board of directors

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Ellyn Stevenson, Board Chair
Former Health Care Executive

After a career in medical social work that included creating a program to address the medical and forensic needs of the victims of sexual assault in South Carolina, Ellyn G. Stevenson earned an MBA and became the director of Stevenson Asset Management, a closely held family firm primarily engaged in start-up companies and real estate development. She also serves as managing partner in several Limited Liability companies, most specializing in real estate ventures. A resident of Sewall’s Point, she cares strongly for her community, having served as board member and past chair of Planned Parenthood of South Florida and the Treasure Coast. She and her husband, Ray, also support numerous charitable organizations including the Library Foundation of Martin County, Volunteers in Medicine, and the Lyric Theatre.

Bunny Webb

Theora G. Webb, Board Vice Chair
Former Director of Public Affairs

Theora G. Webb brings extensive credentials in strategic philanthropy, communications, community relations, and diversity awareness and management to the Foundation board.  As Founder and President of HSW Communications, a boutique consulting firm in Washington, DC, she provided counsel to clients throughout the corporate, governmental and trade association sectors.  Additional career highlights include serving as Director of Public Affairs for the International Trade Administration in the U.S. Department of Commerce, and as Director of Diversity, Worklife and Community Relations for the Duracell Business Management Group, a division of the Gillette Company.   A resident of St. Lucie County, Ms. Webb serves on several nonprofit boards where she shares her commitment to building mutually beneficial, multi-tiered community/corporate partnerships. Bunny currently chairs the Growth & Development Committee for TCFMSL.

Nancy

Nancy B. Crowder-McCoy, CPA, Board Treasurer
Carr, Riggs, & Ingram,
CPAs and Advisors

With more than 25 years of experience as a certified public accountant, Nancy B. Crowder-McCoy is a partner of Carr, Riggs, & Ingram, CPAs and Advisors. She specializes in business planning and consulting, corporate, partnership and individual tax planning and a variety of other financial issues. Extremely active in agencies throughout Martin County, she is a member of the Martin Health Foundation board of directors and past board member of nonprofits including the Humane Society of the Treasure Coast, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Martin County, and the Center for the Arts. She is a graduate of Florida Atlantic University with a B.S.B.A in accounting.

Brian - video page

Brian E. Foss, Board Secretary
Strategic Consultant for Nonprofits

Based in Washington, DC until moving to Stuart, Brian was Vice President of Independent Sector, a coalition of nonprofits, foundations, and corporate giving programs and National Executive Vice President of The National Conference of Christians and Jews. In private practice, his consulting firm focuses on working directly with CEOs of nonprofits to strengthen their organizations at all levels. Brian is the author of three books on governance and management of nonprofit organizations on behalf of his client, the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans: Investing in People and Communities, Governing Effective Nonprofits in the 21st Century, and Ten Traits That Make Nonprofits Great. A graduate of American University, he has served on many nonprofit boards. Brian serves as the Governance Chair for TCFMSL.

Kenneth A. Norman, Esquire, Immediate Past Chair
McCarthy, Summers, Wood, Norman, Melby & Schultz, P.A.

A partner at McCarthy, Summers, Wood, Norman, Melby & Schultz, Kenneth A. Norman is a long-time Martin County resident who cares deeply about the community. He has served in a variety of positions with the Stuart/Martin County Chamber of Commerce, as well as legal counsel for the Business Development Board of Martin County. Married with two children in Jensen Beach, he is an advocate for the young and old, active in coaching football and baseball through the Jensen Beach Youth Athletic Association and providing volunteer legal advice for seniors through the Martin County Council on Aging. An author of many legal articles, he is a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law and Old Dominion University.

John Doody

John Doody, Board Member
Former CEO, Insurance Agency

John Doody’s record of service and philanthropy spans 43 years. Before moving to the Treasure Coast in 2001, John was board chair for the South Shore Hospital and the South Shore Chamber of Commerce in Weymouth, MA, and was a US Trust board member in Boston for five years. In 1960, after serving in the 1st Marine Division and earning a degree in Business Administration, John joined National Life Vermont, became a career agent, and in 1972, purchased an insurance agency he led for 25 years. Currently John is a board member of the Treasure Coast Hospice Foundation, Martin Health Foundation, and Martin Health Systems.

Kelly Buist, Board Member

Managing Director
Northern Trust

As a Managing Director at Northern Trust, Kelly Buist coordinates the delivery of private banking, fiduciary and investment management services to individuals, families, businesses and other organizations.  He works with a multidisciplinary team of specialized experts to advise clients based on their own unique circumstances. 

Kelly is an attorney, admitted to practice law in the States of Florida and New York. Prior to joining Northern Trust, Buist was a practicing attorney with offices in Stuart and Palm Beach Gardens. He received a Master of Laws Degree in Taxation from NYU’s School of Law. He also received an undergraduate degree in finance and an MBA with a concentration in legal studies from the University of Miami. 

Kelly is Past President of both the Martin County Estate Planning Council and the Education Foundation of Martin County.   He grew up in Stuart, and currently lives in Palm City with his wife and two sons.

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Linda Houston, Board Member

Former Executive and Wealth Advisor
Merrill Lynch

Linda was the Division Executive for the New England Market for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut. She oversaw 1,500 Financial Advisors and Private Wealth Advisors across 12 wealth management complexes in 7 states; with $165 billion in entrusted assets and $1.2 billion revenue (2015). Prior to her role as the Division Executive for New England she was the Regional Managing Director for the New Jersey Region. She served as the Director/Managing Director for 5 different Merrill Lynch complexes including the Fifth Avenue office and the flagship World Financial Center complex in New York City. In 2008, she was named the National Marketing Director for US Wealth Management. Linda joined Merrill Lynch in 1984 as a Client Associate and became a Financial Advisor in 1986. She graduated from Southern Illinois University. Linda currently resides in Stuart, Florida with her husband, Tom. Linda is actively involved in other local charities including Florida Oceanographic Society and Cleveland Clinic Martin Health.

Mike

Michael A. Kelly, Board Member

Private Investor

ArbCap

Michael A. Kelly is a principal with ArbCap, his family office located in Sewall’s Point, and Houston, where he runs an opportunistic equity strategy, and is invested in numerous partnerships, primarily in hedge funds and private equity interests. He serves as an advisor to Eastgrove Management, a boutique merchant bank and advisory firm focusing on the midstream industry. Mr. Kelly has served on numerous charitable Boards and Investment Committees including the Greater Houston Community Foundation, the Medical Mission Sisters (London and Philadelphia) and the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, and presently serves on two Trustee Boards for The Dominican Sisters  in Houston, and on the Investment Committee of The College of Mount St. Vincent in New York.   He has served as a speaker and panelist on numerous investment forums, and was named the Endowment and Foundation Chief Investment Officer of the Year by Institutional Investor Money Market News. He earned his MBA through the University of Houston and is a graduate of the University of Louisville.

Tom Lytle, Board Member
Former Executive

Tom Lytle’s 40 year career in pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries includes executive positions at Pfizer and Amgen and serving as president of two companies he founded: Strategic Choices, a health care consulting firm, and Melanovus Oncology, a late pre-clinical stage company focused on melanoma and other skin cancers. Most recently he was CEO for Assuage Pharmaceuticals, a spin out from The Torrey Pines Institute for Molecular Studies. Tom was an Adjunct Professor in the graduate level program at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia. In 1993, he retired from the US Army as a Colonel after 26 years of active and reserve service, including overseas tours in Japan and Vietnam. He holds a BBA in Marketing from Western Michigan University, an MBA in Marketing and Management from LaSalle University in Philadelphia and is a graduate of the Army’s Senior Service Colleges. Tom is a member of the Board of Directors for the Cleveland Clinic Martin Health System Foundation, is a volunteer at the hospital, and has been a Guardian on multiple Honor Flights escorting veterans to Washington, DC. He is a member of a multi-organization committee focused on bringing jobs to Martin County and is a certified SCORE mentor serving local organizations as a business advisor.

John Tranter, Board Member

Former Banker and Founder Gulfstream Business Bank

Beginning with Barnett Bank of Palm Beach County, John Tranter built a four-decade career in financial services. He recently retired as Chief Banking Officer at CenterState Bank, where he led the bank’s commercial and retail banking sales efforts. Tranter was founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gulfstream Business Bank. In that role, he took the bank through all phases of organization, grew it to more than $580 million in assets over 10 years, and managed its merger with CenterState Bank in 2014. A graduate of University of Florida, with a degree in Business & Finance, Tranter later attended Stonier Graduate School of Banking. This Stuart resident has shared his extensive financial services expertise with numerous professional and community organizations within Martin County and across Florida, including Economic Council of Martin County, Martin County Industrial Development Authority and Florida Bankers Association.

Gytha Von Aldenbruck, Board Member

Former First Vice President
Morgan Stanley

A resident of the Treasure Coast for more than 40 years, Gytha Von Aldenbruck is a former First Vice President at Morgan Stanley where she was recognized as a member of the prestigious Director’s Club. She is widely known for her philanthropic and charitable efforts in Martin County, most notably as an advocate for Memory Bridge, an internationally recognized organization dedicated to healing the unnecessary suffering of loneliness for those living with dementia. She was recognized as the 2019 Volunteer of the Year at Water’s Edge Extended Care at Sandhill Cove where the Memory Bridge initiatives she has championed received the 2017 Best Practices award from Leaning Age Florida. She has served on the boards of several non-profits on the Treasure Coast and her unwavering volunteer efforts have led to her being honored with the 2015 Treasure Coast Hospice Thanks for Giving award and the 2017 Sage award for Community Service from the Kane Center. Gytha served as a member of the Investment Committee for Martin Health Services and is a member of the Growth & Development Committee for TCFMSL.

Committee Members

Jules Andrew, Committee Member

Vice President, Chief Business Services Officer – Colgate – Palmolive

Jules Andrew and her global team of over 1,200 people provide operational support to Colgate-Palmolive’s worldwide business units. She runs shared services teams for finance, data and analytics, customer service, logistics and human resources. Prior to joining Colgate-Palmolive, Jules held a range of executive positions in locations around the globe for the Royal Bank of Canada and IBM. She is a member of Chief and a former member of the Young Presidents’ Organization. Jules resides in New York with a part-time residence on Hutchinson Island.

Kathleen M. Freihofer, CFA, Committee Member

Former Vice President, Northern Trust

Kate Freihofer’s career spanned 22 years as Vice President of Merrill Lynch, Northern Trust, and Wilmington Trust. After leaving the corporate world in 2016, she went on to build the most successful vacation rental business on the Treasure Coast. In addition to serving as a TCFMSL Board Member for six years, Kate previously served on development committees for Loggerhead Marinelife Center and the Florida Oceanographic Society, and on the advisory board of the Chartered Financial Analyst Society of South Florida. She resides part-time in both Stuart and Wolf Laurel, North Carolina.

Steven Rivera, Committee Member

SVP, Market President Truist Financial Corporation

As President for the Treasure Coast Market for Truist Financial Corporation, Steven Rivera oversees the commercial banking division in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River Counties. He is passionate about giving back to his community, and currently serves on the boards of the Healthy Start Coalition of St. Lucie County. Steve has been a proud St. Lucie resident for 25 years, and he, his wife and two children enjoy being part of our growing community.

Elizabeth Barbella, President & CEO
[email protected]

Elizabeth Barbella is the President & CEO of The Community Foundation Martin – St. Lucie.  Before becoming the CEO of The Foundation in July 2015 she was the CEO of the House of Hope.  Prior to her role at House of Hope she was the Director of Policy and Operations at the Children’s Services Council of Martin County for 14 years, where she was the driving force behind investing in and incubating transformational social and health and human service programs and projects. She has worked with hundreds of charities in the areas of organizational capacity building and sustainability.

Elizabeth is a graduate of Florida State University where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Criminology and Criminal Justice and her master’s degree in Social Science concentrated in Juvenile Justice Administration.

Manager of Programs

Ellie Gundrania

[email protected]

Executive Assistant

Jackie Nelson

[email protected]

Program Associate

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Courtney Brown

[email protected]

EMERITUS BOARD MEMBERS

Evans Crary, Jr., Mike Crook, Bill Fowler, the late Bud Jordan, Tom Weber and the late Les Combs (not pictured)
Jack Forde