Politician-turned-philanthropic leader Jon Thaxton has taken on a new role within the Gulf Coast Community Foundation. Just weeks after it was announced Mark Pritchett, senior vice president of Community Investment, had been promoted to president and CEO, Thaxton has now been put in Pritchett’s old job. 

“For me professionally, it’s a tremendous opportunity to move into a position of responsibility that encompasses a great deal of the work I have been involved in over the past 20-some years,” Thaxton said. “It gives me a chance to use my experience, contacts and expertise in a way I haven't really been able to do.” Thaxton joined Gulf Coast two-and-a-half years ago as director of Community Investment, working closely with Pritchett implementing initiatives. Now, he will have a voice in conceiving new initiatives, though he noted that process will still include Pritchett and the Board of Trustees. 

Before Thaxton took on the job at Gulf Coast, he was a Sarasota County Commissioner term-limited from seeking another term in 2012. While Thaxton said elected office may again be part of his future, in the six to eight coming years that he expects to remain in the workforce, he plans to stay at Gulf Coast.

Right now, he said the organization is busy with a variety of initiatives including the ongoing Gulf Coast Innovation Challenge and the successful Feeding Hungry Families effort, among numerous other initiatives. Next on deck, he said, will likely be a new initiative focused on boosting the innovation economy, but he could not offer too many details just yet. “We are seeing a lot of fascinating waters that other communities are building their local economies upon,” he said. “For Mark and I, there is still an opportunity for improvement in Sarasota.”