SUSAN PONDER-STANSEL

PRESIDENT & CEO, ALIVIA CARE, JACKSONVILLE

Alivia Care oversees 10 subsidiary organizations — including Community Hospice & Palliative Care — that deliver specialized support to patients and families facing advanced illnesses in North Florida and South Georgia. Alivia includes a children’s hospice and palliative care program, one of the few of its kind nationally. Ponder-Stansel is chair of the executive committee of the Florida Hospice and Palliative Care Association.

EDUCATION: Florida State University (BS), Florida State University (MSW)

FIRST JOB: Tour guide at the Fountain of Youth in St. Augustine. We had to wear heavy Spanish-style costumes in the Florida heat and give tourists cups of water from the well that was supposed to contain water that would keep you young forever.

DREAM ALTERNATE CAREER: Food anthropologist

SOMETHING SURPRISING: I was part of the community organization that saved the St. Augustine Lighthouse from demolition during the 1980s and 1990s. I was the force in forming what is now the St. Augustine Lighthouse Museum, one of the most highly visited attractions in St. Augustine.

INDUSTRY TREND: There is high demand for care at home from consumers and payers, and I believe there will be continuing development of new models of care at home and the technology that is needed to support it.

mentee impact: A mentee in the very earliest days of my career taught me about emotional intelligence and how essential it is for leaders to possess and use it in their interactions, problem-solving and communications.