2026 CareerEdge Leadership Series
Leadership is often discussed in grand language—vision, influence, transformation—but in Sarasota, its most meaningful work tends to happen closer to the ground: in classrooms, small businesses, nonpr
By Edit Sarasota Staff
Leadership is often discussed in grand language—vision, influence, transformation—but in Sarasota, its most meaningful work tends to happen closer to the ground: in classrooms, small businesses, nonprofit offices, boardrooms and mentoring relationships. The 2026 CareerEdge Leadership Series arrives with an invitation to consider that work more closely, bringing professional development and community connection into the same room.
Held at Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast, the event reflects a broader truth about Sarasota’s civic life: leadership here is not confined to the region’s most visible institutions. It is also shaped by the people who build careers, guide young people, strengthen organizations and make the community more resilient through steady, often unheralded effort.
The venue is an especially apt setting. Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast has long centered the power of one-to-one relationships, pairing young people with mentors who offer encouragement, perspective and consistency. That mission offers a natural lens through which to view leadership—not simply as authority, but as the ability to show up, listen well and help someone else move forward. In a community experiencing rapid growth and continual change, those qualities are increasingly valuable.
CareerEdge, meanwhile, speaks to the professional side of that equation. A leadership series can serve as a place to sharpen practical skills, encounter new ideas and meet others whose work intersects with Sarasota’s evolving economic and cultural landscape. It can also provide something less formal but equally important: the chance to step outside the routines of a workday and think about the kind of colleague, manager, mentor or neighbor one hopes to become.
The gathering’s appeal extends beyond any single industry. Sarasota’s leadership ecosystem includes entrepreneurs and educators, artists and advocates, nonprofit professionals and established business figures. Bringing those perspectives together creates the possibility of useful conversations—about responsibility, ambition and the ways individual success can contribute to a stronger shared future.
For anyone looking to engage with Sarasota’s professional and civic community in a setting grounded in service, the 2026 CareerEdge Leadership Series offers a thoughtful place to begin. It takes place Friday, November 13, 2026, at Big Brothers Big Sisters of the Sun Coast, 5731 Rosin Way, Sarasota.