PLANNING LEADER GROUP - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- CEO of the 2020 Plan
- CEO of Urban Market Analytics
- CEO, the 2020 Plan / Grow Smarter Steering Committee / St. Petersburg Economic Development Committee
Gypsy is CEO of Urban Market Analytics, a Florida-based firm that specializes in designing, funding, and evaluating place-based solutions that "move the needle" of economic progress for low-income people and communities, including redevelopment strategies, community economy growth plans, and initiatives to accelerate poverty reduction.
Gypsy has 27 years of experience working with award-winning organizations in fields that are vital to transforming community economies, including commercial development, workforce development, economic development, and micro & small business development.
She has worked with 40+ development organizations, public and private, in Florida, across America and overseas, to design and co-design statewide, regional and communitywide initiatives that helped accelerate job creation, business growth, and employment gains for minorities and low-income people.
Gypsy's career roles have included Vice President of Development for Urban Development Solutions (9 years), helping to co-develop and finance 281,000 square feet of commercial space and 50 affordable homes in low-income communities; and as Vice President for International Enterprise Development (12 years), where she helped establish MicroEnterprise Florida, an Enterprise Florida initiative to grow the lending and service capacity of a state network of microbusiness development organizations.
Locally, Gypsy is CEO of The 2020 Plan, a collective impact initiative of 100 organizations committed to reducing the poverty rate by 30% in South St. Petersburg by 2020 (Florida's largest poverty reduction plan); and is CEO of the Power Broker Media Group, publisher of the Power Broker magazine, targeting African-Americans in Florida's Tampa Bay region. Previously, Gypsy was Lead Organizer for a 6-year advocacy effort that inspired the creation of the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area (CRA), which is to generate $100 million in tax increment revenue to community businesses, organizations and residents over 30 years.
Gypsy is the recipient of two dozen awards for leadership and service, and is a mother of four adult children, including two nephews she helped raise.
She earned a Master's in Public Policy degree from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government (dual concentrations in Political & Economic Development and International Trade & Finance), and a B.A. degree from the Whitney Young College of Leadership at Kentucky State University.
Job Titles:
- City of St. Petersburg 's Director of Urban Affairs
- Urban Affairs Director, City of St. Petersburg / Former Deputy District Director for Congresswoman Kathy Castor / Former Assistant VP of Community Development Banking for AmSouth Bank
Appointed by the Mayor, Nikki is the City of St. Petersburg's Director of Urban Affairs where she works to develop the policy agenda for South St. Petersburg across city departments, and to spur economic development in the South St. Pete Community Redevelopment Area.
Her prior positions were as Director of Communications & External Affairs for the Pinellas County Urban League (where she was selected by the National Urban League to the Whitney Young Jr., Emerging Leaders Program), Deputy District Director for Congresswoman Kathy Castor, Executive Director of the Partnership for a Healthier Pinellas, Outreach Director for Congressman Jim Davis, owner of Sanaa' Systems, and Assistant VP of Community Development Banking for AmSouth Bank.
Job Titles:
- Senior Pastor, Mt Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church / Ex - Officio Board Member, Mt Zion Human Services / Advisory Board Member, Pinellas Community Foundation
Rev. Murphy has dedicated his pastoral career to kingdom building, inside and outside the walls of Mt. Zion Progressive Missionary Baptist Church, where he was installed as Senior Pastor in 1999. Murphy entered the ministry with a life-long track record in secular leadership, as a one-time Drum Major for the world-renowned Florida A&M Marching 100, as a former non-commissioned Marine Corps officer, in procurement management roles with Florida Power Corporation and the St. Petersburg Times, and as a four-year District Executive for the West Central Florida Council of Boy Scouts of America.
Under his guidance, Mt. Zion Progressive has grown to become the largest African-American congregation in the city of St. Petersburg, Florida, while paying off the $2.1 million church mortgage 13 years ahead of schedule, and opening the Mt Zion Christian Academy, serving children in grades K through 5.
His unwavering focus on effective community change has placed Mt. Zion on the leading edge of economic and spiritual renewal in the City's most impoverished areas. Rev. Murphy's community leadership roles have included service as a founding board member of Urban Development Solutions (which built the 47,000 square foot Tangerine Plaza shopping center in Midtown), as Co-Chair of the Power On! Campaign, which was credited with helping to produce a record black voter turnout in south St. Petersburg, as founder of Seven x 7, a movement of 30+ South St. Petersburg churches hosting a week-long annual revival, and as a 2020 Plan Core Team member, leading a collective plan to reduce poverty by 30% in South St. Petersburg by the year 2020.
Rev. Murphy has also served as a board member with the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg and Mt Zion Human Services, as an advisory council member for the Community Foundation of Greater St. Petersburg, and as a member of over 25 years with the Kiwanis Club of Greater St. Petersburg.
Recognition for his service and leadership include the Distinguished Citizen of the Year Award by the Boy Scouts, the NAACP President's Award, the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity Citizen of the Year Award, the St. Petersburg Bar Association Liberty Bell Award, and the WBTN Radio Ministry Recognition Award, among others.
A native of Florida, Rev. Murphy continued his studies at Florida A&M University and the University of Central Florida. He received a B.S. in Business Administration from Hawaii's Chaminade University, while serving in the United States Marine Corps.
Job Titles:
- Urban Affairs Director, City of St. Petersburg / Former Deputy District Director for Congresswoman Kathy Castor / Former Assistant VP of Community Development Banking for AmSouth Bank
Job Titles:
- President & CEO of the Pinellas County Urban League
- President & CEO, Pinellas County Urban League / Grow Smarter Steering Committee Member
Rev. Watson L. Haynes II, President & CEO of the Pinellas County Urban League, which serves as a change agent to address generational poverty with the major focus areas of Economic Development, Housing, Education and Health Initiatives. The service areas of the Pinellas County Urban League include 24 municipalities in Pinellas County, the Tampa Bay area and Marion, Hernando, Sumter, Lake, Seminole and Pasco counties.
Rev. Haynes is a popular public speaker, consultant and trainer in governmental and non-profit operations and education. He served as the Education and Community Outreach Project Coordinator, Academic and Student Affairs, St. Petersburg College and is a retired employee of the Florida Department of Labor.
He was appointed by Governor Jeb Bush to the Governing Board of the Southwest Florida Water Management District (a water policy taxing authority covering 16 counties and serving 3.5 million residents). As a member of the Governing Board, he also served as Chair of the Finance and Administration Committee, Diversity Chairman, and representative of the Board on the Green Industry Advisory Committee. He also served as co-chair ex-officio for the Pinellas-Anclote River Basin Board and as the District representative on the Governing Board of the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council.
Rev. Haynes was appointed by Governor Charlie Crist to the Florida Commission on Human Relations, and was re-appointed by Governor Rick Scott in 2011. He represented the commission as a member of the Center for Public Safety Innovation (CPSI) Florida Regional Community Policing Institute and served on the majority of the discrimination case review panels.
Over the past 30 years, Rev. Haynes has held positions on numerous governmental boards and commissions including Chair of the Charter Review Commission, Chair of the Social Action Funding Committee, Chair of the Pinellas Community Foundation and Trustee on the Gulf Coast Legal Services Community Law Program. He is a past member of the Charitable Solicitations Board. He was appointed by the Pinellas County Commission as a member of the Health Facilities Finance Authority and the Social Action and Mental Health Funding Advisory Board, member of the Pinellas County Transit Alternatives Stakeholder Committee for Economic Development. He serves on the boards of the St. Petersburg Area Chamber of Commerce and Associated Marine Institute (AMI) Kids, and is a member of the Pinellas Education Foundation P4PS Committee (Parents for Pinellas Students) as well as a founding member and former Chair of COQEBS (Concerned Organizations for Quality Education for Black Students).
Rev. Haynes holds a Master of Science Degree in Management from National Louis University, a Bachelor of Arts in Public Administration from Eckerd College where he served as a member of the President's Advisory Council and is a graduate of the Eckerd College Leadership Development Institute. He has an Associate in Arts Degree from St. Petersburg College where, in 2007, he was recognized as an outstanding Alumnus and more recently in 2012 was honored by the College and its Board of Trustees for outstanding service to the College and community. He received an AA degree in Theology from the Florida Theological Seminary in Lakeland, Florida and was the first African American elected Senior Class President at St. Petersburg High School. He is the Co-Chaplain for the Eta Rho Chapter of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity and an Associate Minister at New Pleasant Grove Missionary Baptist Church.