106     |    DestinMagazine.com

Support Emerald Coast

E

veryone knows about the incredible 

work that nonprofits provide in our 

community, but many do not realize 

the amount of work that goes on 

behind the scenes. The backbone of many 

nonprofit organizations is their volunteers. 

These selfless individuals work tirelessly 

putting on fundraising events and constantly 

marketing to provide support and raise 

awareness for their causes. Many nonprofits 

are recognized for their success, showered 

with praise and presented with accolades for 

their hard work. Members of the community 

dress up and attend fancy award dinners, but 

what they don’t see is what goes on behind the 

scenes. Support Emerald Coast is a nonprofit 

organization FOR nonprofit organizations 

and knows all about the inner workings behind 

the curtain. The groups’ founders have many 

collective years of experience working with 

and in, volunteering for, giving to and leading 

nonprofits locally and across the United States. 

“What we consider truly unique is that those 

same founders also have extensive business 

experience and therefore have a special ability, 

along with a group of talented Advisory Board 

members from the local business sector, for 

applying for-profit success strategies to the 

nonprofit sector,” described Co-Founder and 

President, Jessica Jarosz. 

Support Emerald Coast has a strong 

network of stakeholders from their 

14-member Advisory Board representing 

the best in business across the Emerald 

Coast, to their list of participating nonprofit 

members representing a phenomenal cross-

section of cultural, health and social service 

organizations. SEC is extremely involved 

within the community, engaging with several 

area organizations where they support their 

partners such as area Chambers of Commerce 

and the United Way of Okaloosa and Walton 

Counties.  Sharon Rogers, Executive Director, 

Safe Connections (Member Nonprofit) has 

experience on both sides of the table, “I am 

honored to serve on the advisory board for 

Support Emerald Coast. During my many 

years as the Executive Director of Safe 

Connections, one of the smaller non-profit 

service providers serving Okaloosa and 

Walton Counties, I have become very aware 

of the enormity of the work accomplished 

by the many local services providers as well 

as our collective struggles to maintain these 

vital services. Support Emerald Coast is the 

culmination of Joan and Stephen Carter’s 

efforts to assist area non-profit organizations 

with their business sense and their recognition 

of our need for a strong collaborative approach 

to the business of running a non-profit 

agency. With the expertise of Jessica Jarosz 

at the helm, Support Emerald Coast offers 

non-profit service providers, large and small, 

the access to business services they need in 

the increments they need for a negotiated 

price point previously only available to 

large for-profit businesses. SEC brings us 

together in a way that not only increases our 

access to affordable, flexible business service 

options, but also most importantly, frees 

up our energy and attention for the crucial 

services our agencies provide. “It is clear that 

SEC is filling a very crucial gap in the local 

nonprofit community.” Joan Carter, Co-

Founder, Support Emerald Coast believes that, 

“Supporting the ‘business’ or back office of 

the nonprofits will free them up to focus more 

attention on their mission.”

Part of their work is to advance the missions 

of their members by promoting their causes 

in every way possible, whether it is attending 

their events, sharing their information on social 

and other networks, or advocating on their 

behalf. Ken Hair (Advisory Board Member and 

Support EC Member Nonprofit), Executive 

Director, Children in Crisis describes his 

experience saying, “Support Emerald Coast is 

a blessing to the non-profits in our community.  

It fills a significant gap between the charity 

that doesn’t have the staffing to provide 

needed services and an avenue for community 

and business support at a reduced cost.  It is 

also the go to organization for advice, strategic 

planning, and research.  I’m delighted to serve 

on the Advisory Board and look forward to 

building more relationships with providers and 

non-profits.”

Their mission is “Strengthening Nonprofits 

through Shared Services” and they have been 

doing just that since their inception in March 

2015.  “I was drawn to Support Emerald Coast 

because I believe that the Not-For-Profit 

community is the heart and soul of what 

makes this area such a fantastic place to work, 

live and play.  I have worked with non-profit 

organizations throughout my entire 26 year 

career and feel it is important to support them 

with my time, money and talents,” stated 

Kevin Bowyer (Advisory Board Member), 

Member, Warren Averett. They have 

accomplished an extremely impressive amount 

in such a short time frame; inducting almost 20 

nonprofit members and building partnerships 

with many service providers offering deep 

discounts on specialized nonprofit services 

to Support EC Members in the areas of 

Accounting, Human Resources, Marketing, 

story by

 

Courtney Murray

 | 

photo provided by

 

Support Emerald Coast

Ken Hair, Sharon Rogers, Fred Leopold, Jessica Jarosz, Stephen Carter, Joan Carter, Cory Fosdyck & Kevin Bowyer

XX-XX GiveCareShare.indd   1

9/27/16   2:36 PM