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Board of Directors
Peter Betzer
View Bio →Peter R. Betzer joined USF’s marine science faculty in 1971 and spent 37 years in this academic setting. Dr. Betzer received a B.A. in geology from Lawrence College (1964) and in 1971 was awarded a Ph.D. in chemical oceanography from the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School of Oceanography. Dr. Betzer is the author of over 60 scientific publications in journals and books and in 1985 was a co-recipient of a Distinguished Authorship Award from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Dr. Betzer was appointed to the Ocean Sciences Advisory Panel for The National Science Foundation (NSF) in 1986-89 and again in 1995-99. Dr. Betzer served as Founding Dean and Professor of The University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science until 2008. After retiring from USF, Dr. Betzer was appointed President of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership a group that has been pivotal to the emergence of St. Petersburg, Florida as an internationally-prominent center for marine research.
Dr. Betzer’s support of Sing Out and READ was cemented from witnessing, on several occasions, the program’s transformative power for young people who have previously had difficulty reading.
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Larry Butler
View Bio →Larry Butler is currently a Senior Account Executive at Honeywell where he works in the higher education markets (K-12) in energy conservation and building automation systems. He previously worked with the City of St. Petersburg Housing Authority as a social services officer connecting public housing residents with local social support services. Prior to that, Larry held various roles at Amaresco, Johnson Controls and Siemens. Larry holds a degree in Business Administration from the College of Charleston.
Larry has always been deeply involved in the communities in which he lives in and serves. He is currently a Board member for Deuces Live, a non-profit organization created to revive and revitalize a historic area of St. Petersburg in a way that both stimulates grown and enhances the current commercial/residential population. He is also a Board member for Communities in Action network and supports business networking for the black community.
Larry is a major advocate for children’s literacy and will bring a wealth of experience to the SOAR Board.
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Beth England
View Bio →Prior to 2000, Beth resided in the Philadelphia suburbs and graduated from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia with a degree in Business Management. The majority of her career was spent in the human resources field, with companies such as The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, QVC, Inc., Avon Products, and IBM. She retired from IBM in 2012 to be able to devote more time to work with charities. Currently, Beth serves on three non-profit Boards: The Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, Academy Prep Center of St. Petersburg, where she is also is a member of the Advancement Committee; and Ruth Eckerd Hall, where she serves on the Governance and Executive Committees. Other charities she contributes time to are Daystar Life Center and Music Sweet Music.
Beth and her husband John moved from Atlanta, Georgia to Tierra Verde in 2010. Beth joined the Margaret Acheson Stuart Society as a provisional in 2016. That year she served on the Wine Weekend Committee and hosted an “Affair’s D’art” event. The next year, she and her husband John co-chaired the Society’s Wine Weekend St. Pete 2017, themed “Wine & Chocol’Art.” The funds raised from the Gift from the Heart during the Saturday evening dinner were the springboard for the Antioch Reclaimed event currently at the MFA. They were also the chairpersons for Ruth Eckerd Hall’s 2018 Grand Gala, raising funds for the Marcia P. Hoffman School of the Arts in Clearwater.
For the past several years, Beth has served on the gala committees for both Academy Prep and Ruth Eckerd Hall. In 2018 she was recognized by Academy Prep as a “Five Fabulous Female” for her impact to the School and the community. In 2020, when schools closed due to the pandemic, Academy Prep launched Operation Read&Feed, which was to provide literature to help lift scholars up and feed their spirits while also keeping their tummies full. She contributed as a co-leader to this task force, helping to ensure the scholars received this lifeline since they were separated from the physical school.
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Carlo Franzblau
View Bio →Carlo Franzblau earned his BA from Harvard College and his MBA from Harvard Business School. After working for various small and large companies including Paramount Pictures and the American Express Company, Carlo returned home to Tampa to join his family’s catalog business.
While working in the family business, Carlo started Electronic Learning Products, Inc. where he developed two award-winning software programs: TUNE into READING to help struggling readers, and SingingCoach to help aspiring singers. Carlo’s innovations in software technology are protected by three US patents. Since the first implementation of TUNE into READING in a Hillsborough county middle school in the fall of 2006, the program has been used in over 1,000 schools in the United States, The Bahamas, and Australia. More than 30,000 students have improved their reading comprehension level one full year after using the program for just 3 months.
Carlo and his wife Beth founded the nonprofit, Sing Out and READ, to provide the remarkable benefits of singing-to-read to the kids who need help the most.
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Nick Griffin
View Bio →Nick Griffin serves as a Managing Director of Directed Capital. Founded in 2001, Directed Capital is a real specialty finance firm and an SEC Registered Investment Advisor that acquires and resolves underperforming commercial mortgage loans nationwide. Since 2010, Mr. Griffin has been responsible for the development of private equity partnerships, investment structuring, developing debt and equity financing, and investor management. He has experience with the capital markets, financial modeling, and risk management. Prior to joining Directed Capital, Mr. Griffin served as the CFO for Arx Holding Corp., the parent of a multi-state insurance company. Prior to that, Mr. Griffin was the CFO of United Insurance Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq: UIHC), the parent of Florida based insurance companies, where he worked for over 10 years.
Mr. Griffin is an attorney and member of the Florida Bar. He received a B.S. in Accounting from the University of Florida, an M.B.A. from Stetson University, a J.D. from Stetson College of Law, and holds a Florida Insurance Agent license. Mr. Griffin serves on the Board of Trustees and Executive and Finance Committee of Catholic Charities for the Diocese, serves on the Board of Directors of Community Law Program. He is an active Guardian Ad Litem, a volunteer for Lawyers for Literacy, Regional Director of PlaySmart, and Parliamentarian and coach for the Lakewood Jr. Spartans. Mr. Griffin also served on the Board of the Resurrection House and was a mentor to boys at the Juvenile Detention Center. Nick and his wife, Michelle, live in St. Petersburg with their two sons, Will who attends Jesuit High School and Jack, who attends Northside Christian School.
Nick was immediately drawn to Sing Out and READ and the gift of reading that it provides, in a unique and powerful way, to truly make a difference in the lives and future of at-risk children!
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Jeff Hearn
View Bio →Jeff Hearn has a bachelor's in business administration from Florida Southern College and has been in the financial services industry since 1984.
Jeff has been with Raymond James since 1991 and served as Regional Vice President before resuming his career as branch manager of the downtown St. Petersburg office. To better serve his clients, Jeff partnered with Bill Hoyt in 2003 to form Hearn Hoyt Wealth Management. In 2006, Jeff retired from management at Raymond James to focus his time on the needs of his clients, their families, various endowments, and several foundations that rely on his advice.
Jeff has lived in St. Petersburg for 49 years. Active in his community, Jeff was involved with Bayfront Health Foundation, where he served as its Chairman. Jeff served on the Board of Trustees of Bayfront Health Systems and as Vice-Chairman of the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg - until 2015. He also served on the City of St. Petersburg’s Investment Oversight Committee. Jeff served on the boards of Academy Prep St. Petersburg and Florida Southern College and is the past Chairman of the St. Petersburg Downtown Partnership. Additionally, he is the past president of the Rotary Club of St. Petersburg and volunteers as a mission coordinator at First United Methodist Church.
Jeff is a member of the Kenya Mission Team at his church and has been to Africa three times in the past several years to help plan and build a medical clinic. Jeff also served as the founding President of the board of Bahamas Habitat and has led more than 20 mission teams to work in the out islands of the Bahamas.
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Carissa Hughes
View Bio →My passion for fundraising began in 2010 at Moffitt Cancer Center, where I gained valuable experience in leading direct mail efforts and launching giving society programs. In 2016, my husband and I launched Brave Church where we have been humbly and faithfully serving the community ever since. He is the lead pastor, and I lead our children's ministry, while four other staff members lead alongside us in various capacities. My faith and ministry have been instrumental (pun intended) in growing and challenging my heart for people.
In 2017, I was invited to join the team at Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital Foundation. In my current role, I am dedicated to building donor-focused philanthropy programs that resonate with our supporters on a personal level. My focus is on major and lead annual gifts, and I champion programs that forge deep connections between supporters and our mission. I am inspired every day by the power of philanthropy to change lives and create a better world.
My connection with SOAR began in 2024. As a parent of four young children, who are all learning to love reading at various stages in their education, I'm deeply committed to promoting literacy. My passion for this cause grew even stronger as my son struggled with reading. I saw how challenging it was for him and how it affected his overall performance in school and his own confidence. As a mom, I never gave up hope and continued to search for effective ways to help him.
When I was introduced to SOAR, I realized that just like a child can quickly learn a new song, they could also learn new words and sentences by using music. This is a fun and creative way to improve literacy skills and help children succeed. As a fundraising leader with 14 years of experience, I hope to bring a unique perspective shaped by the daily joys and challenges of fostering literacy in my own home. Together, I hope we can continue to empower children through the gift of literacy, building a brighter future one song at a time.
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Linda Marcelli
View Bio →Linda Marcelli is a Principal of Lucky’s Real Tomatoes, Inc., a nationally known 40-year-old specialty tomato purveyor based in New York City. She is the former First Vice President and Managing Director of Merrill Lynch’s Private Wealth Division of NYC. A Gulfport resident, Ms. Marcelli serves on the Boards of a number of local organizations. She is a member and former Board Chair of Academy Prep of St. Petersburg and of the Pinellas County Urban League. She is a member of the USF Business Dean’s Advisory Council, the Florida Humanities Council and the Midtown Rotary Club. Ms. Marcelli is a graduate of Ohio State University, the Securities Institute at Wharton and the Tuck Institute at Dartmouth College.
Since joining The Board of Academy Prep 20 plus years ago, Ms. Marcelli has been deeply concerned about the 30 percentage point reading gap between black and white students from elementary school to high school graduation in Pinellas County. She is struck by the fact it has not changed in 20 years. If a child can’t read there is little hope for them to live a full, productive life. When Ms. Marcelli learned about Sing Out and READ closing that gap for elementary school students, she exclaimed, “I knew it could be the game-changer for many underserved children and help them break the tragic cycle of poverty. I had to get involved. I hope you will want to help, too.”
Want to help us save struggling young readers from illiteracy?
Join our Board of Directors! We’re always looking for members of the community who are passionate about saving children from the risk of illiteracy.