St. Petersburg Free Clinic names new CEO

A national search for a CEO for St. Petersburg Free Clinic led to a new leader who was working practically in the organization’s back yard.

Jennifer Yeagley

Jennifer Yeagley, the new CEO of the Free Clinic, has been working in Clearwater, as vice president for administrative and strategic operations for Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services.

“Jennifer has deep experience in nonprofit and community leadership, but more importantly, she has a passion for our mission. She’s energized by the opportunity to make a positive difference for our neighbors in need,” Janet Adams, chair of the Free Clinic’s Executive Search Committee, said in a news release.

Yeagley will become CEO effective Feb. 28, leading the Free Clinic’s 60 staff and more than 400 volunteers.

She will succeed interim CEO Michael O. Bice, a former board chairman who stepped into the role after long-time leader Beth Houghton stepped down. Houghton oversaw nearly eight years of growth and expansion at the Free Clinic, a multi-service, independent, not-for-profit human services agency, before she left in the summer to become CEO of the Juvenile Welfare Board of Pinellas County.

Related story: Beth Houghton on her new role at Juvenile Welfare Board – and why its focus drew her in [Audio]

Yeagley is a 20-year veteran of human services organizations in Texas, California and Florida. At Gulf Coast Jewish Family & Community Services,  she was credited with enhancing community engagement and strengthening the nonprofit’s positive impact. Among other things, she led the HUD housing community in significant improvements to the facility, and expanded services for the 106 vulnerable seniors it houses, including increased access to health services and connections to food bank partners.

She’s also a noted speaker on diversity and cultural competence, and a founding board member of Plus Projec+, a foundation-based funding resources created by and for the LGBTQ+ community in the Tampa-St. Pete area.

The St. Petersburg Free Clinic has eight food, shelter and health care programs that distribute more than 11 million pounds of food to community members annually, provide over 9,000 with free health and wellness services annually, and help another 400 annually on their path to independent living through shelter services.