The Agents of Hope Appreciation Gathering on January 20, 2026

On Tuesday, January 20, 2026, The New Civic Path facilitator and support team were invited to attend the Agents of Hope: Appreciation Gathering at the Gulf Coast Community Foundation Sarasota Philanthropy Center. This was an opportunity to gather, reflect, and celebrate the impact we created together. Smiles, joy, laughter, and warm embraces were all around – characteristics of a celebration of connection, reflection, and gratitude.

This work has been a team endeavor. It could not have happened without each TPF team member. Each facilitator, support person, note-taker, communicator, and behind-the-scenes helper played a vital role in shaping these New Civic Path book circles and creating spaces for safe, meaningful conversation to strengthen our community.

The New Civic Path book circles embodied TPF’s five key actions: Connecting, Learning, Sharing, Evolving, and Strengthening. Collectively, we’ve connected with new faces and familiar ones, learned about our shared aspirations through food and conversation in libraries, virtually, and even in historic spaces. We’ve shared our lived experiences, sometimes vulnerable ones, and evolved our processes and delivery to make each circle meaningful for both facilitators and participants. And together, we’ve strengthened our community by demonstrating the power of shared aspirations that restore hope.

In true TPF fashion, at the gathering, there was delicious lasagna for lunch, and special touches such as the tasty NOM Catering brownies, the personalized thank you cards at each seat, the specialty popcorn thanking everyone for making the book circles pop, and awards recognizing those who went above and beyond, such as…

• The Pathmaker Award: Most Book Circles Facilitated – Linda Gould
• The Bridge Builder Award: Most Support Provided Across Circles – Tina Duvall
• The Beacons of Hope Award: Stepping Up When It Mattered Most – Sandra Vega-Picchietti and Karen Windon
• The Book Distribution Heroes Award – Melissa Hirstein, Marla Smith, and Stacey Gadeken
• The Story Amplifiers Award – Leah Verier-Dunn, Lyndsey Smith, and Andrew Spector
• The Unseen Hands Award – Stacy Sternberg and Nancy Henry

As a special surprise, Rich Harwood made a virtual appearance to share his appreciation with the team, hear their reflections, and learnings.

At the Gathering, we also shared The New Civic Path Book Circles Report, detailing the journey from June 2025 to December 2025. You can read the report here.