2022 Power of Giving Youth Leadership Summit

The Ryan Nece Foundation invites you to join us Monday, January 17, 2022 at Hyatt House – Tampa Airport / Westshore for our 2nd annual Youth Leadership Summit. This event is open to all Hillsborough and Pinellas teens aged 14 to 18 years old.

The mission of our Youth Leadership Summit is to help build, shape, and mentor the next generation of servant leaders in our community, by engaging high school students in a day of educational sessions with talented speakers followed by a community service project with a local nonprofit organization.

Overview of the Day

8:00 a.m. Registration, Breakfast, Networking, Door Prizes
9:00 a.m. Opening Panel featuring Ryan Nece, Rodney Bullard (Chick-fil-A), and Jeffrey Kamis (PDQ)
10:00 a.m. Session 1 with Siomara Bridges-Mata (Frameworks of Tampa Bay, Inc.)
11:00 a.m. Session 2 with Tony Moore (The Culture Architect)
12:00 p.m. Lunch & Dismissal to Service Projects
1:00 p.m. Serving the greater Tampa Bay community
*Service projects start and end between 1:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. and are assigned based on location and transportation needs.

Meet Our Speakers

Rodney Bullard is Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility at Chick-fil-A, Inc. where he leads the company’s corporate community and philanthropic strategy, which is focused on fostering youth and furthering education. Prior to Chick-fil-A, Rodney served as an Assistant United States Attorney prosecuting complex criminal cases. For his service, the United States Attorney General presented him with, one of the Department of Justice’s highest honors, the Director’s Award. Prior to this role, Rodney was selected as a White House Fellow, the nation’s most prestigious public service Fellowship. As a White House Fellow, Rodney was placed at NASA working directly for the NASA Administrator. A decorated veteran, Rodney also served in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps eventually working at the Pentagon as a Congressional Legislative Liaison in the Office of the Secretary of the Air
Force.

Rodney is a an alumnus of the United States Air Force Academy, Duke University School of Law, the University of Georgia’s Terry School of Business and the Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program.

Rodney currently serves on several national and local boards of directors to include: the Salvation Army National Advisory Board of Directors, the University Of Georgia Terry School Of Business Board of Directors, the Junior Achievement USA National Board of Directors, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators (PAGE) Foundation Board of Directors, The National Fellowship of Christian Athletes Board of Directors, and the Leadership Atlanta Board of Directors.

A few of Rodney’s recent recognitions include: Recognition by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of Georgia’s top young Business Leaders for 2013; by the Atlanta Business League as one of the 2013 Men of Influence; The University of Georgia’s 2013 listing of the 40 alumni leaders under the age of 40; The Georgia Trend Magazine’s 2011 listing of the 40 Best and Brightest Leaders Under 40; Leadership Atlanta; Leadership Georgia; and, as one of 10 Outstanding Young Leaders in Atlanta for 2010.

Jeffrey Kamis currently serves as Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for the award-winning fast casual chicken concept PDQ – People Dedicated to Quality. Kamis was part of the executive team that defined the PDQ brand from inception to today, helping to launch the concept prior to the opening of its first location in 2011. He has overseen those Marketing and PR efforts as the brand has grown to 60 locations in five states, as well as its first international location that opened in Kazakhstan last year. PDQ, the Official Chicken Tender of Tampa Bay and a four-time winner of Best Chicken Sandwich in Tampa Bay, was named the number one fastest growing small chain in America by Restaurant Business Magazine and Nation’s Restaurant News chose PDQ as a Hot Concepts recipient.

Prior to PDQ, Kamis worked with many of the nation’s elite athletes, coaches and teams during a 25-year career in sports. Kamis spent a decade in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Communications Department. As the Director of Public Relations for eight seasons, Kamis led his staff during the Buccaneers’ 2002 Super Bowl title and under his leadership, his department to the 2002 Pete Rozelle Award as the NFL’s top Public Relations group. At the time, Kamis was the youngest head of PR in league history for a Super Bowl champion. He also worked numerous Super Bowls on behalf of the Buccaneers and the NFL, and served as Chairman of the NFL’s Public Relations Postseason Committee from 2004-09.

Prior to his stint with the Buccaneers, Kamis worked as Assistant Sports Information Director for the University of Florida and from 1995-2000, worked closely with the Gator football team, including its 1996 National Championship squad. He helped assist with publicity efforts that helped earn 1996 Heisman Trophy winner Danny Wuerffel the top collegiate football honor, and was part of the PR team for a squad that made six New Year’s Day bowl appearances during his tenure.

Kamis also helped launch the Tampa Bay Rowdies re-entry into the professional soccer market, serving as Executive Vice President of Business Development for the team for two years, including their NASL championship season in 2012.

Kamis is active in the local community, serving on the Board of Directors for Brooks DeBartolo Collegiate High School, the Bullard Family Foundation, Mekor Shalom and the Tampa Bay Sports Commission. He has also been a part of the Public Relations team for the last 15 years for the Dick Vitale Gala, which benefits The V Foundation for Cancer Research. Kamis is also a co-founder of Trifecta Team, a PR and Event Management agency, and works as a sideline producer for Westwood One Radio sports national broadcasts. Kamis hails from Pennsauken, New Jersey and is a 1994 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, where he worked in the Panthers Sports Information office for three years. He lives near Tampa, Florida with his son Jacob.

Siomara Bridges Mata is an educator, entrepreneur, and coach with more than 15 years in youth development, known for her strategic thinking, passionate work ethic, and creativity.

Currently, Siomara serves as the Senior Community Programs Specialist for Frameworks of Tampa Bay where she sets the vision and strategy for Teens In Action™, a civic engagement & leadership program for high school students. She is also responsible for developing training and coaching sessions, empowering youth services professionals with research-based tools to equip students with social and emotional learning skills. She has been recognized for her impact in the community with features on news outlets like FOX 13, Bay News 9, and the Tampa Bay Times’ Every Tampa Bay.

Siomara holds a BA in Dance and Education from CUNY Hunter College and is the founder of MOVE Bridges Dance Project, a platform for creating empowering movement experiences and events; producing workshops in Haiti, Costa Rica, Mexico, Texas, Florida, and New York. Siomara is constantly developing new and creative ways to provide educators and young people with opportunities to reflect, grow, and become the best version of themselves. She currently resides in Tampa, FL with her husband, son (4), and Shitzu. Her family is an important part of her life and where her confidence, courage, and clarity bloom.

Tony Moore is a Culture Architect, International Keynote Speaker, Author, and recovering Human Resource Executive. After 25 years of experience in the C-suite  leading the people-side of multiple mergers and acquisitions, he developed a proven method of building a CULTURE of engagement, ownership and bottom-line performance. Tony has the unique ability to transform abstract concepts into concrete, tangible, actionable steps.  His “Four Laws of Culture” are the revolutionary foundation for all his keynotes. Tony entertains audiences with his humor and storytelling, while delivering disruptive ideas designed to produce exceptional outcomes.

Session Descriptions

Opening Panel: Don’t Be A Chicken – Learning To Be A Leader

Join former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Ryan Nece as he moderates a session between Rodney Bullard (Chick-fil-A) and Jeffrey Kamis (PDQ) as they discuss career journeys, life and work principles, what leadership and the power of giving means to each of them, and what they wished they could tell their younger selves knowing what they know now.

Session 1: Lead with Compassion – Civic Engagement through an Emotional Intelligence Lens

In this session young leaders will gain a foundational understanding of social and emotional learning, explore the benefits of building one’s emotional intelligence and explore how to be a change agent in their community by leading with compassion. Young leaders will reflect on their experiences by identifying strengths, passions, and goals they have as compassionate leaders in the Tampa Bay community.

Session 2: Leadership Secrets from the Wizard of Oz

Someone once wrote, “If you want to change the world, start where you are and work your way out.” If you have a burning desire to leave a positive mark on the world around you, you must start by mastering the ability to lead yourself. During this session, you will take this deeply personal journey into the shoes of each character of the Wizard of Oz, experience the invaluable leadership lessons they learned, and emerge with an understanding of the core internal competencies you must harness to positively impact others. Are you ready to see the wizard?

REGISTER HERE

Event Contact Information

Name: Melissa Neeley
Email: [email protected]