Meet our Board

Tom Grady invests in children, startups, and the financial sector, and co-founded The Freedom Institute to help students graduate and pursue rewarding careers. He serves as CEO of Continental Equities Group, Chief Investment Strategist for PureAssets Management Company, and CEO of GradyLaw. His prior roles include Commissioner of the Office of Financial Regulation, President of Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, Florida House member, member of the 2018 Florida Constitutional Revision Commission, Florida State Board of Education Chairman, and Florida Gulf Coast University trustee. He and his wife Ann are parents and grandparents residing in Naples, Florida.

Ed Morton of Naples served as Principal and Managing Director at Wasmer, Schroeder & Co., retiring in 2006 after 34 years as CEO of NCH Healthcare System. A Florida native from Islamorada, he holds degrees from Notre Dame, the University of Miami, and Florida Gulf Coast University, and served as a Captain in the USAR. Morton has contributed to civic boards throughout Southwest Florida, including four trustee terms at FGCU, Chair of the Greater Naples Chamber of Commerce, FGCU Foundation Chair, and a Board of Governors seat for Florida's State University System. He chaired the Partners in Education Program and received Edison State College's LIFE Award in 2004.

Tad Dekko is an entrepreneur and philanthropist with extensive leadership experience. He founded Dri-Dek Corporation (1978), Kendall International (1984), and Kendall Products (1988), serving as Chairman and President of each, and in 1992 became Chairman of Group Dekko and the Dekko Foundation. He co-founded Quest for Kids (1993) and established the Quest Educational Foundation (1994). Dekko has served on boards including Parents as Teachers, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Junior Achievement, the Hodges University Foundation, and the University of South Carolina Advisory Board. He remains a Quest Educational Foundation Trustee and a Freedom Institute Board Member.

After more than 30 years in senior media executive roles, Bill Barker founded Barker Strategic Solutions, LLC in Naples, specializing in brand positioning, market differentiation, critical thinking, leadership development, and revenue optimization. Previously he was Regional President for Gannett Inc. / USA Today Network, overseeing 24 Florida media organizations plus LOCALiQ, President and Publisher of the Naples Daily News and Fort Myers News-Press, a founding officer of Journal Media Group, and President and Publisher of The Tampa Tribune, TBO.com, and WFLA News Channel 8.