Jennifer Rominiecki Amongst Florida’s Most Influential Business Leaders
October 23, 2025 | Sarasota, FL – For a third consecutive year, Florida Trend Magazine has named president and CEO Jennifer Rominiecki to the Florida 500, a list of Florida’s most influential business leaders representing 500 candidates across major industries. The editors of Florida Trend selected the executives after conducting hundreds of interviews and months of research, culminating in a highly selective biographical guide to the leaders of Florida.
Since joining Selby Gardens in 2015, Rominiecki has been a visionary, bringing twenty years of experience at major New York City cultural institutions. After arriving, she repositioned the institution as The Living Museum®, enacting a new operating model that has yielded increases of 170% in membership and 141% in overall earned revenues. Rominiecki has also led the development and implementation of multiple strategic initiatives, including a five-year Strategic Plan, two three-year Strategic Plans, and a transformative three-phase Master Site Plan for the Downtown Sarasota campus. Phase One, completed and opened to the public in January 2024, was made possible through $57 million in philanthropic support and established the world’s first net-positive energy botanical garden complex.
The capital goal for Phase Two is $60.9 million, with over $50 million already secured, representing 83% of the goal. Collectively, more than $115 million has been raised for Phases One and Two, including nearly $10 million designated for endowment, with 99% of all funds generated through private philanthropy.
Building on the success of Phase One, this next phase will further enhance Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota campus, securing its resilience and expanding its beauty, research facilities, and educational offerings for the community and visitors from around the world. Phase Two is expected to break ground by the end of 2025, with a completion date anticipated by the end of 2027.
In May 2020, Rominiecki oversaw the adoption of Historic Spanish Point as a companion campus to Selby Gardens’ Downtown Sarasota location to form one organization with two bayfront sanctuaries connecting people to air plants of the world, native nature, and regional history.
Rominiecki is the former Chair of the Board of VISIT FLORIDA. She is incoming Board Chair of the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce and currently serves on the Boards of the Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County, the Sarasota African American Cultural Coalition, the Science and Environment Council of Southwest Florida, as well as the Southeast Advisory Council of Lafayette College.
During Rominiecki’s tenure, she and Selby Gardens have been recognized with numerous awards and distinctions. Most recently, Selby Gardens was honored with Travel + Leisure magazine’s 2025 Global Vision Award for its leadership in sustainability and responsible travel and was featured on TIME magazine’s 2024 list of the “World’s Greatest Places.”
Rominiecki herself has been widely recognized throughout her leadership including being named Visit Sarasota’s “2024 Voice of Sarasota,” honored as a 2024 Woman of the Year by the Business and Professional Women of North Sarasota, and named as a Climate Champion by the Climate Adaptation Center, which presented her with a 2024 Climate Champion Beacon Award.
Rominiecki stated, “I am honored to be recognized among Florida Trend magazine’s Florida 500 list of business leaders. This distinction reflects the remarkable work and vision of the entire Selby Gardens team—our board, staff, and volunteers—whose dedication continues to advance our mission of connecting people to air plants, native nature, and the environment. Together, we are setting a standard for how cultural institutions can lead with innovation, sustainability, and purpose, inspiring both our community and the broader world.”
The complete Florida 500 list can be found at https://floridatrend500.com.