Pictured: The Community Leadership model is about listening to our region, working together around shared priorities and making informed choices about the issues that shape our communities. Provided photo.

Community foundations are often measured by grants made and dollars distributed. At Gulf Coast Community Foundation (Gulf Coast), that work matters, and it's the foundation for everything else we do. But grantmaking alone doesn't define what makes a community foundation valuable to the region it serves. What does is Community Leadership, the model Gulf Coast operates under to listen closely to what a region needs, convene the people who can act on it, and stay in the work as a civic problem-solver until real progress is made. That is the role Gulf Coast plays, and it's the reason our work reaches further than any single grant ever could.

You can see that role in action across the region. The Sarasota Housing Action Plan brought together fellow funders, local governments, developers and nonprofits around a shared strategy for affordable housing. The Water Quality Playbook did the same for one of our region's most pressing environmental concerns, turning research into a clear roadmap for protecting our waterways, one that other communities are now looking to as a model. Our Community Leadership staff participate in regional work groups in an effort to give voice to local perspectives while creating solutions fit for our community needs. This includes HUD’s Continuum of Care that addresses homelessness response and PLANIt Sarasota to expand higher education access. Each challenge calls for a different answer, but they are all shaped by the same approach: listen first, then convene, catalyze, and act.

That instinct to listen first isn't limited to moments of crisis or opportunity. It's built into how Gulf Coast operates every day, most visibly through our recent Regional Scan. Now in its 8th iteration since 2009, the 2025 Regional Scan was the largest community listening effort in Gulf Coast's 30-year history, hearing from more than 1,500 residents across Sarasota, Charlotte, and DeSoto counties, a 700 percent increase in participation from 2023. Three priorities emerged clearly: Attainable Housing, Environmental Resilience, and Helping People Through Times of Crisis.

Recent Grantee and Donor Perception surveys gave our nonprofit partners and donors a direct channel to tell us what's working and where we can do better. That input shapes where we focus our resources, our partnerships, and our expertise. That's the thinking behind Impact NOW!, our ongoing partnership with the Elsa and Peter Soderberg Charitable Foundation that's expanding our reach in Charlotte and DeSoto counties. A core part of Impact NOW!’s vision is ensuring local voices have a seat at the table, with a community member serving on each grantmaking committee to bring that perspective into conversations about how to best support Charlotte and DeSoto County.

Together with our donors, Gulf Coast currently has two active community matches supporting transformational projects in our region: the final phase of The Bay Park, and the rewilding of the Quad Parcels with Big Waters Land Trust. All gifts made to support these projects will be doubled dollar for dollar, but a match only creates impact when our neighbors decide to give.

The Regional Scan revealed something else about this region: more than 65 percent of respondents prioritized issues that don't directly affect their own households. That same spirit extends to how residents engage at the ballot box. This November, Florida voters will decide on Amendment 3, the Property Tax ballot measure. Gulf Coast is not taking a position for or against the issue. Our goal is a simple one: to make sure every voter has the clear, accurate information they need to make their own informed decision. In the coming weeks, you’ll see voter education content on our social media feeds, on our website, and in our weekly e-mails. It's one more way we're showing up for the region, the same way we do through our support of nonpartisan civic organizations and Suncoast Searchlight, whose investigative reporting helps keep our region informed and accountable.

A community doesn't move forward because of any one grant, plan, or program. It moves when the people closest to a problem have a partner willing to stay in the work as a civic problem-solver, even when the answers aren't simple. Gulf Coast's Community Leadership model is meant to serve this region not just today, but for generations to come. Listening with intention, asking better questions, and finding ways to turn what we learn into action – that's the job, today and every day ahead.

Phillip P. Lanham is President | CEO of Gulf Coast Community Foundation.

Pictured: The Community Leadership model is about listening to our region, working together around shared priorities and making informed choices about the issues that shape our communities. Provided photo.