Sarasota-Manatee campus showcases its bold programs for Leadership USF

• Andrea Knies
• April 15, 2026
• Campus News, Events

Leaders from throughout the Tampa Bay region spent a day at University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee as part of the second Leadership USF cohort. Participants in this program met monthly for six months to gain a deeper understanding of USF's various departments, including academic, research and administrative units on all three campuses and the Morsani College of Medicine.

The 2025-26 Leadership USF cohort included Lauren Bell, chief operating officer of the St. Pete Innovation District; Dr. Jennifer Bencie, chief health officer for the Florida Department of Health; Mark Gordon, managing editor of the Business Observer; Ram Kancharla, vice president of planning and development at Port Tampa Bay; Keidrian Kunkel, CEO of CareerSource Hillsborough Pinellas; Derek Mateos, president and CEO of Matcon Construction; Tina Pepin, executive director of the Pepin Family Foundation; Tara Poulton, chief of staff for the U.S. House of Representatives; Melissa Ramos, chief strategy officer at Northwestern Mutual; Steven Sinclair, utilities security director at Convergin; and Owen Young, chief officer of family and community engagement for Hillsborough County Public Schools.

Attendees were greeted on April 10, 2026 with a morning keynote address delivered by Dr. Anila Jain - a USF alumna, physician, medical consultant and member of the Sarasota-Manatee campus board. A short video was presented that captured former USF presidents and others congratulating Dr. Jain on receiving the 2025 USF Women in Leadership Gold and Green award. The cohort also learned about the USF Office of Veteran Success from interim director Renee Amboy. She described the comprehensive services offered to military-connected students on all three campuses, including about 10% of the student population on our campus. The group was then provided a tour of the campus, including stops at the student center, ballroom, Atala Residence Hall and Bloomberg Lab.

At the conclusion of the campus tour, USF's Security Training Collaborative (STC) presented "Think Like a Spy" to introduce attendees to this unique program. Located on the Sarasota-Manatee campus, STC is a 16-week internship program led by USF Corporate Training and Professional Education that provides students with high-quality, hands-on training including exercises with the Secret Service and weekly risk assessments for Fortune 500 companies. USF student interns augmented the program by describing the CARVER methodology-Criticality, Accessibility, Recoverability, Vulnerability, Effect, and Recognizability.

Following the STC presentation, attendees were transported to The Circus Arts Conservatory (CAC) where Interim Regional Chancellor Brett Kemker shared highlights from the current academic year - including an 88.2% retention rate and a 4.35 average GPA for first-time in college students.

Jennifer Mitchell, CEO and president of The CAC and the host for the program, then described the collaboration between USF's Florida Center for Partnerships in Arts-Integrated Teaching (PAInT) and CAC as well as background about the circus. PAInT is a state-wide resource in arts-integrated pedagogy that empowers teachers to explore and implement arts integration in Florida classrooms to increase student engagement and improve student learning outcomes. This was followed by a performance by PAInT Director Denise Davis-Cotton who then co-presented a program with CAC Education Outreach Manager Karen Bell about the partnership between CAC and USF.

This Leadership USF visit showcased the Sarasota-Manatee campus's unique programs to the community that inspires this continued innovation.

Photography by Kim McDonald