The Tampa Connection Class of 2205 met at the Busch Gardens for our annual Opening Retreat Kickoff.
After kicking off with a few words and an introduction to the 2024-25 Board of Directors from Chair Aaron Boone, the day began with a Leadership discussion led by Barbie Winterbottom. Her session focused on understanding the importance of alignment between organizational strategies/practices and leadership actions and touched on real-world scenarios that reinforced her points.
This Year’s Non Profits
Following the Leadership session, Aaron Boone announced each of the five non-profit agencies that the Teams will be working with this year. We’re excited to be working with:
- Lutheran Services Florida – Blue Team
- Jobsite Theater – Green Team
- Workforce Development Partners – Red Team
- CoreyStrong – Purple Team
- Equality Florida Institute – Orange Team
After hearing some helpful tips and suggestions on approaching the class projects from current Board members (Jeff Burns, Mary Charles, Alec Chaney, and Andrew Lepore), the teams then spent time doing icebreaker introductions and taking team pictures before heading into Busch Gardens to enjoy the park and get to know one another.
The day concluded with a competitive scavenger hunt, with the Red Team taking home the win and some great Bush Gardens swag bags and goodies. The Opening Retreat was a fantastic, fun-filled kickoff to the 2025 Tampa Connection program year.