FORT MYERS, Fla. (March 31, 2016) – Jay Brett and Dawn-Marie Driscoll will be presented with the 2016 John W. Sheppard Award by the Southwest Florida Community Foundation board of trustees at the Foundation’s board meeting and 40th anniversary celebration on April 12.
Named after a founder of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, the John W. Sheppard Award is given to outstanding trustees who have given selfless dedication to humanity and made significant contributions to the Community Foundation. Past recipients include John Sheppard, David Lucas, Peter Kleist, Arnold Sarlo, Frank Bireley, Jim Nathan, Sam Galloway, Jr., Tom Smoot, David G. Robinson, Bill Frey and Gene Solomon.
Brett and Driscoll were selected for their leadership of the organization during a period of significant growth and revisioning.
When Brett was elected to the Southwest Florida Community Foundation board of trustees in 1999, his experience in the fields of probate trust law, real estate law and commercial litigation became an immediate asset. In 2007, he chaired the Foundation’s strategic planning committee and served a two-year term as the Foundation’s board chair from July 2009 to June 2011.
Brett has been in private practice with Sheppard, Brett, Stewart, Hersch, Kinsey & Hill, P.A. since 1973, where he is currently the senior attorney. His professional activities include serving on and chairing the 20th Judicial Circuit Grievance Committee, serving on and chairing the 20th Judicial Circuit Judicial Nominating Commission and serving as hearing officer for the Lee County School Board.
He was admitted to the Florida and Federal Bar Associations in 1973 with a Juris Doctor from the University of Florida. Brett has also served as a director on the Lee County YMCA and on the advisory board of the First Union National Bank. He was also a founding director of Florida Gulf Bank.
Driscoll joined the Southwest Florida Community Foundation board in 2005 and is also a former board chair. She is currently an executive fellow at the Center for Business Ethics. Her background as a corporate attorney has allowed her to combine together her work in the business ethics field, particularly with regard to ethics and corporate governance, and to provide consulting, teaching and other services to top executives and directors. She was on the faculty of the national Ethics and Compliance Officer Association and has been appointed a visiting scholar at two prominent universities and also is a frequent teacher, panelist, moderator and presenter about business ethics issues in the U.S. and England. She has written several books and numerous articles about business ethics published in the U.S., Asia and Europe. She has also served as an advisory board member of the Center for Business Ethics, Bentley University, a member of the Board of Editors of Business and Society Review, an independent director of Deutsche U.S., independent director of Sun Capital Advisers Trust, director of ICI Mutual Insurance Company, former member of the board of governors of the Investment Company Institute, the national association of mutual funds, and chair of the ICI’s directors service committee, founding member of the Independent Directors Council, the national organization of mutual fund directors, and formerly a director, trustee and overseer of several institutions, including the Boston Municipal Research Bureau, the Downtown Crossing Association, WGBH-TV, The Massachusetts Bay United Way and Regis College.
Driscoll graduated from Regis College and Suffolk University Law School and has been vice president of corporate affairs and general counsel of Filene’s, the Boston-based department store chain, as well as a partner at Palmer & Dodge in Boston. Among her awards and honors are Visionary of the Modern Mutual Fund Industry, the 1999 Mutual Fund Trustee of the Year, an honorary Doctor of Arts degree from Regis College, an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Suffolk University and an honorary Doctor of Commercial Science degree from Bentley University’s Graduate School of Business.
“The Foundation has been blessed with the talented leadership of Dawn-Marie and Jay,” said Guy Whitesman, board chair of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. “Their impact on the Foundation will benefit the Southwest Florida community for years to come. We are all pleased to be able to honor their tireless work with the John W. Sheppard Award in our 40th anniversary year.”
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation is celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2016. As part of the celebration, a special photo exhibit, by award-winning commercial and editorial photographer Brian Tietz, called Faces of Philanthropy will be on display at the Community Foundation’s office from Friday, April 15 through Labor Day. Both Brett and Driscoll are featured as part of the exhibit that shows faces of those passionate about our community and who give back through their time, talent and treasure.
As leaders, conveners, grant makers and concierges of philanthropy, the Southwest Florida Community Foundation is a foundation built on community leadership with an inspired history of fostering regional change for the common good in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry and Glades counties. The Community Foundation, founded in 1976, connects donors and their philanthropic aspirations with evolving community needs. With assets of more than $93 million, it has provided more than $63 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves. Last year, it granted more than $3.2 million to nonprofit organizations supporting education, animal welfare, arts, healthcare and human services, as well as provided regional community impact grants and scholarship grants.
For more information about the Southwest Florida Community Foundation, call 239-274-5900 or visit www.floridacommunity.com.
