The Top 50 Tampa Bay Women Leaders of 2026
Tampa Bay has always been a place where bold builders thrive-but in the last few years, the region’s growth has taken on a new shape: more global companies, more sophisticated healthcare and life sciences, a fast-maturing startup ecosystem, and a rising expectation that civic progress and business progress move together.
That’s exactly where many of Tampa Bay’s most influential women are showing up: not only running complex organizations, but also shaping workforce pipelines, accelerating equitable community investment, modernizing infrastructure, strengthening public trust, and expanding opportunity in industries that historically left women out of the room.
Below is an editorially ranked list of 50 of the most influential women leaders across the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area. To keep the list broad (and genuinely useful), I limited it to no more than two leaders from the same organization.
This is an impact-weighted, “who’s moving the region” ranking-based on a mix of:
* scope of responsibility (regional vs. departmental), * organizational reach (jobs, capital, community footprint), * influence on policy, talent, and economic development, * and visible leadership/recognition in the Tampa Bay market (including major regional honors).
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#1 Jane Castor
If you want to understand Tampa’s direction-development priorities, business climate, infrastructure posture, public safety tone-start with the mayor’s office. As Tampa’s 59th mayor and a longtime public servant (including as Tampa’s first female chief of police), Castor is a central connector between private-sector growth and public-sector execution, shaping the “rules of the road” for how the city grows.
#2 Stephanie Conners
Conners leads one of the region’s most consequential institutions: BayCare, a major not-for-profit health system anchored in Clearwater and serving West Central Florida. Her influence shows up not only in healthcare delivery, but also in workforce development (clinical and corporate talent), community benefit strategy, and the operational scale that makes BayCare a cornerstone employer in the metro.
#3 Melissa Seixas
Energy reliability is economic development. Seixas leads Duke Energy’s Florida priorities-an outsized lever on growth, resilience, and long-range infrastructure planning across the region. Her role touches everything from grid modernization to long-term capacity decisions that shape what kinds of businesses can scale in Tampa Bay and how communities weather disruption.
#4 Bemetra Simmons
Simmons operates where business strategy meets regional policy. The Tampa Bay Partnership convenes top employers and civic stakeholders, and under Simmons the organization has emphasized big “shared constraints” like housing affordability, transportation, and workforce alignment-exactly the issues that determine whether Tampa Bay’s growth becomes broadly sustainable.
#5 Darcie Glazer Kassewitz
Kassewitz is a business-and-community force in a category that shapes civic identity and economic energy: professional sports. Beyond leadership inside the Buccaneers organization, she has pushed initiatives designed to expand women’s pathways into sports and football careers-visibility that changes who imagines themselves in leadership across the region.
#6 Marlene Spalten
Spalten is one of the most influential “capital allocators” in the region-not venture capital, but philanthropic capital that moves into education, resilience, neighborhood wellbeing, and nonprofit capacity. Community foundations also play a quiet but powerful role as conveners, aligning donors and partners around long-term regional priorities.
#7 Stacey Brandt
Brandt’s role is the kind of leadership that makes large institutions actually work: operational scale, administrative execution, and system-level coordination. In a region where healthcare is both a growth engine and a community backbone, senior operational leadership at a flagship hospital system has ripple effects across talent, innovation, and patient access.
#8 Karen Swager
Mosaic is a globally significant company headquartered in Tampa, and Swager sits at the center of enterprise-wide operations. That’s the kind of role where decisions cascade into supply chain strategy, safety culture, productivity, and long-term operational resilience-exactly the “industrial leadership” that often goes unnoticed until it’s absent.
#9 Yijun “Jenny” Wang
Wang leads commercial strategy at Mosaic, spanning the mechanisms that turn global market demand into real enterprise growth-sales, marketing, product strategy, and distribution. Tampa Bay’s influence on global business isn’t only finance and healthcare; it’s also anchored in leaders driving worldwide commercial execution from headquarters here.
#10 Dr. Kanika Tomalin
Tomalin’s impact sits at the intersection of health, equity, and place-based investment. Leading the Foundation for a Healthy St. Petersburg means guiding grantmaking and initiatives aimed at improving the determinants of health-work that directly affects the long-term strength of the city’s talent base and neighborhood vitality.
#11 Dr. Tonjua Williams
Williams leads one of the region’s most important workforce engines. St. Petersburg College touches talent supply at scale-credentialing, upskilling, and career mobility-making the president’s office a powerful lever in how Tampa Bay competes for jobs and improves economic access.
#12 Frann M. Leppla
Leppla leads the philanthropic arm that fuels strategic investment into a major healthcare system-often the difference between “good” and “transformational” capabilities. By directing sustainable fundraising initiatives, she helps underwrite innovations, patient programs, and expansion efforts that shape Tampa Bay’s healthcare future.
#13 Jenine Rabin
As an executive leader at a premier pediatric institution in St. Petersburg, Rabin’s influence extends beyond hospital operations into regional pediatric care standards, specialized workforce needs, and community health outcomes for families across Tampa Bay.
#14 Tracy Holtz
Holtz represents a specific kind of Tampa Bay influence: large-scale technology distribution and cloud enablement. In an era where cloud adoption is table stakes, leadership in this lane shapes how companies procure, deploy, and scale modern tech-impacting thousands of downstream business decisions.
#15 Lissette Gonzalez
As a top executive at a Tampa-headquartered public company, Gonzalez helps steer the commercial outcomes of brands that touch consumers nationwide. Roles like this influence everything from market strategy to brand performance-and they also set the tone for leadership development inside major headquarters-based teams.
#16 Kelly Lefferts
Lefferts holds one of the highest-leverage seats in a public company: governance, risk, ethics, and corporate decision-making. Especially in fast-moving consumer-facing industries, strong legal leadership helps companies scale responsibly-and protects the institutional trust that long-term growth requires.
#17 Vinette Godelia
In a growth market, top legal influencers help determine how capital moves, how deals get structured, and how institutions manage risk while expanding. As a shareholder at a major Florida firm, Godelia is part of the professional backbone that enables business formation, expansion, and complex transactions across the region.
#18 Susan “Suzy” Lopez
Business ecosystems depend on public trust and functional institutions. Lopez leads a large prosecutorial organization responsible for criminal prosecutions in the circuit, influencing how justice is administered and how communities experience safety and accountability-conditions that directly affect investment, workforce stability, and neighborhood vitality.
#19 Allie Felix
Felix is helping reshape who gets to participate in innovation-not just as founders, but as investors and decision-makers. Through Embarc Collective’s programming (including women-focused investor education highlighted regionally), she’s part of the leadership turning Tampa Bay into a more inclusive startup ecosystem.
#20 Christina Unkel
Unkel sits in a modern “new influence” category: women’s pro sports leadership. Building a new club is equal parts brand, community, partnerships, talent strategy, and long-term commercial model-and it creates visible pathways for women leaders across the business of sports in Tampa Bay. ## \#21-\#50: The complete ranked list (continuation)
#21 Vera Muzzillo
As CEO of Proforma, Muzzillo has guided a large franchise network by pairing strategic growth with strong support for entrepreneurs. Her leadership helps businesses solve branding and procurement needs at scale, strengthening Tampa’s profile as a home base for high-performing services companies.
#22 Mary Pat King
King leads Girl Scouts of West Central Florida with a focus on entrepreneurship, STEM, and leadership programs that prepare girls for the future workforce. By expanding partnerships and strengthening organizational capacity, she turns a trusted nonprofit brand into measurable long-term talent development for the region.
#23 Abbye Feeley
Feeley helps shape Tampa’s growth by steering development and economic opportunity efforts that balance speed, equity, and long-term planning. Her work aligns policy, permitting, and partnerships to attract investment, support small businesses, and strengthen neighborhoods.
#24 Keri Eisenbeis
Eisenbeis brings strategic alignment and clear communication to BayCare, one of the region’s most important healthcare employers and service providers. By uniting leadership operations with brand and community trust, she helps the system deliver on care quality while growing sustainably.
#25 Stacey Aschoff
Aschoff connects middle-market companies to capital, treasury expertise, and strategic advice that fuel expansion, hiring, and resilience. Her market leadership at JPMorgan Chase strengthens Tampa’s business ecosystem by helping local firms compete and scale.
#26 Mrunal Gangrade
Gangrade leads engineering teams that build and modernize the digital platforms powering secure, reliable financial services at scale. Her focus on technology execution and talent development supports innovation jobs in Tampa and accelerates how customers and businesses access banking.
#27 Lindsay August
August drives regional performance by deepening client relationships and expanding banking services that support consumers and businesses across the Tampa Bay area. Her leadership blends growth with community presence, strengthening access to financial resources and advice.
#28 Veronica Cintron
Cintron helps position Tampa International Airport as a high-performing gateway by shaping strategy, communications, and customer-facing brand experience. Her work supports tourism and business connectivity while elevating the airport’s reputation as an economic engine for the region.
#29 Sarah Cole
Cole leads the Glazer Children’s Museum as both an educational institution and a visitor-driven enterprise, expanding hands-on learning for families. Through partnership-building and strong stewardship, she strengthens downtown vitality and invests in the next generation of talent.
#30 Elizabeth Constantine
Constantine’s work as an assistant state attorney strengthens public trust and community safety, which are foundational to a healthy regional economy. Her leadership and professionalism help ensure accountability and stability that residents, employers, and neighborhoods rely on.
#31 Zarra Elias
Elias supports one of Tampa’s flagship research and care institutions by guiding employment strategy with clarity and fairness in a highly regulated environment. Her counsel helps Moffitt attract and retain top talent while managing risk, enabling the organization to stay focused on lifesaving care and sustainable growth.
#32 Indra Sandal
Sandal is a catalyst for healthcare innovation, translating frontline needs in veteran care into pilots, partnerships, and scalable solutions. By building a venture studio model inside a major medical center, she accelerates new technologies and strengthens Tampa’s reputation in health innovation.
#33 Kathleen Keen
Keen leads multidisciplinary infrastructure and development work at VHB, guiding projects that shape mobility, resilience, and sustainable growth. Her leadership helps public and private clients deliver complex plans efficiently, turning investment into safer communities and stronger economic outcomes.
#34 Kristine Retetagos
Retetagos drives project delivery and business growth for Kast Construction, helping shape commercial spaces where companies operate and expand. Her focus on client partnership, schedule discipline, and quality execution makes her a key contributor to Tampa’s building and development momentum.
#35 Debbie Zaller
As COO of Schellman, Zaller strengthens operations in a fast-growing assurance and cybersecurity environment where precision and trust are everything. Her leadership helps clients meet rigorous standards, supporting safer digital commerce while growing a Tampa-based professional services platform.
#36 Andrea Gonzmart Williams
Gonzmart Williams has helped steward and expand one of Florida’s most iconic hospitality brands, blending tradition with modern operations and guest experience. Her leadership supports jobs, tourism, and local supply chains while keeping a multi-generation family enterprise thriving in Tampa Bay.
#37 Elisa Caro
Caro drives revenue strategy and partner growth at SmartChoice, strengthening the systems that help agents and clients succeed in a competitive market. Her commercial leadership scales the business while reinforcing Tampa’s role as a hub for insurance and financial services innovation.
#38 Rebecca Sanford
Sanford brings people and operating expertise to Francisco Partners’ portfolio, helping companies build leadership teams and cultures that accelerate performance. By aligning talent strategy with value creation, she enables scalable growth that resonates across the technology and services economy.
#39 Tonya Slaton
Slaton provides high-level tax leadership for Amgen, navigating complexity with rigor to support responsible growth and investment. Her expertise strengthens governance and financial discipline, enabling a major life sciences company to focus resources on innovation and patient impact.
#40 Detra Smith-O’Bryant
Smith-O’Bryant leads Florida Home Partnership in expanding affordable housing and homeownership pathways, turning capital and partnerships into stable communities. Her results-oriented approach supports workforce stability and economic mobility, making growth more inclusive for Tampa Bay.
#41 Abigail Stclair
Stclair built TeBella Tea Co into a distinctive local brand that combines retail, hospitality, and community gathering with a clear identity. Her entrepreneurship creates jobs and draws foot traffic while showing how experience-driven small businesses can thrive in Tampa.
#42 Nikki Taylor
Taylor leads luxury sales with a sharp understanding of market dynamics, elevating client service and deal execution in one of Tampa Bay’s most competitive segments. Her performance supports high-value transactions that influence development, relocation, and the region’s broader economic momentum.
#43 Mili Patel
Patel has grown Smile Design Dentistry by pairing clinical excellence with a patient-first experience and strong practice leadership. Her entrepreneurship strengthens local healthcare access while creating skilled jobs and setting a high standard for service-driven care.
#44 Tiffany Bailey
Bailey leads Bayside Sod with operational discipline, ensuring reliable supply for the landscaping and development projects that shape the region’s growth. Her leadership in a logistics-heavy business creates jobs, supports contractors, and keeps large-scale projects moving efficiently.
#45 Elizabeth Reedy
Reedy leads Frameworks of Tampa Bay with a mission-driven, business-minded approach that expands community-based services and strengthens partnerships across the region. By building sustainable programs and measurable outcomes, she delivers lasting impact for families while elevating the organization’s operational excellence.
#46 Brittney Zoeller
Zoeller shapes Benchmark International’s global brand and creative strategy, ensuring the firm’s positioning supports business development across markets. Her leadership connects storytelling to commercial results, strengthening a Tampa-based platform in the competitive mergers and acquisitions space.
#47 Joanne Sullivan
Sullivan builds bridges between USF Health and the community, expanding collaborations that improve health outcomes and access to care. By aligning outreach with the institution’s clinical and academic strengths, she helps translate research and expertise into tangible regional benefit.
#48 Maryann Ferenc
Ferenc has grown Mise en Place into a widely respected culinary retail and education destination, blending entrepreneurship with a deep commitment to craft. Her leadership supports Tampa’s food and hospitality ecosystem by equipping chefs and home cooks alike and driving cultural tourism.
#49 Nicole Baldon
Baldon’s leadership at Bank of America strengthens relationships and financial solutions that help businesses and families plan, invest, and grow. Her work also reinforces the bank’s community presence, supporting economic development through partnership and responsible stewardship.
#50 Celeste Roberts
Roberts leads the Skills Center with a workforce-first focus, creating training and employment pathways that meet real employer needs. By helping individuals gain in-demand skills and confidence, she strengthens the talent pipeline that underpins inclusive growth in Tampa Bay.
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