- December 4, 2025
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Lilliana Sultana has been involved with the Sarasota Yacht Club her entire life. When she was in elementary school, she joined the youth sailing squad, learning more about how the organization operates. At 11 years old, one of the first events she volunteered to help run was the beloved "Pooch Parade."
She took it a step further as she gained experience, becoming one of the first members of the Ensign Board that formed four years ago. The youth commodore program gives teens another level of experience with networking, event planning, philanthropic work, grant writing and other skills.
At the end of the last season, Ensign members held a Q&A interview to decide on their new officers.
The young leaders kicked off a new season on Sept. 3, officially welcoming Sultana as junior secretary, Calista Ream as junior commodore, Wesley Wrigley as junior vice commodore and Grant Campbell as junior treasurer.
Stephanie Feltz, SYC's philanthropy and special projects coordinator and the mind behind Ensign, said she is immensely proud to see everything the members have done so far and looks forward to seeing their efforts grow. She said the board currently has 14 members in total.
Sultana's roots with the Sarasota Yacht Club run deep. Her father, local architect Mark Sultana, designed the current clubhouse.
"The yacht club has always been a big part of my family's lives," Lilliana said, adding that they enjoy getting out on their fishing boat, the "Maltese Falcon," on a sunny Sarasota afternoon.
Now, she looks forward to taking a more active leadership role of her own.
Through Ensign, she and fellow members have networked with local entrepreneurs and other business leaders.
"They've shared stories of their journeys of starting from scratch and building their way up," she said. "It was cool to hear how hard they worked to get there."
The Sarasota Christian School senior said she hopes to pursue business management, specializing in the music industry.
The opportunity to build his leadership skills is what motivated Wrigley to pursue an officer role.
He has enjoyed building relationships with his peers over the years, and he looks forward to serving as vice commander. He is starting his junior year at Sarasota High School.
While he has a multitude of nonprofit interests, he particularly cares about supporting men's mental health.
Wrigley's family moved to Sarasota in 2016 from Delaware, and they have been part of SYC for years.
"It's interesting to network at a club of this size," he said.
Two of the people he has found most impactful to meet so far are Mark Sultana and Preferred Shore Real Estate President Robert Milligan. Milligan is slated to assume the role of an incoming commodore at the yacht club this fall.
Looking ahead to a future career, Wrigley is considering radiology, but he said he's closely watching job availability amid evolving technology. He hopes to follow in the footsteps of his brother, Wyatt, who is enrolled in the University of Florida's Honors Program.
"I'm focused on maintaining that 5.0 (GPA) to hopefully get in," he said.
Feltz noted Ensign is a great avenue for showing young people's talent to colleges, and she has happily written several letters of recommendation for former members.
Campbell is the youngest in the group as a new freshman. Inspired by a sister, who previously served with Ensign, he sought special permission to join the group early. What motivates him is his passion for philanthropy and penchant for numbers.
"It was a high school-focused board, and when I was in seventh grade, I realized there was a significant age gap between the elementary and high school boards," he said.
After learning from Feltz there was room on the board, he successfully made the case for his early membership.
"Community Connections," the yacht club's main grant-giving event, is one of his favorite nights of the year.
He appreciates learning more about what various nonprofits do for the community, especially those that do a solid job of connecting with residents his own age.
Campbell was also one of the club members who attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony on Aug. 9, 2024, of a new children's playhouse on the Sarasota Harvest House campus.
"I didn't write the grant for that one, but I did help build it," he said, adding that it was touching to directly see the way SYC's work benefits community members.
In his treasurer role, he hopes to help others understand through the numbers just what an impact their contributions generate.
"It gives me a lot of purpose to be able to say that I've helped these people, when there's actual data showing who you've helped," he said. "I think numbers can really communicate how you've helped."
He currently takes classes through the State College of Florida Collegiate School, and he plans to pursue a career in engineering or business.
Junior commander and second-year Ensign member Calista Ream shared her appreciation for charitable work as well.
"I joined because I love community impact-focused service projects," she said. "It's fun working with people your age to do something in the community."
She continued, "I thought this would be a great opportunity not only to sharpen my leadership skills but also to help people."
Her family moved from Daytona Beach six years ago, largely motivated by her attendance at Pine View High School.
Ream has found joy particularly in the work the yacht club has done supporting local food pantries and Alta Vista Elementary School.
"One thing I look forward to most this year is presenting Alta Vista with a book vending machine," she said.
One of her favorite connections she has made so far through Ensign is Bonnie Michaels, literacy coach at the school.
"It was fascinating getting to directly hear a teacher's perspective," she said.
While she's enjoyed hearing from others, she also appreciates how the program is helping her find her own voice and confidence in presenting her views.
As a high school student, she has already been building her career skills at the student newspaper, and she looks forward to putting her talent for communication to good use.
While the junior leaders are looking ahead to a new year, the senior leadership at the Sarasota Yacht Club is in for a change as well.
The club kicks off its centennial celebration with the installation of its Watch Year 2026 officers on Oct. 3.
Commodore Harry Anand had his change of watch ceremony in January 2024. He will hand the reins to Milligan just in time for the 100-year festivities to begin.
