Community Partners

A core part of our mission is to create opportunities to collaborate with individuals, organizations, and businesses in our community.

We are honored to partner with and receive support from several key organizations, including Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation, Gulf Coast Community Foundation, The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee, and Ringling College of Art and Design.

Embracing Our Differences is very proud of its partnerships with these fine organizations. Without their support, our work would be impossible.

The Charles and Margery Barancik family has long believed in the power of philanthropy to shape our world and enrich the lives of all people. It was the expression of this belief that led them in 2014 to establish Charles & Margery Barancik Foundation—a private, family foundation located in Sarasota, Florida. Barancik Foundation creates initiatives and awards grants in Sarasota and beyond in the areas of education, humanitarian causes, arts and culture, the environment, and medical research.

CHARLES & MARGERY BARANCIK FOUNDATION
1515 Ringling Boulevard, Suite 500, Sarasota, FL 34236

For over 25 years, together with our donors, and community partners, Gulf Coast Community Foundation has transformed our region through bold and proactive philanthropy. Gulf Coast is a public charity that was created in 1995 through the sale of the Venice Hospital, a community hospital that had been founded by local citizens more than four decades earlier. Over 850 generous philanthropists call Gulf Coast home. Together with our donors, we have surpassed granting over $550 million in the areas of health and human services, civic and economic development, education, arts and culture, and the environment.

GULF COAST COMMUNITY FOUNDATION
601 Tamiami Trail South, Venice, FL 34285 • 941-486-4600

Ringling College of Art and Design recognizes that artists and designers play a significant role in society. Ringling has about 1700 undergraduate students and offers 13 degree programs. The College is the only institution in Florida dedicated exclusively to teaching art and design. Many of our programs are ranked among the best in the nation, including Computer Animation, Motion Design, and Game Art.

In addition to its degree program, Ringling College of Art and Design offers courses, lectures, exhibitions and other art-related services to the local and regional community through its gallery, library, continuing education and community service programs.

RINGLING COLLEGE OF ART AND DESIGN
2700 North Tamiami Trail, Sarasota, FL 34234-5895 • 941-351-5100

The mission of The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee to strengthen Jewish life and identity in our community, provide for Jewish people in need, and promote support for Israel. We seek to build a safe and secure Jewish community and counter antisemitism through education. We honor our traditions, yet are unrelenting in our pursuit of progress.

The Federation advances this mission with its partner network by: Meeting the human needs of the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish community and of fellow Jews world-wide, promoting a positive Jewish identity, supporting Israel, involving and building community among the Jews of Sarasota-Manatee, and strengthening ties between the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish community and the broader society in which it exists.

THE JEWISH FEDERATION OF SARASOTA-MANATEE
580 McIntosh Road, Sarasota, FL 34232 • 941-371-4546

Community Collaborations

Embracing Our Differences is proud of its many collaborations throughout the last year. A past recipient of The Patterson Foundation’s “Collaborative Innovator Award,” Embracing Our Differences partnered with many local organizations and businesses to bring innovative programming to our community this past year.