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The Florida Grantor, Summer 2000

Chair's Message

In February, Governor Jeb Bush appointed nine new directors to The Able Trust Board. After a swearing in ceremony by Justice Charles Wells and an intense orientation, the new Board got down to business to begin approving grants to continue the mission of The Able Trust. In addition, we elected interim officers to serve in leadership roles to help guide the vision of this new board.

It gives me great pride to begin my leadership role as Chair of The Able Trust. I have been involved with the organization since 1998, first as a speaker at the annual Symposium on Disabilities and then taking on the role of chair of the Florida Business Leadership Network.

I have seen, first hand, the commitment of The Able Trust to help all Floridians with disabilities achieve their independence through meaningful employment. With the support of the new Board of Directors and the leadership under the Executive Committee, we can look forward to a future filled with opportunity and excitement. I encourage you to get to know this new board as we value the input of our friends and supporters. The board will reexamine the goals and objectives of the foundation, and your insight will help to enhance our programs.

Recently, in Jacksonville, the board had the pleasure of meeting many of our agency friends during a reception preceding our quarterly board meeting. This fall also brings a number of opportunities to meet the Trust's new Board of Directors. I encourage you to join us for the Ability Awards Reception on October 5 in Tampa, or at the Gala at Mar-a-Lago on October 28 in Palm Beach.

Many of you will also be receiving correspondence from us regarding plans for next year's Symposium on Disabilities and Youth Leadership Forum. We are already in the planning stages of these events and encourage you to contact us if you have a presentation that might fit our needs.

Finally, I hope you will continue submitting your grant proposals to The Able Trust for consideration. We are always looking for innovative projects to fund, and most recently awarded over $400,000 in grants for this past quarter. Feel free to contact our staff with any questions or ideas you may have about a project, or you can visit our website at www.abletrust.org for sample grant success stories.

I look forward to serving the foundation in the years to come, while still remaining a liaison to the Business Leadership Network. We have many challenges and opportunities ahead, and together we can continue on our mission to help Floridians with disabilities gain meaningful employment.