SUSAN B. TOWLER

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, FLORIDA BLUE FOUNDATION, JACKSONVILLE

Florida Blue has been providing health solutions to residents of Florida for more than 80 years, serving more than 6 million members and all 67 Florida counties. Towler began her career at Florida Blue 29 years ago. For 25 years, she has led the Florida Blue Foundation. She has been a chair of Leadership Florida, the Florida Philanthropic Network, Volunteer Florida and the Florida Chamber Foundation, and is incoming chair for Florida Humanities.

EDUCATION: University of Florida (BS)

FIRST JOB: Beyond babysitting, I pumped gas and checked oil at Jim Schumaker’s Exxon station at the corner of Jacksonville’s Arlington Expressway and Arlingwood Avenue one brisk winter in the early 1980s.

DREAM ALTERNATE CAREER: I’d love to combine my passion for nature, humanities and historic preservation into a career. Maybe the director of Cumberland Island National Seashore?

PASSION PROJECT: My husband, Jim, bought a 1927 Spanish Colonial Revival home in the 1980s and we restored it in 2015. It’s in a historic neighborhood called Granada, and we are celebrating the 100th year as a neighborhood in 2025.