Liszak, Freeman step up to Chamber leadership
When Jacki Liszak picked up a local paper in March 2016, she didn’t know it would become the catalyst to change the course of her personal and professional life.
She just read that the town of Fort Myers Beach was going to have to cancel the Fourth of July fireworks event, and she just knew something had to be done.
Liszak picked up the phone and started making calls. Before she knew it, she was the head of a successful fireworks fundraising committee and catching the eye of Bud Nocera, Chamber president, who was looking for just the right person to fill his seat when he retired.
Her initiative is one of the principles she lives her life by, she said: don’t just complain, come with a solution.
“Bud Nocera hand-picked Jacki,” said Chamber Chairman Dave Anderson. “We are extremely fortunate. It’s time to move ahead with a new approach and new strength for business.”
Liszak officially took the reins this month and delivered her first talk to her membership at the December luncheon Thursday, Dec. 8.
She’s lived on the beach for 14 years, but before that, she used to visit Fort Myers Beach and Sanibel as a child with her parents every year. Her knowledge of the local community, and now being “of the island,” was one of her qualities that Nocera thought would make her a good leader for the Chamber.
During the luncheon, Liszak listed several principles by which she lives, and by which she intends to navigate the Chamber. Her principles revolved around two concepts: meaningful communication and reciprocity.
“You’ve got to give in order to get,” she said.
She encouraged the membership to support the local businesses, to use their services within their own business, and to invite them into the Chamber. It’s easier to ask something of someone when you have given them your business already, she said. Liszak and her husband Scott Swafford own the Sea Gypsy Inn, and she tries to use Chamber businesses for service, she said. She also encouraged the membership to give or get involved with the island’s many charitable organizations.
“Thank people. Pay it forward,” she said. “We’re stewards of this island, all of us, and it’s our responsibility to take care of it. It’s a paradise.”
Liszak brought forward her priorities for the Chamber, including supporting the ReFresh Estero Boulevard project, responsible development with historical past preservation, and clean water efforts.
“Be involved in local government, or else we get what we deserve,” she said.
Liszak is working on two new branches of the Chamber already: a young professional’s group and a “formerly important” social professionals membership for snowbirds and retirees on the island who, as she said in previous talks, have a lot to give and a lot of knowledge to offer the Chamber. She also hopes to add in more social events to keep members involved and engaged.
“I love to see adults play,” she said. “Dressing up in costumes, going to watch the fireworks, it’s a moment to de-stress.”
Liszak isn’t the only one stepping up in the Chamber: Anderson announced his replacement at the December luncheon, too.
Anderson has been the chairman for two years to provide stability, although typically a chairperson serves for only one year. With Nocera’s retirement, Anderson said he decided he would step down as well.
The executive board tapped local attorney Lisbeth Freeman for the next chairwoman, with no debate.
“We just tried to approve it before she changed her mind,” Anderson said.
The president and chairperson of the Chamber have to work closely and well together, and Freeman was the perfect person for the job, he said.
“I’m excited,” he said. “We’ve wanted the right person to support Jacki, and she fits.”
Freeman has been a Chamber member since 2013, when she and her partner Kathryn Friedman moved from Washington, D.C. The couple opened a small business together, Beach Baby Rentals. Then Freeman opened her law practice. She’s been on the board of the Chamber for a couple years, and has helped provide in-house counsel.
Freeman plans to continue her role providing guidance while sitting as chairwoman.
“It’s going to be a big transition, and I will be playing a big role in the smooth transition of leadership,” she said. “I see myself providing guidance to Jacki and the board with dotting its i’s and crossing its t’s.”
One of her goals for her seat is to get the executive board more involved with the Chamber’s activities. Nocera stabilized the Chamber financially and holistically, and Freeman wants the board to be a more active player in the organization.
“Now we have the means to take it to the next step with Jacki,” Freeman said. “She can’t do it all by herself and we can fill that role.”