12th ANNUAL FOUNDERS LUNCHEON
FEBRUARY 26,
2025
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
KRAVIS CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS
Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of the
Community Foundation's Scholarship Program
About the Event
The Founders Luncheon is the Community Foundation’s signature event, rallying hundreds of donors, nonprofit partners, and community leaders around a key community issue each year.
This year’s theme centers on the power of scholarships to propel the economic mobility of our area’s aspiring college students.
Join us in celebration of those who have helped open doors to higher education for nearly 3,000 local students throughout 40 years of the Community Foundation’s Scholarship Program.
Event Speakers & Hosts
Co-host
Jeffrey A. Stoops
Board Chair
Mr. Stoops is Chairman of SBA Communications Corporation, where he was CEO from 2002 to 2023. He joined the company in March 1997 and served in several leadership positions before being named CEO.
Co-host
Danita R. DeHaney
President & CEO
Before joining the Community Foundation in 2021, Danita served as the Vice President for Institutional Advancement and Chief Executive Officer of the FAU Foundation, Inc., at Florida Atlantic University (FAU).
McIntosh Award Recipients
Sherry and Tom Barrat
As their family gathered for Thanksgiving 15 years ago, Sherry and Tom Barrat had a proposal for them. With the goal of supporting their family’s spirit of helping others, Sherry and Tom would make $1,000 available to each of them to give to a charity of their choice. There was one provision: each needed to describe the work of the nonprofit organization and why they wanted to support it.
And so, the “Thanksgiving Fund” was born. At every Thanksgiving since, each family member discusses what they learned about their charity’s work and makes their case for the organization they have chosen.
A few years in, their two young grandchildren made a proposal of their own. They would pool their contributions with their parents and give a $4,000 scholarship to a local high school senior.
The Barrats wanted to improve on the early challenges their family encountered: the high school guidance counselors chose the recipients, de-personalizing the experience; the recipients rarely reported their progress; they thought adding layers of requirements would help but resulted in administrative headaches.
The Community Foundation became the ideal intermediary. The couple set up the Barrat Scholarship Fund in 2022, focusing their scholarship on local students majoring in computer science, artificial intelligence, or applied data science, topics especially close to Tom’s heart.
The couple has been active in the interviewing and selection process for their Barrat Scholarship, which makes a significant four-year commitment to each scholar. Truly a family affair, their daughter, Denise Rivas, also serves as an advisor on the fund.
Sponsors
Leading Sponsors
Sherry and Tom Barrat
DiPaula Family Fund
Julie and Peter Cummings
Stoops Family Foundation
Partner Sponsors
Susan and Peter Brockway
William A. Meyer
Community Sponsors
George T. Elmore and Marti LaTour
Supporting Sponsors
Eileen Berman and Devin Krauss Family Foundation
Phyllis M. Gillespie of the Gillespie Law Firm
Beth Neuhoff and Steve Frank
Timothy and Karen Burke
Table Sponsors
The Honorable Sheree Davis Cunningham (RET)
Earnie Ellison, Jr.
Kevin and Marsha Powers
Media Sponsors
