50 Most Powerful in Orlando 2022: Philanthropy & Community Voices

(PHOTOS PROVIDED BY GOULD)

1 Pam Gould

President & CEO of Shepherd’s Hope, Inc.

Pam Gould has spent the past three decades “trying to create bridges and engineer collaborations that provide the many people in our community the access to life-saving healthcare and a path to wellness that they need to be successful.”

A three-term Orange County School Board member, Gould is president of Shepherd’s Hope, a nonprofit that provides free medical care, education, and wellness programs to uninsured families across Central Florida. Shepherd’s Hope operates five free-standing health centers in Orange and Seminole counties and has provided primary and specialty care to over 310,000 uninsured people since 1997.

A native of Pittsfield, Mass., Gould previously was a member of the professional theater scene in New York City before moving to metro Orlando. As a school board member, she represents southwest Orange.

(PHOTOS PROVIDED BY TIEDTKE)

2 Philip and Sigrid Tiedtke

Power Couple, Governing Board of the Enzian

Philip and Sigrid Tiedtke have a well-earned reputation as a down-to-earth, approachable power couple. When the Winter Park Library & Events Center needed a helping hand, the Tiedtke’s wrote a $750,000 check to plug the fundraising hole. The result is the new Tiedtke Amphitheater. Their $5 million gift to Rollins College to build the Tiedtke Theatre & Dance Centre, opening in spring 2023, brings a state-of-the-art performance center to campus. Many people know the Tiedtkes from Enzian, the art-house cinema cafe that feels like a friend’s super-sized living room. The theater survived the pandemic, but the Tiedtkes shelved expansion plans. Instead, Philip says, “We are giving Enzian a total redo within our existing footprint.” The couple met on a triple date and has their favorite movies. Philip’s is Ingmar Bergman’s meaning-of-life masterpiece, “The Seventh Seal,” while Sigrid goes with the romantic fantasy of Jean Cocteau’s “Beauty and the Beast.”

(ROBERTO GONZALEZ)

3 Derrick Chubbs

President & CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida

Derrick Chubbs’ previous role as head of the Central Texas Food Bank in Austin found him serving the area’s most vulnerable residents during the height of the pandemic. At the beginning of this year, Chubbs stepped in to replace retiring Second Harvest head Dave Krepcho to address the root causes of hunger in the 6-county area the nonprofit serves. “Working toward long-term solutions to address the root causes of hunger in Central Florida while simultaneously addressing the immediate needs of those who are food insecure will allow us to serve better and improve the well-being of our neighbors and community,” says Chubbs. The food bank’s motto is “Fighting hunger. Feeding Hope.” This motto “speaks to so much more than just food,” Chubbs says. It also applies to quality-of-life issues such as family, success, education, and healthcare. “Day by day, our dedicated employees and partners work to feed, empower, nourish and engage those we serve, to ensure we can meet their most immediate needs, and begin working with them to change the trajectory of their future.”

(PHOTO PROVIDED BY JEFF HAYWARD)

4 Jeffery Hayward

President & CEO of Heart of Florida, United Way

When the pandemic threw a fragile assistance ecosystem into chaos, creating crises among Central Florida’s most vulnerable populations, Jeffery Hayward knew it was not time to close the doors. He knew this was precisely where United Way could best flex its persuasive muscle. “We knew how fragile ALICE (Asset-Limited, Income-Constrained, Employed) families were before the pandemic. Within days of the pandemic, calls into our 211 Crisis Line quadrupled from 700 a day to over 3,200 per day. The sound of desperation was like never before,” Hayward says. Hayward came to Central Florida six years ago as chief of external affairs at United Way of Massachusetts Bay, overseeing investment strategies and leading marketing, volunteer engagement, grants, and public policy. Hayward misses the chilling New England winters but admits he is at his “most relaxed when I’m at the beach listening to the crashing waves.” He finds his family is his source of energy and motivation.

(ROBERTO GONZALEZ)

5 Barbara Poma

Founder & CEO of onePULSE Foundation

June 12 is a somber day across Central Florida. We recall what we were doing on that date in 2016, upon hearing that a man had gunned down 49 people and wounded 68 others inside Pulse nightclub on Orange Avenue.

There is no “getting over” a human-created horror; we can honor the victims, living and dead, and learn from it. That’s what Barbara Poma facilitates daily.

Poma owned the LGBTQ+ nightclub and founded the memorial to the shooting victims. As she moves about her life, she does so with the 49 Pulse Angels guiding her steps.

The National Pulse Memorial & Museum and Orlando Health Survivors Walk are a work in progress. The efforts received significant recognition last year when President Biden designated Pulse a national memorial. “It will address the concepts of othering, belonging and becoming; to help all who enter to learn about themselves.”

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