OUR IMPACT
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.
Don't take our word for it, listen to these stories of transformative impact.
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
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
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.
Marcus Bates
Prisha Sheridwala
Dexter Schneider
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
- ANYTOWN® presented at the United Nations in Geneva
- 2017 Business of Pride Honoree by the Tampa Bay Business Journal
- Winner of Tampa Bay PBS Affiliate WEDU's 2017 Be More Judge's Choice Award
- Recommended by National Council on Crime & Delinquency as effective in preventing behaviors that contribute to youth involvement in the juvenile justice system
- Recognized by the US Department of Education for effectiveness in diversity programming
- Anytown received the prestigious New York Life Foundation Excellence in Summer Learning Award from the National Summer Learning Association in 2020.
