Board Members

Susan Haggarty – Chair

Susan and husband George live in Grosse Pointe Farms, MI during the summer where they were born and raised. Susan is a graduate of Boston College where she majored in History. She worked in her own firm as a Financial Planner for 25 years. Her volunteer work includes The Junior League of Detroit, Beaumont Hospital, Detroit Institute for Children, The Grosse Pointe Academy, and the Boca Grande Woman’s Club.

Steve Laughlin – Vice Chair

Steve is Executive Chairman of Laughlin Constable, an advertising, PR and brand marketing company with offices in Chicago and Milwaukee. Steve’s community service includes serving as a board member and board chair of The Milwaukee Performing Arts Center. He also chaired the Milwaukee Ballet Board and served on the board of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. Steve is a former board chair of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee. He currently serves on the board of the Milwaukee Film Festival and chaired that board as well. Steve and his wife Marge have a home on Boca Grande and were both instrumental in creating the Boca Grande Film Festival, presented by the Friends of Boca Grande, which is now entering its third season.

Jim Runde – Treasurer

A Wisconsin native, Jim Runde graduated from Marquette University through the NROTC program and served as a nuclear engineer on the staff of Admiral Rickover. While on active duty he got his master’s in business at George Washington University. Jim currently serves on the board of the Kroger Company and is an emeritus trustee at Marquette and the Morgan Library. He is also on the board of the Men’s Club as well as the Boca Grande Health Clinic Foundation. He is the author of a new book called “Unequaled: Tips for Building a Successful Career Through Emotional Intelligence”. Jim recently retired from Morgan Stanley after 42 years where he was a Vice Chairman of investment banking. He and his wife Barbara moved to Boca Grande in 2014.

Sharon Hawkins – Secretary

A Michigan native, Sharon Hawkins has lived in Wayzata, Minnesota since 2002. She raised three children there and has been involved with her church, schools, and several community organizations, including serving on the boards of The MN Opera, Abbott Northwestern Hospital Foundation, Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation, Twin Cities Rise, and The Chronicles Institute. In addition to joining Friends, Sharon is a member of the Boca Grande Garden Club, the Boca Grande Woman’s Club, and Our Lady of Mercy Church.

Barbara Edgerton

Barbara Edgerton is the former Director of Publicity and Public Relations of Tiffany & Co. including all of its branches. She has served as Special Assistant to the White House for Gifts to the President and Vice President of the United States. Barbara was a Docent at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum for 8 years. She served as a President of the PTA & PTO for several schools in VA. In Boca Grande, Barbara was Co-Chair of the Literature Forum Steering Committee. As a former board member of The Friends of Boca Grande, Barbara edited two books for publication: Civil War Memories and World Wars – Memories & Reflections. Currently she a member of the Woman’s Club and a board member of the JF Library Foundation.

Lynda Grant

Lynda hails from Chicago where she attended Barat College in Lake Forest, IL. She moved to San Francisco soon after graduating and worked as a paralegal. Upon returning to Chicago, she worked in Private Banking for the First National Bank of Chicago and with McKinsey & Company in their Financial Services division.

Lynda and her husband, Jim, have lived in Florida since 2004 and spend their summers at Point Lookout on Lake Huron in Michigan. They participate with the AuGres Community Affairs nonprofit which programs and sponsors weekly summer music performances. They have also created and sponsor a scholarship fund for local high school students to attend Delta College in Saginaw, MI. In Boca Grande, Lynda served as Director of the Barrier Island Parks Society and has served on multiple committees of Friends. For fun and enrichment, she has performed in many Royal Palm Players productions and loves traveling the world.

Jack Hollis

Jack is the fifth generation born in Lakeland, Fl. After graduating from the University of Florida with a degree in Psychology, Jack worked at Publix Super Markets for many years, moving from Information Systems to Marketing Research and then Strategy before retiring in 2000 to handle the family’s investments. Jack was a third generation Publix employee, his grandfather was involved at the beginning with his friend George Jenkins. Jack’s father, Mark C. Hollis, was the President of Publix for 14 years and vice-chairman of the board. Jack is currently the Past Chairman of the GiveWell Community Foundation and has been on the board of many charitable organizations: Lakeland Symphony, United Way, YMCA, All Saints Academy, Bonnet Springs Park, etc. Jack and his wife of 45 years, MaryLee from Ft. Lauderdale, have four children and five grandchildren. They enjoy traveling, boating & sailing and trying to play golf & tennis. After vacationing in Boca Grande since the 60’s, he and MaryLee bought a house in 2017 and couldn’t wait to become full time residents of Boca Grande.

Jim May

James W May Jr. M.D. FACS, FRCS ( Hon) Eng. , a native Kentuckian , received his surgical training at Harvard/ Mass General Hospital. He ultimately became chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. After retirement ,Jim and his wife Linda , spend time on the coast of Maine, traveling to see their children and five grandsons , and at their permanent home on Gasparilla Island.

Peter E. Powell

Peter has been a resident of Boca Grande since 2014. He grew up in Kansas City, Missouri. His first experience with Florida was when he enrolled in 1974 at Rollins College in Winter Park, where he earned a BA in Economics/Theatre and an MBA in Finance. Although he spent an additional year working in Orlando, his grandfather convinced him to return to KC to take on an aggregate company he owned. Over his 35 years of ownership and management, he invested in aggregate and in salt mining, trading and distribution businesses. In 2015 he sold the salt businesses to a Private Equity firm out of New York City, kept one aggregate operation in Peoria, IL and took up a new life here in town. Peter currently serves on the Boards of Royal Palm Players, Inc., The GICIA, and will soon step down from the Board of Lemon Bay Golf Club where is served as its President from 2020 to 22.

Peter Sherwood

In 2013, Peter co-founded and is presently Managing Partner of a private debt fund, Prides Crossing Capital. The funds make loans that aid growing companies in specialty software, or which provide business or tech enabled services to other companies. During 16 years at State Street Corporation in Boston, Peter ran the Commercial Finance Group which provided debt capital to business, and which relied on the enterprise value of the business rather than on tangible assets. Peter holds an AB from Bowdoin College and an MA from the School of Advanced International Studies at The Johns Hopkins University where he concentrated on American Foreign Policy and Latin American Studies. Peter is a former a long-time board member of Care Dimensions, the largest hospice and palliative care provider in MA, and where he served as Clerk, Treasurer and as Board Chair. He has volunteered with the American Cancer Society, is the former President of the Prides Beach Association, the former Chairman of the Finance Committee for the Town of Essex, MA, a former board member for the Barrier Islands Parks Society, and presently serves as vice president of the Johann Fust Library Foundation.

Honey Skinner

Honey Jacobs Skinner, her husband Sam and family have enjoyed Boca Grande for fifteen years and they live in Boca Bay. Honey is a retired partner of Sidley Austin in Chicago, and specialized in the representation of large hospital systems. Post retirement, she is the chair of advocacy at Lurie Children’s Hospital (Chicago), with a focus on expanded healthcare services for economically fragile children. She is a graduate and active alum of Harvard College and Northwestern University Law School, and serves as a corporate director.

Robbie Stanley

Robbie has been involved with Friends and island nonprofit groups since first settling on the island in 2012. After graduating from Columbia University with a degree in structural engineering, she went on to become the editor of her small town’s newspaper in Charlotte, Vermont. She served for 10 years on the Lane Series board, a chamber music organization affiliated with the University of Vermont, and spent several years volunteering with Local Motion, a cycling advocacy group. Robbie chaired the Woman’s Club Communications Committee for the past six years and is an active RPP participant as well as past board member. Robbie, John, and their two corgis spend summers in Vermont.

Bayne Stevenson

Graduated from Yale University, B.A., 1968. Commercial real estate developer, NH, VT, FL, including several Restoration Projects; Founding General Partner Centerra Park with Dartmouth College; Founding Board Member, Ledyard National Bank and Ledyard Financial Advisors; Board Membership: Director, Dartmouth Savings Bank, 1984 – 1989. Director, Ledyard National Bank 1989 – 2020. Trustee, Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital; Chairperson, Boca Grande Community Planning Panel 2003 – 2007; Commodore Boca Grande Pass Yacht Club 2006 – 2008; Board Member Gulf Coast Community Foundation 2010 – 2019; Founding Chairperson Island School Foundation 2009 – 2013; President, Gasparilla Island Conservation and Improvement Association 2013 – 2020. Boca Grande Woman’s Club 2020 Pandemic Task Force Member.

Geoff Verney

Geoff Verney graduated from Denison University and attended Columbia University’s graduate program in Art History. He later joined is father and brother at Monadnock Paper Mills in New Hampshire, a manufacturer of fine and custom-designed industrial specialty papers and media. His focus was in Sales and Marketing. Now retired, Geoff and his wife, Liz, split their time between Boca Grande and Nantucket Island, MA. He is currently president of the Community Foundation for Nantucket having served as president of The Nantucket Historical Association among a variety of non-profit boards primarily in the arts. Liz is a former elementary school art teacher and serves on the board of The Island School and is Vice Chair of Postpartem International.

Nancy Whitney

Nancy and her husband Bill first came to Boca Grande in 2009 looking for a warm weather respite from the Boston winter. They drove over the bridges to Boca Grande and sighed “ oh yes, this will do”. They rented for several years and became homeowners in 2015. Nancy has served on the Barrier Island Parks Society board and was chair of the BIPS Gala for three years. She is also a member of the Boca Grande Woman’s Club, co-chaired the Woman’s Club Gala Auction in 2020 and is a member of the Scholarship Committee. Nancy spent 35 years as an Human Resource professional retiring in 2008 from Fidelity Investments as a Senior Vice President. Was involved in various volunteer activities in the Boston area including Newton Wellesley Hospital, The Handle and Hayden Society, the Joslin Diabetes Clinic and an organization providing health care to the homeless.

Tom Wilcox

Tom has been coming to Boca Grande for 44 years with his wife Whitty Ransome whose family has visited Boca Grande through four generations Tom reports that it is “Friends” ability to inspire, enrich and engage that convinced them to retire here. Tom brings more than fifty years of nonprofit experience, having served as head of Concord Academy In Massachusetts and as president of the Baltimore Community Foundation. Tom is honored to have been asked to serve Boca Grande through the Friends board.

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