Christine Jennings has been an active community member in Sarasota and the 13th Congressional District for 24 years, sharing her considerable skills with both the corporate and non-profit community.
Born and raised in New Boston, Ohio, she learned the value of hard work and developed her strong work ethic from her parents. Her father was a steel mill worker, a disabled WWII veteran and a minister. Her mother ran a beauty parlor out of their home.
Right out of high school, at age 17, Christine got a job as a bank teller. The self-discipline and decision-making skills taught to her by her parents helped Christine work her way up from bank teller to founder and president of Sarasota Bank, at a time when women executives were rare. On her way to the top within the financial industry, she served in numerous leadership positions with various banks before serving as President, CEO, Chairman of the Board and Director of Sarasota Bank.
Since 1984, when Christine moved to Sarasota, she has been actively involved in the community. She has worked with families and neighbors to help them achieve their needs and their dreams. Working with small start-up businesses to large corporations, Christine has always offered integrity, dedication and service as she helped make those dreams a reality.
Her skills in community insight and consensus building have been finely tuned during her professional career and through her work in community service. She has served in the capacity of President for five community organizations: the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, the Sarasota Film Festival, the Mental Health Association of Sarasota County, the Sarasota Ballet and the Downtown Association of Sarasota.
In addition, she is a graduate of Leadership Manatee and served on the Executive Committee United Way of Manatee County. Her board affiliations are numerous and include the Community AIDS Network and Big Brothers/Big Sisters, among over a dozen other community memberships and leadership roles.
She was appointed by Governor Lawton Chiles to chair the Real Property-Lease Procurement Task Force and has been honored by many organizations, including the United Negro College Fund, the National Council of Jewish Women and the National Association of Fundraising Executives.
Christine Jennings retired from the banking industry in 2004 and remains involved in the community as she runs for Florida’s 13th Congressional seat.