The collective impact grows exponentially—here are some of the many reasons to bid more boldly and generously than ever as NWWF celebrates 25 years on January 25.
PAST
More than two decades ago, Collier County’s nonprofits were spread thin. Resources for children in need were sparse, and families struggled to access the limited opportunities—to this day, no tax dollars in the county go to children’s services. Naples Children & Education Foundation (NCEF) emeritus trustee Scott Lutgert recalls the dire reality organizations faced. “The absence of public funding for social services in Collier County was significant because it left a critical gap in support for vulnerable populations,” he says. “Local charities had to shoulder the burden of meeting community needs through their fundraising efforts.” Things changed in 1999 when, at a wine auction to benefit Youth Haven shelter for unhoused or abused children, a small group of oenophiles met to discuss hosting a wine festival of their own. The founders held weekly meetings focused on creating a sustainable event with a long-term business model to help nonprofits benefiting local kids. In 2001, the Naples Winter Wine Festival (NWWF) was born.
The first festival brought in an astonishing $2 million. The founding trustees knew NCEF needed to build on their targeted approach to maintain longevity. Accountability was a priority: From the onset, NCEF monitored organizations for efficacy. “In many ways, it’s similar to how a business measures profit, but in our case, we’re evaluating the impact and effectiveness of the organizations in delivering results for children,” Lutgert says. He and an illustrious cadre of business tycoons, vintners and marketing maestros engineered a philanthropic model that operates with entrepreneurial precision and scale.
The foundation and festival stood out by keeping the mission front and center. In 2005, they added Meet the Kids Day to the festivities so patrons could interact with the children they help support. “There’s nothing better than meeting and seeing the kids that benefit from the generosity of so many people,” trustee Rick Germain says.
Knowing they’d be stronger through strategic partnerships, NCEF revolutionized its approach in 2005. Working with the University of Florida, they conducted the first Study of Child Well Being—a comprehensive analysis repeated about every five years to identify where Collier County children need help most. The data-driven approach led to the Blueprint Model, a framework for lasting change built on Strategic Initiatives (core areas of need, outlined in the sidebars) and vetted partners. Rather than solely providing annual grants (which the foundation still allocates for timely programs), NCEF could now engineer systemic change. The multi-year funding model focuses on critical needs identified through the studies: early learning, out-of-school time, hunger, vision, dental, healthcare and mental health.
The NCEF Pediatric Dental Center at Florida SouthWestern State College’s Collier Campus exemplifies this. Established in 2008 with Healthcare Network and the University of Florida College of Dentistry, the center has treated about 195,000 children through its clinic, mobile unit and screening program for Collier County third-graders attending public and charter schools. “Rather than offering temporary solutions, NCEF addresses root causes through a broad, multi-faceted approach,” emeritus trustee Denise Cobb says.
Transparency and collaboration are key for NCEF. Back when they had fewer partners, nonprofit leaders applied for grants in person and participated in round-table presentations. Now, with nearly 60 beneficiaries, the process has evolved: NCEF surveys the landscape, assessing needs and gaps; nonprofits apply for grants, detailing proposed solutions and expected outcomes; and the foundation invests all funds raised into the community (almost $302 million so far) based on strategic alignment, demonstrated capacity and potential impact. At each step, nonprofits stay informed of evolving needs and their role in collective progress, and patrons can track how their contributions translate into tangible outcomes for local children.
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Early on, founding trustees like Scott Lutgert (right) met with nonprofit leaders to identify key issues facing kids, laying the groundwork for NCEF’s research-based and collaborative approach.
PRESENT
If you walk into the NCEF building off Goodlette-Frank Road, you’ll find a team laser-focused on transforming how children’s services work in Collier County. CEO Maria Jimenez-Lara and grants and community impact senior vice president Sarah Zaiser-Kelly might be analyzing data and strategic partnerships, while CFO Joan Larson meets with the accounting department to map out the organization’s annual operating budget. The magic transcends these walls, as NCEF Strategic Initiative directors—positions NCEF helps fund—visit Blueprint partners and orchestrate collaborations, all in efforts to break down barriers and eliminate duplication of services across the community.

In addition to its illustrious trustees and legion of volunteers, NCEF relies on its nimble team of 15, led by CEO Maria Jimenez-Lara (sixth from left).
Take Immokalee’s transformed after-school landscape: Instead of competing for resources, four major providers now work seamlessly together. Senior Education Initiative director Jamie Scott helped orchestrate a partnership where each organization maximizes its strengths: The Immokalee Foundation delivers focused reading comprehension and intervention tutoring for K-5 students; Guadalupe Center specializes in math support; Boys & Girls Club of Collier County’s (BGCCC) Miracle program enhances personal enrichment and social learning; and RCMA rounds out the immersive ecosystem with targeted after-school activities for charter school students. This synchronized system, operating on aligned pickup schedules, saves $116,000 in transportation costs and reduces bus traffic; more importantly, it ensures every child receives comprehensive support. “We’re not just donating money; we’re creating systems,” Jimenez-Lara explains.
The strategic approach translates to how NCEF measures success. Last year, the foundation updated its grant applications to include a logic model, where organizations map out the relationships between requested inputs, resulting activities and intended short- and long-term outcomes. “We look at that return on investment with each one of the applicants,” says grants SVP Zaiser-Kelly. “If we’re giving $100,000 to an organization, what does that ultimately mean? And what is that behavioral change the children participating in that program are showing?”
It’s one thing to see BGCCC’s results from NCEF-funded programming: 86% of 3,500 members improved or maintained academically in 2023. It’s another to project how the programs reduce incarceration risk and boost graduation rates. Or how at St. Matthew’s House, NCEF supports 18,000 bed nights (total beds occupied vs. number of beds available), with 100% of children’s needs covered during their stay and 55 kids moving into stable housing, breaking cycles of homelessness and poverty.
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Photography by Anna Nguyen
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NWWF SVP Lisa Juliano (right) takes point on planning the festival with her team, including events coordinator Caprice Del Vecchio (left). Everything planned for the event centers on maximizing the reach and impact for the children NCEF serves.
FUTURE
This year, NCEF’s vision takes physical form with the debut of the NCEF Wellness Center in Immokalee. Bringing Golisano Children’s Hospital of Southwest Florida, Meals of Hope, ABLE Academy and UF Oral Health under one roof, the facility creates a one-stop hub for families to access comprehensive care, cutting out the hour-plus drive Immokalee families often face to fulfill basic needs, access preventative and diagnostic screenings, or get treatment. “Early intervention changes life trajectories,” Zaiser-Kelly explains. “When we catch behavioral issues, health concerns or learning disabilities early, we’re not just saving families time and money—we’re opening up possibilities.”

Photography by Anna Nguyen
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Core focuses serve as guiding lights for the future: early identification and intervention; strategic, research-based planning; avoiding duplication of effort; fostering transformative collaborations; and ensuring access for all.
As Collier County grows and children’s needs evolve, the foundation lets its data guide the way. While the next major impact study comes in 2027, innovation happens daily. The team understands that just because a program has been running well for years doesn’t mean it can’t be improved or that critical needs aren’t being overlooked. They are currently conducting a deep-dive analysis into early learning efforts to ensure the initiative evolves with community needs (they’ll soon do the same with the mental health and hunger initiatives).
The foundation is also introducing methods to ensure its partner nonprofits’ long-term stability. In 2024, NCEF worked with Schulze Family Foundation and Collier Community Foundation to host quarterly marketing, communications and grant-writing sessions. Jimenez-Lara gives much of the credit for NCEF’s success to its staff of 15 and a long list of trustees and volunteers—a large yet nimble network that can pivot quickly.
In a sense, the team resembles the diverse, well-connected founders who united to take the festival beyond their wildest dreams. “Who knows how the world will continue to change and what challenges lie ahead for the children of Collier County,” Germain reflects. “But NCEF will be there every step of the way.”
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Photography by Erik Kellar
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NCEF conducts comprehensive realignment studies every five years, but the group constantly evolves. Even successful efforts undergo deep-dive analyses to identify gaps and improvements. The team is currently evaluating the early learning initiative and plans to continue with mental health and hunger.
Inside the seven Strategic Initiatives informing NCEF’s Blueprint Model, with multi-year, targeted funding for systemic change for local kids.
Strategic Initiative 1: Early Learning
About half of Collier County kids entering kindergarten are academically underprepared, according to the Florida Kindergarten Readiness Screener. NCEF prioritizes early intervention, helping about 60,000 pre-K children over 15 years prepare for school. Partnerships include the Early Learning Coalition of Southwest Florida, Naples’ ABLE Academy, Guadalupe Center, RCMA in Immokalee, Pathways Early Education Center of Immokalee and Florida Gulf Coast University, which helped NCEF develop the Early Literacy Learning Model to prepare at-risk students for success.

Photography by Brian Tietz
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Photo By Brian Tietz
Strategic Initiative 2: Healthcare
Low-income families in Collier County often struggle to receive adequate healthcare due primarily to a lack of access to nearby providers and insurance issues (about 8.8% of Collier children are uninsured). Since 2006, NCEF’s Healthcare Initiative partners have facilitated more than 330,000 pediatric visits. The foundation works with partners to establish services in the greatest areas of need (like the primary care clinic at the Isabel Collier Read building in Immokalee, done with Florida State University) and provide critical supplies and positions (including pediatric nurses at Healthcare Network at Nichols Community Health Center in Golden Gate).

Photography by Brian Tietz
Strategic Initiative 3: Hunger
About 65% of Collier County students qualify for free and reduced-price school meals, emphasizing how many children are affected by food insecurity. NCEF partners with nearly 60 local agencies, including hunger organizations like Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida and Meals of Hope, whose mobile pantries bring food directly to communities in need. Since 2011, NCEF has helped provide more than 41 million meals throughout the region, including feeding 500 children annually through the Out-of-School Feeding Program after school and during the summer.

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Strategic Initiative 4: Mental Health
With rising rates of childhood depression and anxiety—accelerated by the pandemic and digital media exposure—NCEF pioneered a care model where children see mental health professionals during pediatric visits. Working with David Lawrence Centers, Healthcare Network, NAMI Collier and Florida State University College of Medicine, the organization facilitates more than 6,000 mental health screenings annually. NCEF also partners with Golisano Children’s Hospital to offer autism care for low-income children. And this year, they are pulling in Nicklaus Children’s Hospital to provide care with Lighthouse Pediatrics of Naples and NCH Pediatrics.

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DLC Children's Crisis Stabilization Unit Room Group
Strategic Initiative 5: Oral Health
While Collier County has close to 300 dentists, fewer than 2% accept Medicaid, according to a 2020 Department of Health Report. Beyond partnering with the University of Florida and Healthcare Network to establish the NCEF Pediatric Dental Center in East Naples, the foundation has championed landmark oral health efforts. In 2013, the group created a county-wide, school-based surveillance program to offer screenings to about 3,000 third-graders annually (including providing students with preventative sealants). The foundation also funds bilingual oral literacy programs for families and a mobile dental clinic to provide care where it’s needed most.

Photography by Brian Tietz
Strategic Initiative 6: Out-of-School Time
In Immokalee, where after-school care is scarce, NCEF orchestrates a network of providers—Guadalupe Center, RCMA, Boys & Girls Club of Collier County and The Immokalee Foundation—to create comprehensive coverage without service overlap. More than half of Immokalee’s elementary-aged students now attend NCEF-supported programs, accessing everything from a hot meal after school to innovative offerings for behavioral learning.

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Strategic Initiative 7: Vision
Vision problems often masquerade as academic struggles. NCEF’s solution shows clear results: 94% of provided 184,000 vision screenings for underprivileged children. When serious treatments for conditions like glaucoma or eye misalignment are needed, the foundation collaborates with Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Florida Lions Eye Clinic and Lighthouse of Collier to get immediate, quality care.

Photography by Kelly Jones