Shannon Staub selected Woman of the Year by the League of Women Voters of Sarasota County

Former county commissioner the first woman so honored, League chapter says

Shannon Staub. Contributed photo

The League of Women Voters of Sarasota County has selected former County Commissioner Shannon Staub as its 2017 Woman of the Year, the nonprofit organization has announced.

Staub was the founding president of the Library Foundation for Sarasota County and serves as chair of the Positive Youth Development Council, a news release points out. “This is the first time the Sarasota’s League of Women Voters (LWV) has given a Woman of the Year award,” the release adds.

The award is recognizing Staub “for her outstanding leadership and extensive service to the community,” the release notes.

The LWV’s 2017 Woman of the Year award will be presented at the nonprofit’s fundraising event on March 16, the release says. The celebration, which will begin at 6 p.m. at Mattison’s 41 on South U.S. 41 in Sarasota, will include a silent auction and a raffle to support the League of Women Voters of Sarasota County Education Fund, the release notes. For information about the reception — and to make reservations — email rsvp@lwvsrq.org.

“It is rare to find a woman with Shannon’s achievements serving the public good with such grace,” said Phyllis Vogel, president of the League of Women Voters of Sarasota County, in the release.

Staub “was instrumental in creating the STAR (Students Taking Active Roles) program through the Community Youth Development [CYD] organization,” the release continues, and she has an endowed scholarship fund in her name for the CYD/STAR youth.

Before stepping down from the County Commission in December 2010 — following 14 years of service — Staub served on the Board of Directors of the Florida Association of Counties and chaired several committees of the National Association of Counties. “She was known nationally for her leadership in environmental and economic sustainability, alternative energy and green building, water quality and land use and transportation initiatives,” the release points out.

A graduate of Leadership Florida, she served as a Gov. Jeb Bush’s appointee to the Legislative Committee on Intergovernmental Relations, the release adds.

Further, the County Commission won agreement of the Sarasota County School Board to name the new public library under construction in North Port after Staub; the groundbreaking for that facility was held in September 2016.

She has been honored with the Volunteer of the Year award from the Florida Economic Development Council, the Bob Graham Award from the Florida Lake Management Society, the Grassroots Leadership Award from the Nature Conservancy and the Legislative Advocate Award from the Sarasota Farm Bureau, the release says.