Ft Myers Beach - Good Neighbor

ST INS CARES-Collaboratory-Fueling Community Impact In SWFL

• "Cabo" Jim Schaller • Season 5 • Episode 37

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Big problems don’t shrink on goodwill alone—they change when people, data, and dollars move together. We sit down with Dr. Dawn Belamarich, president and CEO of the Collaboratory, to explore how a 50-year-old regional foundation is turning generosity into measurable progress across Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, and Glades counties. From $132 million in grants to a bold 15-year plan, Dawn breaks down how transparent data dashboards and cross-sector partnerships help solve—not just soften—the region’s toughest challenges.

You’ll hear how arriving days before Hurricane Ian shaped Dawn’s approach to mental health, community resilience, and operational leadership. We unpack why post-storm anxiety and trauma pushed behavioral health to the forefront, and how the Collaboratory aligns hospitals, nonprofits, and donors around outcomes that matter. The result is a roadmap that treats philanthropy like a strategy, not a slogan: fund, measure, learn, and adjust.

We also spotlight the Women’s Legacy Fund, a dynamic donor circle founded in 2008 that now exceeds $1 million and empowers nearly 200 members to vote on annual grants. With accessible membership, a new executive leadership program, and stories from remarkable honorees, the fund shows how pooled giving multiplies impact while building a network of women who have each other’s backs. Add in events like Hats Off To You and you can feel the momentum—community pride, surprise grants, and late-night donations that ripple into real change.

If you believe in data-driven giving and local leadership, this conversation offers practical inspiration and clear entry points. Join us, share with a friend who cares about Southwest Florida, and subscribe so you never miss stories of people turning care into action.

Collaboratory
Dr. Dawn Belamarich, president and CEO
2031 Jackson Street Fort Myers, FL 33901
(239) 274-5900
info@collaboratory.org
collaboratory.org

State Insurance USA
4450 Camino Real Way
Ft Myers, FL 33966
239-567-9992
100 Lovers Ln 3rd Floor
Ft Myers Beach, FL 33931
(239) 690-6300
office@StateInsuranceUSA.com
stateinsuranceusa.com
https://www.facebook.com/Stateinsuranceusa
StateInsuranceUSA
#SupportLocal 
#WeLoveOurClients

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Intro/Close:

Welcome to State Insurance US Day Care podcast, where we celebrate the heart of our community. Each episode, we highlight local charities and nonprofits who are bringing hope, help, and healing to those who need it most. Get ready to be inspired by the amazing stories of people making a difference. Because together, we care.

Speaker:

Well, hi, it's Gail Langner with State Insurance USA, speaking for our State Insurance Cares Foundation. And it feels like every time there's a Southwest Florida event, you're there. So it's about time we had you on the podcast. I'm so happy to be joined today by Dr. Dawn Belamarich. She is the president and CEO of the Collaboratory. And um I think you're all about bringing people and ideas together to make the community stronger. So, Dawn, I think I've heard a lot of people talk about the collaboratory, but I don't know that they necessarily know what the collaboratory does. Could you explain that?

Speaker 2:

Sure. Thank you so much for having me on, Gail. It is such a privilege to be here. So our collaboratory on, you know, foundationally is the Regional Community Foundation in Southwest Florida. We serve five counties. We serve Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, and Glades. And we are 50 years old next year. And in that time, we have distributed more than $132 million to nonprofits across those five counties. With our ultimate goal of really trying to solve some of the biggest social issues that we face over the next 15 years. And we do that really through not only distributing dollars in the short term, right, to nonprofits and partners that have high needs, but our stretch goal is really to launch data dashboards that will help us measure impact over time. So that the next 130 plus million we put out really goes to driving down the burden of some of the social issues we face across our incredible community.

Speaker:

That is that's incredibly inspiring. I mean, it really is. I I know that you before you came here, was it Recovery Centers of America? Is that where you were? Yes, ma'am. Is that right? Tell me what brought you from that. What made you decide to to come here and do what you're doing now?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's such a twisted story and a and an interesting path. I I'm a therapist by training with a doctorate in business and leadership. So I spent a big part of my career in addiction treatment, as you mentioned, at Recovery Centers of America and other organizations. And that was a private equity-backed addiction treatment organization. So a very different private sector space, growing inpatient treatment campuses for people struggling with substance use and mental health. And that has been my passion forever. That has been the population I worked with. I actually moved down to Southwest Florida, ironically, three days before Hurricane Ian.

Speaker:

Oh, John.

Speaker 2:

Yes, yes.

Speaker:

Are you kidding?

Speaker 2:

No, I you can't.

Speaker:

Where were you living? Where were you?

Speaker 2:

So I was in Cape Coral. You and Cape. Yeah. Our home had tenants in it that we had bought a couple years prior. So I was staying with some friends. But yes, I I was apparently the only one who did not get the memo that a huge hurricane was coming to the region. So it was a it was a way to make an entrance for sure.

Speaker:

Well, certainly. Did you fly? Did you flood?

Speaker 2:

So I flew down the Sunday before the Wednesday storm.

Speaker:

Okay.

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So it from Jersey. So there's some level of chaos I'm comfortable with as a Jersey girl, right? But that was certainly it was an an interesting introduction. And it was to lead the behavioral health division at Lee Health. That was what brought me down. Oh, okay. And it was great. It was incredible. And in a lot of ways, Hurricane Ian was a great unifier, right? Because as terrible as it was, a lot more people were talking about mental health. And a lot more people were talking about anxiety and post-traumatic stress. So that opportunity really introduced me to our my predecessor and our prior leader here, Sarah Owen at collaboratory. And it was certainly not in the cards and it wasn't part of the plan, but Sarah was a marketing genius in a lot of ways and had been here for 12 years and really had seen that the dollars we were putting out weren't really reducing the burden of a lot of the issues we were championing and launched this big idea. And she think I think her and and the board really saw that as an operator, I would be able to operationalize that big idea and help us get to a great place. And I was super excited and inspired to take the helm and be the leader to do that.

Speaker:

Well, you're an incredible leader. And I know everyone so admires you and your ability to bring things together. But uh where you are now, I can't imagine any any better fit, truly. And you know, Gina is my friend, we've actually traveled together. Uh in fact, we're we're going on the Danube uh together at the end of this month. And her husband Paul. We've been on the Rhine together as well. So we um and we belong to American Business Women's Association together as you've been a speaker there. And so um she is totally admires you and and all that you do. So yeah, incredible.

Speaker 2:

I appreciate it. It's so cool. You don't know that you're inspiring people having an incredible team here like Gina and others, and then I mean these women are inspiring me, right? So it's so cool to hear that from you, you know, it really is humbling. So I appreciate it.

Speaker:

Well, she and I had the same health health issues at the very same time, and um so yeah, she's she's a good friend and so on. Um, I also wanted to know about the women's legacy fund because our state insurance care team um was really so proud, uh proud to support this this year. And I was so honored to be able to attend the luncheon that you had the other day. But I think people really would love to know about the women's legacy fund. Could you explain that?

Speaker 2:

I would love to, and thank you for your support. It means the world to us. Women's Legacy Fund is a donor circle that originated in 2008 by some really strong female leaders in our community that wanted to give back, and they realized they could probably make a bigger impact if they pooled their dollars together versus, you know, one-off gifts at a time. So that's where it started. And it's as you heard the other day, almost 200 women date. We have different membership levels, so it's a $250 buy into the circle. Um, the fund is over a million dollars, which means every year it generates a 4% gift that the women vote on to put out in the community. And ultimately, you felt it in that room. It's a tribe of women leaders who come together to celebrate each other and to champion cause, really champion causes that move the needle on key issues in our region. It uh it was something I really felt strongly about reinvigorating when I came into the role a little over two years ago. And last week's luncheon to me was a real testament to the why of that. It is so incredible. The women are now launching an executive leadership program, as you heard be shared in the coming weeks. But really, the $250 buy-in gets you in a donor circle of women that will have your back, want to support this great community that we live in work, and really want to see Southwest Florida thrive in the long term. So it's been really exciting.

Speaker:

Yeah, and the women that you honored, I was so uh interested um to hear the um the Clive Daniel the Clive Daniel, um, her story about coming from South Africa and so on. What what an incredible story that was.

Speaker 2:

Um that these women are even in your our circle, like that these are women that obviously in honoring them is an easy decision because they're incredible.

unknown:

Right.

Speaker 2:

But the fact that they're in this community and have that story, it's pretty powerful.

Speaker:

Right. And women that I would probably never run into at a networking event or you know, something of that nature, just the caliber of the women that were there. I sat next to um the gal from the bank. Um that's yeah, so she was just dynamite. So it's um I really I was truly honored to to be even part of it. And and we're also so so happy. Thank you for taking the time to come to our Hats Off to you event and um at grandeza. And it was a fun, it was a fun night. Yeah, it was. And oh, did you get you got more money, didn't you? Did Blake draw your name? I think so. I think where's my list? I think you got an additional, where's my list?

Speaker 2:

Was it an additional two thousand?

Speaker:

Uh it was two thousand dollars.

Speaker 2:

Yes, it was. Gail uh Gina mentioned it to me, Gail, and I was so honored and so excited. And again, it's like how cool is this that we could be able to impact the community with the yeah, yeah, it was great.

Speaker:

It was it was great. I had I went up and had my picture taken with her when when she came and got it. So yeah, I came, I I couldn't sleep the night after. And so I at four o'clock in the morning or 3 30, something like that, I was I was going on people's websites and and donating. So yeah, yeah, it was an additional 2,000. So yeah.

Speaker 2:

You guys are the best.

Speaker:

I mean, I oh thank you.

Speaker 2:

We cannot do it without partners and sponsors and supporters like you. And it gets me so I'm so motivated by the fact that people want to be a part of this mission that it really is the fuel that keeps me going as well. You have no idea how much at 3 a.m. I'm looking at your website and doing the same thing.

Speaker:

Oh gosh. Well, I won't keep you any longer, Don. I know how you're a busy lady, but thanks for stopping by on the podcast today. I appreciate it. You will get a link and you can use use this any way that you like. And uh we'll obviously post this on our Facebook page and on our website. But thank you for all you do for selfless forta, John. It it um it is very inspiring and uh very um heartfelt, I guess, is all I can say. It just it is uh very warm warms my heart. So thank you.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, gal. I appreciate it.

Intro/Close:

Thank you for joining us on State Insurance USA Care. We hope today's story uplifted and inspired you. If you'd like to support or learn more about the incredible work happening in your community, visit StateInsuranceUSA.com or call 239 567 9992. You can also cabowabojim.com . Until next time, be sure to let your sun shine and keep sharing good and positive vibes wherever the waves take you.