The Jacksonville Jaguars Foundation is undergoing a restructuring with the departure of Dr. Gregory Gross, who has been the foundation's president since 1994. Peter Racine has been promoted to executive director of the foundation, and Marjorie Sabio has been elevated to program officer.
Gross, who will remain a consultant for the foundation for the next six months, has been responsible for nearly $1 million in grants alone that the foundation has received from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. In nearly seven years, the Jaguars Foundation has allocated more than $3.5 million in grants to Jacksonville-area non-profit organizations, and millions more through nationally acclaimed programs using in-kind support.
"Being part of the exciting process to establish the Jaguars Foundation and its programs has been an extraordinary opportunity for which I am deeply grateful," Gross reflected. "Particularly in light of such
community-oriented owners and partners, I have no doubt that the foundation will continue to set a benchmark in sports-related philantrophy."
"When it became clear that Jacksonville would become the 30th NFL franchise, we immediately turned to Greg Gross for guidance. The rest is history," said Delores Barr Weaver, chair and CEO of the Jaguars Foundation. "He not only gave us the guidance we sought, but he accepted our challenge to move with his family to Jacksonville to make our dream and vision of working on behalf of disadvantaged youth in Jacksonville a reality. Today, the Jaguars Foundation is a beacon of light across our community, the NFL and the country."
Racine, who joined the foundation last year as program officer, has worked in the non-profit sector for almost 20 years. Prior to joining the Jaguars Foundation, he spent eight years as the executive director of the Northeast Florida Exchange Club for the Prevention of Child Abuse. He has worked for a program aimed at addressing rehabilitation needs of infants exposed to cocaine during childbirth, was national executive director of Covenant House in Honduras, and managed several challenging roles with Covenant House in New York, Toronto and Houston. Racine holds a master's degree in theological studies from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and a bachelor's degree from Rutgers.
Sabio has been with the Jaguars Foundation almost since its inception, spending the last four years as coordinator of grants and special projects. In addition to increased responsibility for grants, she will continue to head up the "Straight Talk" program. Sabio has a bachelor's degree in English from Boston College.
"We are excited about continuing our work under Peter's leadership and confident that with all of us working together we will move the Foundation to the next level," added Mrs. Weaver. "Greg will be missed, no doubt, but he leaves us with strong guidelines and basic principles from which to continue our work."
