OUR IMPACT

Inclusive Leaders

Cultivating inclusive leaders

Community Tampa Bay cultivates inclusive leaders empowered to build communities free from discrimination.
Our methods are evidence proven and enforced through thousands of transformative stories shared by past program participants.

The community tampa bay impact

Don't take our word for it, listen to these stories of transformative impact.

Testimonials From Inclusive Leaders
Mark Puskarich

Mark Puskarich

Sustaining Donor, Volunteer

Mark Puskarich has been volunteering with Community Tampa Bay since 2012, supporting programs like ANYTOWN® and helping more people connect to our mission. He has been a donor since 2013 and continues to support programming with his time and monthly contributions.

Elois Hannah

Elois Hannah

2017 ANYTOWN® Graduate, 2018 Advocacy Academy, 2019 Silver Medallion Honoree, 2019 ANYTOWN® Residential Volunteer

Elois Hannah has a passion for advocacy. She first joined the Community Tampa Bay family in the summer of 2017 as an ANYTOWN® delegate where she met some of her closest friends that she now considers family. She then went on to be a part of Community Tampa Bay’s Advocacy Academy as part of the first cohort to go to Tallahassee.

Joshua Hughes

Joshua Hughes

2018 ANYTOWN® Graduate, 2019 Advocacy Academy

Joshua Hughes is a 2018 ANYTOWN® graduate. Here he thanks donors and supporters of Community Tampa Bay for the opportunity to experience the program.

Testimonials from our Delegates

Marcus Bates

“Anytown is not just a camp it’s community one big family, All coming together to share an amazing experience with each other”

Prisha Sheridwala

“Advocacy Academy helped me take action on issues I cared about” 

Dexter Schneider

“ANYTOWN has changed my life. It’s changed the way I look at life”
Divya Kumar

Divya Kumar

2007 ANYTOWN® Graduate, Hillsborough Youth Collaborative, 2008 Residential ANYTOWN® Volunteer

Divya Kumar attended ANYTOWN® in 2007 and continued her involvement as a volunteer and member of the Hillsborough Youth Collaborative. She joined the Tampa Bay Times in 2016 and is an editorial assistant and Hillsborough County Community Reporter.

Jayson James

Jayson James

1999 ANYTOWN® Graduate, ANYTOWN® Residential Volunteer since 2000

Jayson James attended ANYTOWN® in 1999 and has returned as a residential ANYTOWN® volunteer over 20 times since. They are a member leader of Dream Defenders and part of the Coordinating Committee on the membership board. Learn more about the impact they are making.

Abby Sterensis

Abby Sterensis

1999 ANYTOWN® Graduate, Advisory Board, Sustaining Donor

Abby Sterensis attended ANYTOWN® in 1999 and has continued to be involved with Community Tampa Bay in a variety of roles including as a residential ANYTOWN® volunteer, a member of the Board of Directors, an Advisory Board member, and as a sustaining donor.

Aemon Mostafa

Aemon Mostafa

2018 ANYTOWN® Graduate, 2019 ANYTOWN® Residential Volunteer

Aemon Mostafa attended ANYTOWN® in 2018 and returned as a volunteer in 2019.  Going through the program for the first time, he simultaneously paid attention to how he could serve as a volunteer while also realizing that he needed to take the next steps toward increased action.

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Transformations

Transformations is Community Tampa Bay’s premier annual event to celebrate, connect, and experience community commitment to anti-discrimination work. A high tea-inspired evening with heavy hors d’oeuvres and sweet treats brought together 150+ guests from the Tampa Bay area, including youth and adult community leaders committed to ending all forms of discrimination. 
 
Transformations honors leaders in inclusion, justice, and advocacy with the Silver Medallion Award, which Community Tampa Bay has been awarding since 1970. 
 
Attendees heard from youth and adult program participants, volunteers, donors, and partners who have given their time, talents, and treasure to Community Tampa Bay and can speak to the transformative power of our work. Find out about Transformations 2024 here.
2024 Silver medallion Honorees

Luis Viera

Tampa City Councilmember

Bob Devin Jones & Jim Howell

Founders of The Studio@620

Anthony Verdeja

Executive Director of The Family Center on Deafness

2023 Silver medallion Honorees

Bob Glaser

Smith & Associates Real Estate, President & CEO

Fentrice Driskell

Florida State Representative

Julie Ann Jenkins

Inclusive Community Leader

Roy Kaplan

former director for National Conference for Christians and Jews in Tampa Bay & founded our ANYTOWN® program

2022 Silver medallion Honorees
Media: Highlighted in The Atlantic online:

Is It Possible to Teach Children to Be Less Prejudiced?

Read more about our impact

We are proud to share the highlights of our year. Thank you to our supporters, donors, and partners for joining us to do good in the community and create inclusive spaces for all. 

Academic Research

Community Tampa Bay works with researchers to evaluate the impact of our work.

Studies on the efficacy of ANYTOWN® show that the program increases student knowledge of the impact, causes, and consequences of prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination. Studies on the efficacy of ANYTOWN® show that the program increases student knowledge of the impact, causes, and consequences of prejudice, stereotypes, and discrimination. 

The academic value of the program led Pinellas County Schools to give a 1/2 credit in Social Studies to graduates of ANYTOWN®.

Community Tampa Bay’s ANYTOWN® program is highlighted in the 2016 American Psychological Association Textbook, The Cost of Racism for People of Color.

Awards & Recognition