Amelia Fox hails from rural Georgia where a modest upbringing instilled in her values of love, responsibility and perseverance. Her professional journey commenced with a focus on social services, driven by a desire to make a difference in the lives of at-risk youth. After pursuing her MBA at Yale University, she spent two decades in the private sector until she joined Lutheran Services Florida in 2016, tasked with guiding the organization through a period of unprecedented growth upwards of 700%.
Lutheran Services Florida (LSF) is a nonprofit providing social and human services to children, teens, families and adults throughout Florida. Through their work, the agency helps communities build healthier, happier, and hope-filled futures by reducing the suicide and drug addiction rate, giving families in crisis the support they need to persevere, and making sure those in poverty get the education they need to close the achievement gap. The organization has three lines of service: LSF Head Start, LSF Family Focus and LSF Health Systems.
Under Fox’s guidance, the organization experienced exponential expansion, nearly doubling revenue, and increasing its reach to touch the lives of thousands across Florida annually. Her responsibilities encompass areas such as quality assurance, communications and marketing, fundraising and business development, chief of staff, and board affairs.
“Throughout my journey, I’ve remained steadfast in upholding core values of hard work, ethics, compassion and generosity,” said Fox. “My dedication to driving positive change and fostering growth continues to define my professional ethos, as I strive to be a beacon of strength and inspiration for those around me.”
In her role, Fox launched a transformative employee recognition program and new hire orientation, collaborated with the chief executive officer to restructure the executive and senior leadership teams, navigated the organization through two COA reaccreditations, and reorganized departments to optimize LSF’s efficiency.
Her efforts have led to recognition as a business woman of the year by the Tampa Bay Business Journal and elected Leadership Tampa Bay – class of 2023 class co-chair. Fox serves as a mentor and coach for the Tampa Bay Chamber and has managed the Atlanta-based Women in Technology executive coaching program.
As a leader, Fox said that she strives for empathy, courage, vision and flexibility. “Leaders who are courageous overcome their fears and doubts and pursue their goals with passion and determination,” she said. “Courageous leaders also encourage their team members to step outside of their comfort zone, experiment with new ideas and learn from their mistakes – they are willing to do the hard things.”
