Busy Leader

Jacki Dezelski took a chance on a newspaper help wanted ad in 1996 for an organization that sought a communications coordinator.

That organization was the Manatee Chamber of Commerce. There was one problem. Says Dezelski: “I really had no idea what a chamber did.”

But Dezelski met with some senior Manatee chamber executives and liked what she heard. A University of Florida graduate with a bachelor's in graphic design, Dezelski worked for a mom-and-pop printing firm, so the new opportunity was a welcome challenge. “The chamber seemed more complex,” says Dezelski.