Almost any Florida beachgoer is familiar with Ron Jon Surf Shop, one of the most recognized brands in surf- and skate-based products and apparel.

Yet, what comes to mind when you think of Ron Jon? Is it the laid-back beach lifestyle? Long-haired, tan-bodied surf enthusiasts catching some ocean waves? Lingo like “aloha,” “amped,” “bangin’” or “boss”? Or maybe even Ron Jon’s funky, casual 24-hour store in Cocoa Beach?

You might also think the person behind this business fits those profiles — but you would be wrong. In reality, the president and chief operating officer of Ron Jon Surf Shop is a middle-aged woman. Not only is Debbie Harvey head of the famous Ron Jon brand, but she's also riding the crest of her retail industry. Even more, she’s a leader in the community, volunteering for a variety of local organizations.

Though born in the Philippines, Harvey grew up in Fort Lauderdale and spent most of her life in Florida. She attended the University of Florida, where she earned two B.S. degrees, in business administration and marketing. At least that Florida background somewhat matches the company’s image. While Ron Jon’s ethos may reflect a mellow, relaxed style of living,  the person who runs the company does not. Instead, Harvey’s style is hard driving, straightforward and all business.

“I basically started my career in retail the Monday after I graduated from college,” she says.

Harvey joined the executive training program of what was then Maas Brothers Department Stores, which later consolidated and became Burdines. There, she worked her way up from area manager to assistant buyer and eventually to divisional merchandise manager.

Even after Harvey had made such notable advancements in her career, she continued pushing forward. She moved to Beall’s, becoming vice president of apparel, and then had a short stint with the Home Shopping Network before leaving Florida for Tennessee to work for Goody’s Department Store. In 2000, family issues compelled her to return home to Florida, and not long thereafter, she was recruited to work for Ron Jon as vice president of purchasing.

Today, Harvey has been with Ron Jon for almost 10 years and has been the company’s COO since 2008. There, her pervasive experience in retail has well equipped her to be the leading woman behind the surf shops.

“In business,” she contends, “every position that you have improves your experience bank and prepares you to deal with a variety of scenarios. Some of the most important lessons you can learn [teach you] how to deal with and manage different types of people."

Another lesson learned that Harvey has put into practice is understanding the importance of smart growth. “Overall, my goal as president of Ron Jon is just to make our stores as profitable and exciting as possible while growing in a smart, measured way. We want to enhance our business and brand while placing stores in sensible beach locations that reflect what our company represents.”

Above all else, she adds, business is business, regardless of niche or perceptual stereotypes. “Our business is knowing how to serve the customers, delight the customers and provide them with the merchandise they expect to find in our stores,” she asserts.

“When you’re a merchandise buyer, you learn to separate your personal taste from what the customer wants. If you’re good enough at it, you don’t need to be the type of person others expect you to be.”

Also, while one might expect the retail industry to be cutthroat and male dominated, Harvey claims just the opposite. “I believe that the retail industry was one that was at the forefront of having women in management positions. By its very nature, it tends to attract a lot of women into the buying positions, and it was just a matter of time before they started moving into the upper ranks of management positions. If you just take a look around the industry, you can see that the president of Beall’s is a female, the president of the Home Shopping Network is a female [and] there are a lot of women at the [helms] of retail [companies].”

Notably, Harvey’s commitment to community service is just as hard driving as her career in retail. Her mantra: “I am part of my community, and I believe in it.”

“I think that it is very important to challenge yourself to get out of the office and into the community and strive to make a difference,” she says. “Overall, I’m trying to make [Brevard County] a better area for business." Harvey is involved with numerous organizations, both professional and charitable; for example, she serves as chair of the board of directors for the Florida Retail Federation and as a board member of the Brevard Zoo.

Harvey not only lives that mindset, but she also encourages her fellow executives to do the same. Her head of operations is on the board of United Way, and her marketing director is on the board of Take Stock in Children, a nonprofit organization providing low-income, at-risk students with the opportunity to excel in their education through scholarships and mentoring programs.

Even with so much on her plate, Harvey is still able to excel in all she does. Like one of the county's many surfers poised to enter the water, she is both zealous and passionate about her work. She clearly loves what she does.

“I look forward to coming to work every day,” Harvey concludes, “and I don’t think it gets any better than that.”

Both behind the scenes and at the lead, Inez Long has championed local minority business for more than two decades.

You have to love someone with passion. Someone who will struggle and fight for others in need. You have to love someone who gives back to the community and who stands up for the little guy.

Inez Long is someone you just have to love.

Long is president and CEO of the Black Business Investment Fund of Central Florida Inc., a private and public partnership investment fund developed to create, support and enhance minority business development through loans, training, technical assistance and education. Long has leveraged more than $21 million in loans, which created an economic impact of more than $93 million in the Central Florida community and helped to retain and create thousands of jobs.

As a child, Long developed a strong sensitivity to those in need and an awareness and commitment to community, shaped by parents who consistently gave back to their own community. A sixth-generation Floridian and Winter Garden resident, Long has a deep relationship with the heart of Florida. She attended Valencia Community College before earning her bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of South Florida, where she also met her husband of more than 30 years. She later received an MBA from the University of Central Florida.

Long began working professionally in banking with a foundation in commercial credit policy and underwriting. She worked for Florida National Bank (which became First Union) and later with SunTrust Bank. Long quickly climbed the professional ladder, making a name for herself in her field and setting a standard for community involvement.

Early in her career, working as a commercial lender, Long discovered that it was difficult to get business loans for minority-owned businesses. Dismayed by this apparent bias, she began exploring ways to help, joining outside business groups and volunteering her time, experience and business connections to assist in underwriting those loans. She utilized different organizations, including the BBIF, and found that by working on both sides —lender and business owner — she was able to actualize the loans. She would often approach lending organizations on behalf of black business owners, maneuvering through the thick red tape, determined to assist the business in its goal of receiving credit.

This kind-hearted championing ended up benefiting Long considerably, as she was later solicited by the BBIF’s president in 1990 to join the organization after she had approached the BBIF on behalf of a black business owner. In 1991, the president of the BBIF was promoted, and after being interviewed by the BBIF board among other nationally scouted candidates, Long was offered the job of president.

For more than two decades, the BBIF has worked to make a significant impact on Central Florida’s minority business community, helping to create and sustain thousands of jobs and to foster the growth of hundreds of businesses. As president, Long has more than tripled the BBIF’s capital base.

“Our goal is to continue to expand our capital base so that we can support more small businesses,” says Long.

As a nontraditional small business lender, the BBIF aims to expand and leverage its resources and partnerships to help more of the state’s small businesses. “There are so many quality small businesses that need financing assistance,” she comments. “I love finance and the art of putting creative deals together. And I love helping people achieve their dreams of owning a successful business.”

In addition to her position with the BBIF, Long is a managing partner in the development of the Renaissance at Carver Square project. Located in Orlando’s historic Parramore community, the Renaissance at Carver Square is a mixed-use project on a 1.27 acre site that will include commercial and retail outlets, housing, a small business incubator, and a community and business multiuse space. When completed in ??, the project will also reintroduce the Carver Theater to the community for arts and entertainment. Most notably, the project will utilize many of the community’s local minority and small businesses and, according to Long, signal the BBIF’s “commitment [to] and investment [in] community redevelopment in the Parramore area that will spur the economic growth in Orlando.

“This project is so very important because it brings about a significant and positive impact economically into a part of the community that is economically depressed and has been so for over 40 years,” she says.

The project is quintessential Long. Not only does it promise to revitalize a long-neglected area of Orlando, but it could also provide significant resources to expand minority business enterprises in Central Florida.

“If I can help a business owner, whoever it is, I will help them.” Long says. “My hope and vision is that our community leaders, public and private, continue to support the concept of economic gardening. [A] focused effort would strengthen and make our community economically healthy.”

After nearly 17 years of doing “whatever it takes” for customers and building his business into a successful empire, David Maus has become one of the most recognizable faces in Central Florida.

Playing the part of general manager and partner, spokesperson and personality behind Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai dealerships, Maus is almost everywhere on television. He has even parlayed his idiosyncratic automobile commercials into a full-fledged local advertising agency, Maus Media Group, and is continually expanding his business ventures.

What many people don’t know is that Maus also earns an “A” in community involvement. Indeed, his “whatever” motto extends beyond his dealerships and into improving the lives of children and their families.

“I have been extremely fortunate in business, but being a philanthropist has been what I’ve always wanted to do,” says Maus. “I have always wanted to help the community in which I live and make a difference in someone’s life. I’ve been able to do that through business and the David Maus Foundation.”

After years of personally and professionally supporting local charities, Maus decided to develop a charity in which fund-raising goals and efforts could be dedicated on a larger scale. So in 2004, he and a small group of volunteers began the David Maus Foundation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on helping children with serious illnesses and their families. “As a parent of three children, I am always inspired and amazed by them. I also know, through personal experience, the heartache that comes when a child is ill,” says Maus, 41. “I hope that through the fund-raising efforts of the David Maus Foundation we are able to alleviate some of the pain, stress or heartache of the [children] and their families.”

The First Annual David Maus Foundation Celebrity Golf Tournament, held in 2004, raised more than $40,000 for the Seminole County Boys & Girls Clubs and for Camp Boggy Creek. The tournament has since become known as one of the best charity events in Orlando. The foundation has also raised money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Florida, with the raffle of a Camry Hybrid and several other sponsored events. Each effort is intended to make a difference in the lives of people, especially young people. “Children should be able to play and just be kids,” Maus comments. “When one falls ill, it is difficult [for] the families to see them in pain.” The efforts of the foundation give families of children in local hospitals a place to stay, free of charge.

Also, the foundation has raised funds to support the Florida Hospital for Children, allowing the hospital to purchase needed supplies and to help sponsor medical research. In addition, it has joined with the Make a Wish Foundation of Central and Northern Florida to help the charity give ill children the chance to have their wishes come true. For one such event, the Maus Foundation teamed with World Wrestling Entertainment Inc. to showcase WrestleMania to more than 50 kids from across the country. “This was one of the best events we have ever put together. The smiles on the faces of these children were incredible, and we were thrilled to make it an event they will remember,” says Maus, who has been spotlighted by Time magazine for his philanthropy.

To date, the foundation has raised more than $500,000 for area charities. Other beneficiaries include the Children’s Miracle Network, the Sports and Drugs Don’t Mix Charity for Kids and the Lake Mary Police Department D.A.R.E. programs.

“The most rewarding part is when a family or child comes up to me or one of our board members to thank us for our help,” says Maus. “It is so humbling to receive letters and cards on updates from families. It is an amazing feeling to know you’ve helped someone feel hope.”

Ultimately, Maus, too, believes he has benefited from the work of the foundation: “It drives me to be more successful in business so that we can continue to financially donate to these charities.”

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For Linda Landman Gonzalez, nothing has been like the lessons she received abroad. Her experience in high-profile corporate roles over more than the past decade in Orlando pales in comparison to the B.A. in education she earned from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico in Mexico City and her ensuing years of marriage, classroom teaching and raising two daughters in Mexico.

That period in her life, from leaving the United States at age 17 to returning in her 30s, brought an enlightenment that has shaped the remainder of her life.

“I came back very aware of just what makes America so extraordinary in its community feel,” she explains. “And I wanted to be a part of that.

“I couldn’t imagine not knowing the community or being a part of it or not trying to understand the community. Being a participant [in] the community is who I am. … It’s not something I think about. It’s just how I exist.”

Indeed, many people find work in their life. Far fewer, such as Gonzalez, find life in their work.

A mid-1990s stint as vice president of Hispanic sales and marketing for Barnett Bank in Orlando served as a prelude to nine years as director of diversity, community and government relations for Darden Restaurants, Orlando’s only Fortune 500 corporation. While at Darden, she focused on creating community partnerships, employee volunteer opportunities and leadership development in top markets nationwide, including Orlando. She also managed corporate giving while developing a second-language translation initiative for the corporation.

Her efforts resulted in numerous corporate awards for Darden, including Fortune’s Top 10 Diversity Elite, Black Enterprise’s list of Best Companies for Diversity and Hispanic Business magazine’s Best Place for Hispanics to Work.

In September 2007, Gonzalez was named vice president of community relations and government affairs for the Orlando Magic. There, she oversees community relations, government affairs and multicultural insight, and she presides as head of the Orlando Magic Youth Fund Advisory Council.

In that 2007-2008 season, the team won 50 of 82 games and made the playoffs. Yet, one of the franchise’s best moves, it turned out, was the hiring of the multidimensional Gonzalez, an all-star point guard of sorts who contributes mostly by elevating the level of play from those around her.

"Linda has great passion and vision, while having her finger on the pulse of the community," comments Alex Martins, the Magic’s chief operating officer. "Her leadership is outstanding and allows the Orlando Magic to enact programs and initiatives that make an enduring impact."

With Gonzalez at the helm of its advisory council, the OMYF has stated its mission as helping “every child in Central Florida realize their full potential, especially those most at risk, by supporting programs and partnerships that empower families and change lives.” Since the Fund’s inception, it has granted nearly $15 million to Central Florida nonprofit organizations. This year, OMYF checks were presented to 27 organizations from nine counties. With funds raised by the OMYF and the match provided by the McCormick Foundation, a total of $750,000 in grants and scholarships was distributed to the community in 2008-2009.

Additionally, a staffwide campaign provides more than 5,500 volunteer hours annually, establishing a sense of civic spirit throughout One Magic Place that’s reminiscent of the crowd buzz created from an emphatic Dwight Howard dunk.

Gonzalez also worked to ensure minority participation in the construction of the new Amway Center, scheduled for completion this [EWP1] fall. The result: a reported 35 percent participation by women and ethnic minorities. “This is something we did not take lightly,” she says.

Similarly, Parramore, the neighborhood surrounding the new center, has been among her chief agenda items. The Magic have helped to fund the Parramore Kid Zone, an initiative aimed at reducing juvenile crime, teen pregnancy and high school dropout rates, along with building basketball courts and playgrounds and working with the neighborhood’s schools. “[Parramore],” she notes, “is just as important as Thornton Park or the Lake Eola historic district. It is downtown, and it is a top priority.”

Her last name offers clues, but her work leaves little doubt that diversity isn’t simply an option or the right thing for a community to do. Instead, it’s a natural state of being for Orlando. “It is who we are,” she says, citing that more than 260 languages are spoken in Orange County schools. “The number-one thing is you always should recognize, celebrate and then ensure that who you are is at its best.”

Gonzalez acknowledges that effort, for her, isn’t easy. It’s often exhausting, in fact. Aside from her duties with the Magic, she currently is involved in volunteer activities for several organizations. Among them are the Central Florida Transportation Corridors Task Force, Florida State Conference NAACP Corporate Advisory Board, African American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida, Casa de Mexico, WMFE Board of Trustees and the city of Orlando’s Children’s Trust Committee. Also, she is the chair-elect of the Valencia Community College Foundation and the immediate past president of the Orlando Ballet. And, for good measure, she serves on the board of Fifth Third Bank and was appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist in February 2009 to sit on the Early Learning Coalition of Orange County.

Still, her commitment is tireless. The word excuse remains missing from her bilingual vocabulary.

“The time exists; there are enough hours in a day,” she says. “You just really have to be committed to being there. I use the hours in the day for things that to me are important.

“It’s my name and my commitment.”

[EWP1]Next fall (2011) or this fall (2010)?

Gary Cain, part fund-raiser, part communicator and part humanitarian, is a jack of many trades and a master of them all.

by Sarah Sekula

Gary Cain, president of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida, knows the clubs’ benefits firsthand. When he was 11, his mother divorced his alcoholic father, his sister was pregnant and one of his older siblings had just been shipped off to jail.

“In many ways, the wheels were coming off in my family,” Cain says. “My club treated me as an individual, taught me about values and sheltered me from the storm that was ongoing in my family.”

It’s no wonder he’s so passionate about this organization. And it’s no surprise that the club recently received the coveted four-star rating from America's largest independent charity evaluator, Charity Navigator, for the fifth consecutive year, a distinction that only about 4 percent of national charities ever achieve.

Catching Up With Cain

FirstMonday recently chatted with the nonprofit dynamo, who says, “Nothing beats working directly with children and knowing that you are making a big difference in their lives.”

Here is more of what’s on his mind:

What’s in store for BGCCF next year?

“We will open our new Tupperware Brands Branch in Osceola County and, hopefully, our new Joe R. Lee Branch in Eatonville.”

What’s your favorite part of a typical day?

“I very much enjoy engaging our donors and supporters in conversation about how we can be better at what we do.”

Describe one child who has had a lasting impact on you.

“I often think of a youngster named Leonard, who grew up in very impoverished circumstances. His parents were intellectually challenged, and his older brother was mentally delayed. Leonard excelled at everything he did, and he received his engineering degree from Virginia Tech. Leonard always reminds me of the great capacity of the human spirit.”

What’s the simplest thing you never learned to do?

“I don’t know that it is simple, but I never learned to play golf.”

What keeps you up at night?

“Almost always work-related challenges or excitement over projects that we are involved with.”

Who’s the smartest person you know?

“Three people come to mind. Joe R. Lee, the retired chairman and CEO of Darden Restaurants. Joe is brilliant in his intellect and in engaging others, while keeping his ego in check. The second is Rick Goings, chairman and CEO of Tupperware Brands Corp. Rick has mastered numerous languages, is brilliant at running a multinational corporation and has tremendous EQ [emotional quotient]. The third is our board chair, Gary Kaltbaum. I don’t know that there is anyone in the country who understands the stock market more than Gary.”

What skill would you most like to improve?

“Listening.”

What are your hobbies and pastimes — any unusual accomplishments?

“I enjoy fishing, tennis and running. I was the table tennis champ at my college [Tusculum College in Greeneville, Tenn.] and played on the tennis team.”

Positive Place

Each year, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida organization serves more than 13,000 youth between ages 6 and 18 and provides them a safe place to learn and grow.

At each of the 31 Clubs in Brevard, Osceola, Orange and Seminole counties, core youth-development programs are offered to meet the diverse needs and interests of members. Consider this: 98 percent of all club members who were high school seniors graduated, and less than one-tenth of 1 percent of members have ever been arrested.

Pretty impressive, indeed.

Here’s how you or your company can help:

• Mentor a youth
• Read with a child
• Lead a sports activity
• Host a club career fair
• Volunteer as a group
• Adopt a club in your district
• Ask a representative to speak at your next staff function
• Contribute to the corporate giving campaign

For more information, visit www.bgccf.org or call 407. 841.6855.

Not far from the life-sized game of CandyLand, just beyond the giant red and white polka-dotted mushroom and near the hand-carved wooden carousel is Pamela Landwirth’s office.

Inside, the first thing that catches the eye isn’t the bevy of doodads and toys arranged on a shelf above her desk. It’s not the purple walls either. It is the enormous stuffed animal nestled in the corner, a.k.a. Mayor Clayton, the floppy-eared mascot of Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee, where Landwirth happily serves as leader.

“Come on in,” she says, in her endearing Kentucky accent. From that moment on, it’s apparent; she’s not your typical president. Probably because the nonprofit se runs is not your typical organization.

For starters, it’s a place where Christmas falls on every Thursday and eating ice cream for breakfast is encouraged. The 70-acre resort serves as a haven for children with life-threatening illnesses and their families to reboot and relax. Here, they savor a weeklong, cost-free escape that includes meals, transportation and donated tickets to SeaWorld, Disney and Universal.

It’s early morning as we set off on a tour of the meticulous grounds. First stop: the Gingerbread House Restaurant, where families are chowing down on breakfast. Nearby, Disney characters meander. Pop music fills the air.

At the whimsical hideaway, kids put their worries on the back burner and “have what we like to call a week filled with yeses,” says Landwirth. And so, Landwirth fills the fantasy land with magical places like the La-Ti-Da Royal Spa, where a teen sits in a sparkly chair waiting for her airbrush tattoo. A mother with curly-haired twins passes by outside, heading for the swimming pool.

Landwirth thrives here, and thus, so does the Village.

“I have found my calling,” she says, emphatically. “How many people actually feel like they have found what they were put on earth to do? And then get to live it every single day of their lives.”

It’s clear the role is a perfect fit. Under Landwirth’s leadership, the organization’s administrative rate is 7.8 percent, which is virtually unheard of in the nonprofit world. This means 92 cents of every dollar spent goes directly to the mission.

Plus, consider the economic footprint she’s able to make. Since 1989, the Village has hosted nearly 100,000 families from more than 68 countries. While 95 percent of the money is raised outside the area, it is all spent here in Central Florida, she says. Last year alone, the organization spent $2 million on rental cars.

Landwirth must be doing something right. Her 144 employees would likely agree. For four years, the Village has been named one of Central Florida’s “top companies for working families,” as defined by the Orlando Sentinel.

For most, being at the resort is literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “You want to make it the most special place on earth because these kids may only have one more tomorrow,” she explains.

With Give Kids the World Village being one of the most respected charities in the country, “special” is an understatement.

Take Action

To volunteer or donate to Give Kids the World Village visit www.gktw.org or call (800) 995-KIDS.