Pictured: Seven members of the 2026 Selby Scholarship Selection Committee. From left: Amandine Louis-Charles, Don Bowman, John Annis, Rita Mazer, Clolita Vitale, Kareen Mourra, Carolyn Gorton.

The topic of welcoming is one that deserves our attention.

As we strive to enhance the work of charitable causes, embrace new members of our communities, and make the most of what people have to offer, the art of making people feel included and at home is a practice we can embrace more fully.  

It starts with noticing. Who is new? Who may need affirmation to feel more comfortable? What questions do we need to ask ourselves to better understand?

During the Selby Foundation's scholarship interviews in April, a student answered a question about a unique trait she brings to leadership by saying, "I want to be the person who can welcome other people."

It sounds simple, but it is a powerful statement about the significance of inclusion from the perspective of a young leader. 

We often hear that the Selby Foundation itself is a place where Selby Scholars feel embraced on all levels: in the process of applying for a scholarship, sharing their challenges and successes with us during college, and moving into professional roles after graduation. Our team members, including the dedicated volunteers on our Scholarship Selection Committee, strive to create this culture. We want students to know and feel that we honor them and their experiences. 

Building our committees is an intentional process. We select people who embrace the Selby value of humility. We also choose members who allow our young applicants to see themselves represented in those who will make the hard decisions.

The nonprofit organizations the Selby Foundation invests in with capital grants do the work of welcoming every day. Through their programs and services, they acknowledge the people who show up at their doors with humanity and with eagerness to meet them where they are.

Strong nonprofits know that first-time donors may not come back to give again without the process of sending simple thank you notes, confirmations of how their dollars made an impact, and invitations to learn more. They are essential welcoming tools to build the case for a second gift—to make the donor a member of the nonprofit’s essential community. 

Organizations that successfully advocate for their charitable causes make a practice of bringing people with lived experiences to the meetings. Who would be better to welcome representatives than someone with personal knowledge of being a parent to a child with developmental differences, a teen attending a local youth center, or a senior impacted by flooding in their neighborhood? The representative’s job is to welcome their constituents as golden opportunities to understand—and then act. 

Visit Sarasota County assembles physical welcome bags to share the arts, culture, natural spaces, and local hot spots with meeting and wedding visitors to our community. They both greet people with surprise and delight as they visit Sarasota and invite them to explore everything we have available. Visitors often return for another trip and sometimes relocate to the area. They support new philanthropy, new patronage of local businesses, and new talent that rejuvenates our creative economy.  

I have been personally fortunate in recent months to be welcomed in situations that are new to me. Without such thoughtful people attuned to my situation, I may have found the circumstances much more difficult. People offered to give help, shared their experiences, and provided comforting words.

What do you carry in your welcome kit? It might be as simple as a chair you offer, inviting someone to take a seat while you ask good questions and listen.

The world is vastly more interesting and resilient when we extend our warmest invitations.

Pictured: Seven members of the 2026 Selby Scholarship Selection Committee. From left: Amandine Louis-Charles, Don Bowman, John Annis, Rita Mazer, Clolita Vitale, Kareen Mourra, Carolyn Gorton.