by Chuck Seaver, South Lake Tablet
The Community Foundation of South Lake County (CFSLC) has announced this month that Executive Director Kathy Smith will be retiring at the end of the month. Smith’s successor, Laura Michalski has also been announced and is currently scheduled to take the reins of the Foundation on January 27th, the date of Smith’s retirement.
Michalski followed her retiring parents to Florida recently and fell in love with the Clermont area. When Michalski heard of the executive directors opening, she knew that the position and the community would be the perfect fit for her and her husband who will be following the move to Clermont this spring.
Michalski brings with her an impressive background of more than twenty years of leadership in large health and dental clinics serving the underserved, supportive services for marginalized populations and housing programs for the homeless. She also maintains an extensive background in nonprofit management and program development, a key component to the director’s position at Community Foundation. “I’ve always wanted to work for a foundation, and I look forward to getting to know the South Lake community”, says Michalski. One of her top long-term goals is to increase the foundation’s ability to impact the community and strengthen the area’s non-profits while connecting resources together in a safe environment.
CFSLC serves South Lake County by providing community leadership in philanthropy and legacy giving; guiding and empowering donors to make informed decisions; in addition to working with local non-profits while focusing efforts on accomplishing sustainability through connecting resources, educational opportunities, and grant funding.
Executive Director Kathy Smith has held her current position for nine years and looks forward to spending more time with family when she retires. Smith has been an integral part of an impressive history of the CFSLC which includes nearly $16 million in assets and has cumulatively awarded more than $9 million to local nonprofits and $740,000 in scholarships to students from South Lake County, all made possible through generous donors.
“The Community Foundation of South Lake will be in the community forever because of the generosity of its donors. We thank the many donors who have made this foundation a success”, says Smith.
The Community Foundation of South Lake County is located at 2150 Oakley Seaver Drive, Clermont. To learn more about the Foundation, visit CFSLC
