12 Tampa Bay CEOs Complete Lealman Home In Habitat For Humanity Build

LEALMAN, FL — Twelve Tampa Bay chief executive officers came out from behind their paperwork-piled desks and traded paper cuts for hammer-bruised fingers to help build a home for a Lealman family.

On Friday, Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco Counties hosted the final CEO Build volunteer day at the Diaz-Gonzales home build site in Lealman led by honorary chairmen Bill Brand, CEO of Rue21 and Habitat for Humanity International board member; Mindy Grossman, partner and chair of Consello Group (and former CEO of WW & HSNi); and Ryan Ross, president of Neiman Marcus.

The 2023 build is Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco's second annual CEO Build. Habitat introduced the inaugural CEO Build in 2022 in which 55 CEOs came together to help raise more than $140,000 to sponsor the Middlebrooks family home in Pinellas Park.

The success of the specialty build prompted Habitat to recruit CEOs to build another home at 2773 Grove Park Ave. N for Alex Diaz and Christina Gonzales, and their three children, Olivia, Jackson and Vivian.

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“At Habitat, we partner with businesses across our service area to help local families achieve the dream of affordable homeownership," said Mike Sutton, Habitat Pinellas and West Pasco president and CEO. “We are fortunate to have so many local organizations committing to bettering their community through their corporate social responsibility initiatives. The second annual CEO Build will allow that investment to continue through the sponsorship of the Diaz-Gonzales family’s home.”

Through the second CEO Build, 55 CEOs raised of $150,000 and helped build the safe and affordable home alongside the Diaz-Gonzalez family.

On Wednesday during the Lealman build, 93 MarineMax regional managers from across the country participated as well. This is the sixth home MarineMax has sponsored.

Other CEOs taking part in the build included:

• Wendy Gattis – CEO of Ditek Corp.
• Elodie Dorso – President and CEO of Evara Health
• Neil Kiefer - CEO of HMC Hospitality Group Inc.
• Ray Ferrara – Executive chairman of ProVise Management Group
• Bill Roberti – Managing director of Alvarez & Marsal
• Robin Moch – Partner with M. E. Wilson Co.
• Tom Zernick – President of Bay First National Bank
• Amanda Payne – President and CEO of Amplify Clearwater
• Marc Banning – CEO of Banning Lumber
• John Moore – President of Bayfront Health St. Petersburg
• John Strong – Chairman and CEO of Bankers Financial Corp.
• Keri Higgins-Bigelow – Founder and CEO of livingHR

Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas and West Pasco Counties has served nearly 800 homeowner partners since 1985. Over the last 12 months, Habitat Pinellas and West Pasco completed more new homes than any other affiliate in the country, earning the rank of No. 1-producing affiliate in the network.