- February 13, 2025
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The Take Stock in Children crew includes Scott Atkins and Heather Clark with Bank of America, along with Executive Director Lisa Bechtold and the incoming chair Brittany Lamont.
Photo by Lesley DwyerDevelopment Director Christi Haley is representing the Pace Center for Girls. Former Rep. Tommy Gregory is representing the State College of Florida Foundation as the college's new president, and Stephenie Whitfield is the business banking market executive of Southwest Florida for Bank of America.
Photo by Lesley DwyerJennifer Vigne is the president and CEO of the Education Foundation. Heather Clark is a senior vice president and private client manager with Bank of America.
Photo by Lesley DwyerConsumer Bank Market Leader Dana Proshka and Financial Center Manager Sagrario Weatherly attend the grantee celebration at Gold Coast Eagle Distributing on Sept. 4.
Photo by Lesley DwyerTerri Vitale and Patricia Courtois are members of the All Faiths Food Bank board.
Photo by Lesley DwyerRepresentatives from 18 nonprofits in Sarasota and Manatee counties attend a grantee celebration hosted by Bank of America on Sept. 4.
Photo by Lesley DwyerErik Vatter, president of Bank America Sarasota/Manatee, said the bank only donates to vetted organizations that are making a big impact in the community.
Photo by Lesley DwyerJamie Kahns, market executive for Sarasota/Manatee, says local Bank of America team members have donated 36,000 volunteer hours over the past five years.
Photo by Lesley DwyerNicole Parker is vice president of global commercial banking and serves on the board for the Women's Resource Center.
Photo by Lesley DwyerHerman Bell, chair of the Board of Trustees for the Gamma Xi Boule Foundation, gives an impromptu speech thanking Bank of America.
Photo by Lesley DwyerLisa Krebs Knepp, Lori Tomlinson and Kim Richmond attend the grantee celebration to support the State College of Florida Foundation, which provides scholarship opportunities.
Photo by Lesley DwyerEd Nicholas, Ashley Brown, Nicole Parker, Lillian Elliott and Brent Giangregorio are "the squad" representing the Women's Resource Center.
Photo by Lesley DwyerBrittany Lamont, president of the Lakewood Ranch Business Alliance, is a member of the board and a program alumnus of Take Stock in Children.
“I came from a single mom, and my mom had a cancer diagnosis, so college was a dream without a way to necessarily pay for it,” Lamont said. “I was a freshman at Bayshore High School when I got the Take Stock scholarship.”
The scholarship paid for Lamont to attend the State College of Florida and then the University of South Florida.
Lamont and about 75 others attended a grantee celebration at Gold Coast Eagle Distributing on Sept. 4. Bank of America hosted the event for its 18 nonprofit partners in Sarasota and Manatee counties.
The bank issued over $450,000 in grants to the nonprofits over the past year.
“One of the things, when I moved down here in 2016, that was immediately apparent to me is how connected our nonprofits were with one another and how committed they were to collaborating to make this place better for all of us,” said Erik Vatter, president of Bank of America Sarasota/Manatee.
In that vein, each guest was given a “passport” to get signed by members of other nonprofits as a fun way to network with one another.
Vatter said the bank only donates to proven nonprofits that are making an impact. The charitable focus is on basic needs and postsecondary education.
Take Stock in Children supports middle and high school students from low-income families. The students are provided mentors, college success coaches and scholarships.
Lamont is living proof the program works.
“Her leadership has helped us grow,” Take Stock Executive Director Lisa Bechtold said. “We were in the trenches, doing the work and we would forget to lift our heads to tell people what we were doing. Then, Brittany came in with her marketing background.”
After college, Lamont started telling her story at speaking engagements for Take Stock’s Sarasota chapter. She mentored students, then joined the board. Next year, she’ll chair the board.
As president of the business alliance, Lamont looks at Take Stock as a benefit to the business community, too.
“I think it’s an opportunity for us to keep talent local,” she said. “With 80% of our students staying local (to attend SCF, some go on to universities), that’s a way for us to capture the workforce, too.”
Bechtold credits Lamont for more than doubling the program’s participants. When she started, Take Stock was serving about 200 students. Now, the nonprofit serves about 600 students.
“When you get someone who’s already lived it, and then they come in and get to be on the other side, it’s magic,” Bechtold said.
Out of 46 Take Stock local affiliates in Florida, Lamont is the only alumnus to become a board chair.