Catalyze 2025: Lisa Vickers (Speer Dream Foundation)

We’re asking thought leaders, business people and creatives to talk about the upcoming new year and give us catalyzing ideas for making St. Pete a better place to live. What should our city look like? What are their hopes, their plans, their problem-solving ideas? This is Catalyze 2025.

Lisa Vickers, CEO of the Speer Dream Foundation, is setting ambitious goals for 2025, focusing on collaborative philanthropy and expanding successful educational initiatives in the Tampa Bay area.

The Speer Dream Foundation, founded in 2022, is a faith-based philanthropic organization with a mission of making a meaningful impact in the Tampa Bay region by addressing critical community needs with a comprehensive approach and a commitment to innovation and collaboration.

In its second year, the foundation was thrown a curveball when back-to-back hurricanes devastated the Tampa Bay area. Vickers and her team pivoted, moving money around quickly to help nearly a dozen local nonprofits respond to the aftermath of Helene and Milton. When all was said and done, the foundation awarded more than $600,000 to help meet critical needs in 2024.

Vickers is proud of how she and her team stepped up to help, but when dealing with the effects of the storms, they quickly realized their limitations. Looking ahead to the coming year, one of Vickers’ primary objectives is to establish a philanthropic roundtable, bringing together foundations from Pinellas and Hillsborough counties.

“We’ve been in discussions with multiple foundations, and there is nothing like this in Tampa Bay. We feel like we can make more of an impact if we work together instead of all separately,” she said. “We would like to learn what other foundations do well, so that if someone comes to us and asks us for a grant and we can’t do it because it’s not in our mission or we’re already [financially] committed, we can send them to someone who can.”

“We want to give the grantees more options and have a better understanding of who to reach out to, so they don’t have to just go back to the internet or go to the drawing board,” Vickers added. “It’s hard because we want to say yes to everybody, but unfortunately we can’t. In this way, we can still help. That’s what community is all about.”

The roundtable not only aims to increase the impact of philanthropic efforts by fostering collaboration among foundations, but Vickers also envisions a platform where successful programs can be scaled up through joint funding. 

“If we have a program that is really, really successful, we’d like to say, ‘This is how much we’re putting in. Who is willing to join us? Is there anybody else that this fits in your mission, because we would like to grow this?’,” Vickers said. “We can’t do it alone, but if we do it as a group together, we can make a larger impact and really create change, solve the problems.”

Vickers also plans to increase the foundation’s support of St. Petersburg College’s First Step Scholarship program in 2025. The program offers short-term certifications in high-demand fields, providing a path to well-paying careers for those unable to pursue traditional degrees. 

Leaders from St. Petersburg College accept a grant from the Speer Dream Foundation to support its First Step Scholarship program. Photo: St. Petersburg College.

The foundation previously increased its investment from $150,000 in 2023 to $250,000 in 2024, citing impressive results.

“This is truly changing lives generationally. I met a lady who, prior to this, was living in her car. Since she’s gone through the program, she has an apartment and stability,” Vickers said. “For people who either don’t want to or can’t afford to do a two or four-year degree, this is life-changing because it gives them a career, not just a job. At the end of this program, they’re making a minimum of $55-60,000 a year with benefits.”

Vickers hopes to expand the program to at least one additional school in 2025.

In addition to her goals for establishing a philanthropic roundtable and expanding the First Step Scholarship program, Vickers and the Speer Dream Foundation are also supporting a new inclusive education program at Keswick Christian School in St. Petersburg.

The foundation previously awarded a $500,000 grant to Keswick to renovate and enhance the school’s athletic facilities. Now, their funding will help create a program to integrate students with special needs into mainstream classrooms, providing them with enhanced learning opportunities and social experiences. 

The Speer Dream Foundation awarded a $500,000 grant to Keswick Christian School in 2024 to improve its athletic facilities. In 2025, the foundation will continue supporting the school as Keswick leaders work to create an inclusive education program for students with learning differences. Photo: Ashley Morales.

Vickers noted that there are very few schools in the area that offer blended classrooms, which research has proven leads to better outcomes for students with learning differences.

“This is really close to Tim [Whipple], our Executive Director’s heart because his granddaughter is on the spectrum. He is really just concerned about not having enough resources within our community,” Vickers said. “Keswick spent months creating a complete proposal for us. They went nationwide, talking to experts at different organizations. I was really impressed that they did the research and dug deep to find out how they could do this.”

The foundation’s support will help Keswick develop the necessary infrastructure and training to successfully implement an inclusive education model. Vickers emphasized the importance of providing appropriate support for both students and teachers in this new environment, noting, “It’s not just about putting kids in a classroom together, but ensuring everyone has the support they need to succeed.”

The Speer Dream Foundation sees this initiative as an opportunity to promote inclusivity and diversity in education while also providing valuable life skills to all students involved. As with their other projects, Vickers stressed the importance of sustainability and long-term impact in this endeavor.

“We are going to help Keswick start this program for the first year or two, and they’re going to take it from there,” Vickers explained. “I’m sure they’re going to be successful because we have a few families interested in this type of thing; they just haven’t had the resources or the place to go. This is something that’s really needed in our community, so I’d love to bring it to other schools once we have a proven model.”

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