Problem Solvers

One statistic in a recent community demographic study jarred Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County President and CEO Bill Sadlo: More than 85% of the families the nonprofit serves have household incomes under $42,000.

That trapped-in-poverty metric led Sadlo and the Boys & Girls Clubs board to think differently about how the organization, widely known for after-school programs and camps, could amplify its strategy with families. Around the same time, in 2015, two influential donors, Barbara Lancer and Jeff Roberti, told Sadlo about a career and entrepreneurship program for teens at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Memphis. In the backyard of FedEx's corporate headquarters, one of the key disciplines of that curriculum is logistics. “It was a really neat program,” says Sadlo, who traveled to Memphis for a tour.

Two years later, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County has its own career and entrepreneurship program, the Tom and Debbie Shapiro Career Resource Center. It's at the Lee Wetherington branch on Fruitville Road. Instead of logistics, the Sarasota version of the program, which officially opened in the fall, addresses a major obstacle for area companies: finding skilled employees who seek a career, not a job. “This new space shows our club members that a greater future for them and their families is in reach,” Sadlo says.