East Tampa Community Revitalization Partnership Elects New Chair [11/07/2007]

On September 11, 2007, Evangeline Best took on a new leadership role in the East Tampa community when she was elected as the new Chair of the East Tampa Community Revitalization Partnership. The Partnership is a coalition of businesses, individuals and civic groups that works with the city to help redevelop the East Tampa community. It was established four years ago to aid in Mayor Pam Iorio’s revitalization efforts.

For the past four years Ms. Best served as the head of the East Tampa Revitalization Partnership’s health, education, and social services committee. She was also instrumental in the East Tampa Initiative that sprung out of the collective efforts of the City of Tampa, USF and the East Tampa community.

The goal of the Initiative is to help East Tampa thrive as a community by developing partnerships between USF faculty and community groups working to meet organizational and social service needs, improve educational opportunities, bring in new businesses, and revitalize the neighborhood.

Born and raised in East Tampa, Ms. Best worked within the Hillsborough County public schools as a social worker until 2004 when she retired. She has been a committed East Tampa activist for many years and is proud to be able to continue her work in the community through this new role. She has her bachelor’s degree in sociology from St. Augustine College in North Carolina and her master’s in adult education from Florida A&M University. Earlier this year, Ms. Best became a graduate of the 2007 USF Collaborative Service-Learning Leadership Academy, a program that brought together USF faculty, students and community organizations to build better relations in the communities surrounding USF.

Ms. Best is a remarkable woman who strives to bring about a brighter future for the community in which she was raised. She is proud of the progress made to date in East Tampa and continues championing those causes that will bring about fresh opportunities for revitalization to this community.