LEADERSHIP

Gypsy has 27 years of experience in community economic development, helping to design, fund and evaluate place-based solutions for economic equity for lower-income people and communities. She has worked with 40+ development organizations, public and private, in the U.S. and overseas, to design state, regional, city and sub-city initiatives to accelerate job creation, earnings growth, business growth, and commercial revitalization.

In St. Petersburg, Gypsy’s roles include nine years as Vice President (and Director of Development) for Urban Development Solutions, an award-winning organization that co-developed Tangerine Plaza Shopping Center and Lakeview Apartments and aided in the reopening of the Manhattan Casino. She also served as lead Organizer of a 6-year advocacy effort that inspired the creation of the South St. Petersburg  Community Redevelopment Area (CRA), now forecasted to generate tens of millions of dollars in tax increment funding to community initiatives over 30 years.

Gypsy is CEO of The 2020 Plan, a collective impact initiative to reduce the city’s black poverty rate by 30% by the year 2020. In 2019, she also became Executive Director of the One Community Plan, a 10-year equity initiative (2020-2029) to “grow the paychecks, bank accounts, and balance sheets of African Americans in St. Petersburg” through programs that build wealth and support entrepreneurs to thrive.

Gypsy has been honored with two dozen awards for leadership, service and innovation. Her work has been featured at national, state and regional conferences. Gypsy received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Whitney Young College of Leadership at Kentucky State University and a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government.