MEET OUR 2020 WONDER WOMEN BIOS
RAE DOWLING
THE GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS GURU
Rae Dowling is the Area Manager in our Southwest service territory. She joined Florida Power & Light Company in 1984 after earning a Bachelor’s degree in Government from Florida State University. Rae has held numerous positions in Customer Service, Commercial/Industrial Accounts, Information Management, Distribution Power Systems and External Affairs. In her present position, she is responsible for government affairs and community relations in Sarasota, Manatee, DeSoto, Highlands and Hardee counties on Florida’s West Coast.
Ms. Dowling currently serves on the Board of Director’s for the Argus Foundation, United Way Suncoast, Girl Scouts of Gulf Coast Florida, Sarasota EDC and The Parrish Foundation.
LISA KROUSE
THE LEGAL LEADER
Lisa Krouse is a Board Member, Executive Vice President, and Chief Administrative Officer at FCCI Insurance Group, a super-regional property and casualty insurance company headquartered in Sarasota, Florida and doing business in 19 states. During Lisa’s 15-year tenure at FCCI, she has been responsible for corporate social responsibility, public relations, marketing, corporate communications, human resources, shared services, all facilities management, security, and business continuity management. Since joining FCCI in 2005 she has been cultivating a culture of excellence. There’s always an air of excitement around Lisa. She views every day as a gift, and she brings that zest for life to FCCI, positively impacting the teammates she engages ensuring that FCCI attracts, retains and develops top-notch talent.
Prior to joining FCCI, Lisa was General Counsel, SE Region and V.P. of Human Resources at Zenith Insurance Company. She also served as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel at NCCI for nearly ten years, having been appointed its first female Officer. During her time at NCCI, she filed and received approval to change the workmans’ compensation policy to the workers’ compensation policy throughout the United States.
She received her B.S. degree from New York University and her Juris Doctorate from New York Law School, where she became its first female student body president since its founding in 1891. She received the school’s highest honor of distinction upon graduation for her service to the school. She is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and is a member of the Florida Bar, District of Columbia Bar and the New York Bar. Her credentials include the designation of Senior Professional in Human Resources issued by the Society for Human Resources Management. She was awarded “HR Professional of the Year” by the Sarasota-Manatee Human Resources Association. She is a Past Chair of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and is only one of five women to have held that position since its founding over 100 years ago. She currently sits on the Board of the Gulf Coast Community Foundation and the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) of Sarasota County.
Throughout the years, she sat on numerous boards including Habitat for Humanity, Career Source Suncoast, Teen Court, Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, All Faiths Food Bank, and the advisory boards of University of South Florida, Florida State University and Doctors Hospital. She served as District Director for HR Florida (an affiliate of the Society For Human Resource Management), and is past president of the Sarasota/Manatee Human Resources Association. Lisa is a contributing author of Teeing Up For Success a compilation of stories co-authored by women like Alice Dye, wife of golf course designer Pete Dye and Donna Shalala, former cabinet secretary to Bill Clinton and President of the University of Miami.
Lisa has written for many publications on legal, insurance and employment law topics and speaks nationally on topics such as building a pipeline of insurance talent, leadership development and employee wellbeing and engagement. Lisa is intently focused on changing the way young people think about the insurance industry when they are searching for a career. She is a passionate ambassador for the newly instituted Risk Management and Insurance Program at the University of South Florida and is immensely supportive of the insurance programming at State College of Florida.
Lisa has been married to Mitchel for 35 years. They have a daughter, Megan, who is a graduate of the University of Miami and is a lawyer in Sarasota, and a son, Ian, who is a graduate of Notre Dame and holds an MBA. He resides in Detroit, Michigan.
VICTORIA STULTZ
THE REAL ESTATE MOGUL
Originally from Boston, Victoria Stultz has been working in the real estate industry for over 19 years. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in marketing from Northern Kentucky University in Alexandria, Kentucky.
Victoria obtained her business experience in Cincinnati, where she worked in sales for a Fortune 500 company for several years before transitioning into real estate with a prominent brokerage. In 2001, she and her husband purchased a national real estate franchise in which they bought and sold over 150 houses. After selling her business five years later, Victoria relocated to Florida and continued her real estate career in the Sarasota area.
Her effective negotiating skills, extensive business experience and vibrant personality have resulted in a proven track record including a record-setting sale for $14.5 million in 2015 and ten consecutive years winning the Five Star professional real estate award.
She possesses an intimate knowledge of the real estate industry, but it is her intuitive understanding of her customers’ needs and the manner in which she services those needs that truly make her unique. It is Victoria’s goal to deliver exceptional service with exceptional results based on trust, integrity, discretion and excellence. What it really comes down to though, Victoria says, is the fact that real estate is a relationship business and should always be customer-centric. It comes as no surprise that many of her customers have naturally become lifelong friends after the unwavering dedication and attentiveness she exhibits with each transaction.
Victoria’s passion and dedication for the community extend beyond selling real estate. She serves on many nonprofit boards and committees including chair of the board of directors for the Venice Chamber of Commerce, South County Tiger Bay Club, Venice High School Foundation, Debutante of Sarasota and is a former board member of the Venice-Nokomis Rotary Club. In her leisure time, Victoria enjoys tennis, golf, cooking and traveling with her husband, daughter and dog, Lily.
MARILYN THOMPSON
THE EQUITY EXPERT
Marilyn Thompson is a retired Human Resources Executive with more than thirty years of global human resources management experience at General Electric, GlaxoSmithKline, and Johnson & Johnson.
For 23 years, Marilyn worked in the consumer and pharmaceutical businesses at Johnson & Johnson and has extensive experience in leadership development, talent management, culture change, coaching, and training. She has been recognized for her outstanding leadership in partnering with business leaders to build organizations that are strengthened and empowered by effective human resources management systems, policies, and practices. In her last position at Johnson & Johnson, she was global head of Diversity and Inclusion for pharmaceutical business at corporate headquarters. The company received numerous awards for best practices in driving business results and embedding diversity & inclusion into its workforce, workplace, marketplace, and external relations.
Since retiring to the area from New Jersey in 2012, Marilyn has been a volunteer at a number of impactful local organizations including the Gulf Coast Chapter of the U.S. National Committee for UN Women, YWCA Y Achievers, Take Stock in Children of Sarasota, and Community Foundation of Sarasota County (CFSC). In 2016, she joined the CSFC Board of Directors and is currently the chair of the board’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Task Force. Marilyn is a member of the Bradenton/Sarasota (Fl) chapter of The Links Inc. and serves as the Services to Youth Facet Chair. In this role, she initiated the development of a National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Jr. Chapter at Booker Middle School. She is a founding member and current President of Masala Giving Circle, a group of philanthropic women with a passion for giving back, helping others, and creating positive change in the African-American community of Sarasota and Manatee counties. Since it was created in 2014, the circle has awarded grants to 14 nonprofits and its membership has soared to over 60 women.
Marilyn earned a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Vassar College, a master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Pennsylvania, and a master’s degree in Business Administration from Drexel University. She has coaching certification from the Hudson Institute and International Coaching Federation and has a passion for mentoring and coaching leaders.
Marilyn enjoys traveling, tennis, walking, and mahjong. She has a grown daughter that lives in Ahu Dhabi. Marilyn is a collaborative, innovative, strategic, and results-oriented community leader who strives to live Gandhi’s motto, “Be the change you wish to see in the world.”