Keynote, Joyce Marter, LCPC Joyce Marter is a licensed psychotherapist, entrepreneur, global keynote speaker, and internationally published author. She founded, built, and successfully sold a multimillion-dollar mental health company. She is contributor to Psychology Today, MoneyGeek, Choosing Therapy and more. Joyce is the author of The Financial Mindset Fix: A Mental Fitness Program for an Abundant Life, which has been published in four languages and received eight book awards. She is renown globally as a mental health thought leader specializing in the psychology of money and cultivating holistic success, appearing in media outlets such as CNN, MSN, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and MTV.
Bess Charles, Business Coach A serial entrepreneur and female powerhouse most known for her nationally recognized LadyCakes Bakery in Cape Coral, FL. Bess attended Le Moyne College in Syracuse, NY with a focus in Criminology and Psychology but went on to own many of her own businesses after moving to SWFL in 2005. Bess began her most successful Entrepreneurial journey with LadyCakes Bakery in 2014, which has been recognized as one of the Top 10 bakeries in Florida along with achieving local, regional, and nationwide exposure for their creative designs. In 2019, Bess wrote her first Children’s Book; The Adventures of LadyCakes; Kindness is Sweet and enjoys sharing this sweet story whenever possible. With over a decade worth of experience in running her own business, Bess created Illuminate Consulting Solutions in 2022. Bess enjoys working with other Entrepreneurs to Encourage, Enhance and Empower them to achieve the next level of entrepreneurial success. Amongst all the shared successes that Bess has had, she very much enjoys being able to make a difference as a Board Member on several non-profit organization boards, such as Our Mother’s Home, Better Together and Community Cooperative
Kimberly Fuentes, Attorney Kimberly Fuentes is an attorney with Jones, Haber & Rollings in Cape Coral. Her practice focuses on estate planning, probate and trust administration. She prepares simple and complex Wills and Trusts, and other estate planning documents needed by her clients. Kim’s goal is to help families avoid probate and to guide them through the probate and trust administration process when necessary. She is a member of the Florida, Georgia, and Kentucky Bar Associations. She holds degrees from the University of North Carolina and the University of Georgia. In her free time, Kim is most often found running, biking or in the gym with her husband.
Sergio Nascimento, Market President Sergio Nascimento is the Florida Market President for IncredibleBank who opened their SWFL location in Cape Coral. IncredibleBank is a community bank that was established in 1967 and is a full-service bank serving both consumers and business owners throughout the country. The branch network spans 17 locations from Wisconsin, Michigan, and Florida. Sergio Nascimento’s career in banking began in 2010 as a teller at a large national bank in Naples. Since then, he has achieved several top in class results nationally and grown through different banking channels, primarily commercial and small business banking. Sergio has both managed a portfolio of over 1000 commercial business owners ranging from 1 million to 100 million in annual revenues, and also managed a team of commercial bankers who oversaw their own portfolio. His primary focus is supporting business owners with their own unique visions and plans to foster a strong partnership to help them grow their company. Sergio is a very active member of the community and is passionate about advocating for the residents and business owners of SWFL as well as focusing on the local youth. Sergio plans to continue to grow the IncredibleBank footprint throughout SWFL, as many of the local customers have been very thankful for IncredibleBank’s support of the community and prioritizing high level customer service and attention to detail.
T. Kristine Skaarsgard T. Kristine Skaarsgard has spent the last 25 years in and serving the financial services industry. She has been a senior financial representative with Modern Woodmen of America for 13 years. She is passionate about helping women know, embrace, and understand how to bring financial insecurity to security. Kristine knows the unique challenges in finance for women that happen through loss of loved ones, divorce, marriage, and career changes. Her goal is to educate and develop a successful focused plan for you.
Amira Fox, State Attorney Amira Fox is the State Attorney for the 20th Judicial Circuit of Florida covering Charlotte, Collier, Glades, Hendry and Lee counties. She graduated from American University in Washington D.C. in 1987 with degrees in International Studies and Economics and received her law degree from The George Washington University in 1990. Ms. Fox began her career as an Assistant State Attorney with the 20th Judicial Circuit in 1990. She worked in the misdemeanor, juvenile and felony divisions of the State Attorney’s Office before becoming head of the Hendry and Glades office in 1998. In 1999, she became the first female head of the Collier County office. She entered private practice in 2002, and formed her own practice in 2004, where she specialized in criminal defense and family law and was a Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent-rated lawyer. She rejoined the State Attorney’s Office in 2012 as Chief of the Homicide and Economic Crime Units and in 2015 she became Chief Assistant State Attorney overseeing the day to day legal and administrative functions of the office, including the operation of grand juries throughout the circuit. In November 2018, Ms. Fox was elected State Attorney, becoming the third State Attorney, and the first female State Attorney, in the history of the Circuit. She was re-elected, unopposed, in 2022 for a term continuing through January 2027. She has prosecuted hundreds of cases including numerous first-degree murder death penalty cases. Ms. Fox serves as the Vice President of the Florida Prosecuting Attorney’s Association. She also serves on the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking, the Supreme Court of Florida Criminal Court Steering Committee, and was appointed to the Florida Medical Examiners Commission by Governor Ron DeSantis in February, 2023. She is the recipient of the GEM award for excellence in public service, a Leader in the Law award by the Florida Association of Women Lawyers, the Woman of the Year award from the Lee Republican Women Cape Coral, and the Legacy of Leadership award from the Conservative Leadership Caucus. State Attorney Fox is a member of the Fort Myers Rotary Club, serves on the board of the Shelter for Abused Women and Children, the board of The Foundation for Lee County Public Schools, the board of the PACE Center for Girls and has been a Captain and Event Lead for Relay for Life. Amira’s husband Mike served with the Collier County Sheriff’s Office for 30 years and they have four children.
Dharani Sridharan, Leadership Development Specialist Dharani Sridharan is a dedicated Leadership and Organizational Development Specialist with over 12 years of experience in creating and implementing strategic talent development initiatives that contribute to organizational success. Dharani’s work focuses on leadership development, change management, and organizational design, where she strives to enhance organizational performance through thoughtful and innovative solutions. In her current role at Lee Health, Dharani has been fortunate to lead various impactful projects, including the Charge Nurse Leadership Development Program, which supported the growth of over 950 nurses and received the Brandon Hall HCM Excellence Award. She has also played a role in the Exceptional Lee culture change initiative, which aligns organizational culture with strategic goals and has trained over 1,000 leaders to foster a more cohesive and engaged workforce. Additionally, Dharani has had the opportunity to work closely with FGCU’s SWFL Leadership Institute to help launch a unique digital badge program on Systems Thinking for senior leaders at Lee Health. Dharani approaches organizational development with a deep commitment to understanding business needs and creating environments where leaders and teams can thrive. She has developed skills in instructional design, facilitation, program management, and project management, and has contributed to system-wide change management initiatives that have positively influenced policies, processes, and workplace culture. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dharani adapted to the challenges by designing and delivering virtual learning programs to meet the evolving needs of the workforce. With experience gained from working in India, the UK, and the USA, Dharani combines a strategic vision with practical expertise to support leadership development programs. She is a Certified Professional in Talent Development (CPTD) through the Association for Talent Development and holds certifications in Change Management (PROSCI), HR Management and Analytics (Wharton), and Leadership Essentials (Harvard), which complement her hands-on experience. Dharani is grateful for the opportunity to contribute to organizational growth and enjoys supporting senior leadership as a trusted advisor. Dharani holds a Master’s degree in International Human Resource Management & Comparative Industrial Relations from Manchester Business School, UK, and a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce with a specialization in Marketing from St. Francis College, Osmania University, India. She was recognized by ATD Magazine as an Up and Coming Talent Development Leader in December 2020. Outside of her professional life, Dharani is a devoted mom of two young children, balancing her career with the joys and challenges of motherhood.
David Outerbridge, County Extension Director for UF/IFAS Extension Lee County David Outerbridge is the County Extension Director for UF/IFAS Extension Lee County and has programs in Sustainable Food Systems and Natural Resources. He has an MSc in Geography (Environmental Hazard Risk Management) from Durham University (UK) and a B. A. (Anthropology) from SUNY Purchase. Mr. Outerbridge carries out research and education in Sustainable food systems, Natural Resources and Community resource development. His research focuses on food system disaster impacts, and food system resilience and he has published in research journal articles and book chapters on the impacts of covid to the Florida food system. His Programs are diverse and wide reaching and include statewide mushroom programming, community resource development, food production and food system resilience, horticulture, edible landscapes/agroecology, and systems thinking. The programming implemented is a comprehensive approach to Extension and serves as multifaceted experiential learning and research to serve community development and application/extension of University of Florida research.