gypsy

  • CEO, The 2020 Plan
  • Grow Smarter Steering Committee
  • St. Petersburg Economic Development Committee Founding Investor

 

Gypsy  is CEO of Urban Market Analytics, a Florida-based firm that specializes in designing, funding, and evaluating place-based solutions that “move the needle” of economic progress for low-income people and communities, including redevelopment strategies, community economy growth plans, and initiatives to accelerate poverty reduction.

Gypsy has 27 years of experience working with award-winning organizations in fields that are vital to transforming community economies, including commercial development, workforce development, economic development, and micro & small business development.

She has worked with 40+ development organizations, public and private, in Florida, across America and overseas, to design and co-design statewide, regional and communitywide initiatives that helped accelerate job creation, business growth, and employment gains for minorities and low-income people.

Gypsy’s career roles have included Vice President of Development for Urban Development Solutions (9 years), helping to co-develop and finance 281,000 square feet of commercial space and 50 affordable homes in low-income communities; and as Vice President for International Enterprise Development (12 years), where she helped establish MicroEnterprise Florida, an Enterprise Florida initiative to grow the lending and service capacity of a state network of microbusiness development organizations.

Locally, Gypsy is CEO of The 2020 Plan, a collective impact initiative of 100 organizations committed to reducing the poverty rate by 30% in South St. Petersburg by 2020 (Florida’s largest poverty reduction plan); and is CEO of the Power Broker Media Group, publisher of the Power Broker magazine, targeting African-Americans in Florida’s Tampa Bay region. Previously, Gypsy was Lead Organizer for a 6-year advocacy effort that inspired the creation of the South St. Petersburg Community Redevelopment Area (CRA), which is to generate $100 million in tax increment revenue to community businesses, organizations and residents over 30 years.

Gypsy is the recipient of two dozen awards for leadership and service, and is a mother of four adult children, including two nephews she helped raise.

She earned a Master’s in Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government (dual concentrations in Political & Economic Development and International Trade & Finance), and a B.A. degree from the Whitney Young College of Leadership at Kentucky State University.