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June 13, 2005

Guest Blogger: Terry Worthington

Next up in our 'Guest Blogger' series is Terry Worthington, President of the United Way of Central Florida.

Where have all the leaders gone?

The yellowed pages of the scrapbooks revealed many of the same faces that sit at the heads of the boardroom tables around Polk County a quarter of a century later. They were the faces of the people that chaired the Girls Cub wreath sale, Big Brother Big Sisters Gourmet Dinner or the Rotary Auction. They were young, and frankly, most were not as good looking in 1980 as they became in their forties, fifties and sixties.

Even the group of "senior" community leaders that created the United Way of Central Florida from the independent United Ways of Greater Lakeland, Greater Bartow and the Lake Region were mostly familiar faces. While the first chair of this newly formed organization, John McKnight, passed away several years ago, he was central to the recent creation of Lakeland Volunteers In Medicine. Bob Madden, another founding Board member serves on the Salvation Army Advisory Board and is a frequent advisor to the United Way. The American Cancer Society and United Way consider Jack Pines, who celebrates his 80th birthday this month, an individual uniquely capable of pulling together disparate county interests.

Just weeks ago the Publisher of the Winter Haven News Chief, Wayne Ezell, announced his acceptance of a position with a newspaper in Jacksonville. Wayne currently serves as Co-Chair of Polk Vision and was scheduled to be the United Way Campaign Chair in 2007. He serves on the Boards of The Polk Museum of Art, Winter Haven Chamber, United Way, Winter Haven Vision and in various other volunteer capacities, including key fundraising roles with Polk Community College. Who will assume Wayne's volunteer responsibilities?

Community Leadership requires no special talent. The prerequisites include caring about the quality of life for those who follow us.

Over 2000 nonprofit organizations have tax exempt status in Polk County. All require volunteer leadership in order to serve the community. Opportunities to lead are plentiful.

Might we find you in the "2005 scrapbook" as we prepare for anniversaries in 2030?

About Terry Worthington
Terry Worthington has served as President of the United Way of Central Florida since April of 1996. After working as a case manager with the Epilepsy Foundation, he began his United Way career in 1987 as a Campaign Associate with this United Way. In 1991, he moved to the United Way of the Virginia Peninsula as Associate Executive Director and then to the United Way of Middle Tennessee (Nashville) where he was Vice President of Resource Development. Terry graduated from Ohio University with both a Bachelors degree in Communications and a Masters degree in Education.

Terry currently serves as a board member of Polk Works and chairs the Resources Committee. He is also a board member of Polk Citizens for World Class Schools, the Community Foundation of Greater Lakeland, United Way of Florida and chairs the Board Development Committee for the Polk Community College Corporate College. He has also served as a Commissioner with Volunteer Florida, the Governor's Commission on Community Service, since 1999.

Terry and his wife Marilyn are the parents of 21-year-old triplets, Chelsea and Katie are recent graduates from the University of Central Florida in Orlando and Ryan attends the University of Florida in Gainesville.

Posted by Josh Hallett at June 13, 2005 10:28 AM

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