A Conversation with José Andrés | Tuesday, October 20 | Warden Arena |  Get Tickets

Rows of seats and curved balconies in an empty theater, viewed from the stage.

Big ideas belong to everyone

Since 2007, the Winter Park Institute has brought the world’s most compelling voices to Winter Park and invited our community to think, question, and talk together.

Overview

Who we are

The Winter Park Institute is an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that convenes the community around policy, science, literature, business, and the arts. Through public lectures, readings, and conversations, we host influential people from a broad range of disciplines and invite our audiences to engage with their ideas. Through Pages for the Ages, our intergenerational book club program, college students and senior citizens meet in small groups to keep those conversations going.

We believe the exchange of ideas matters. When people gather to listen, ask questions, and share different points of view, they build the kind of informed, engaged citizenry that a healthy community depends on. Every Winter Park Institute program is designed to spark that conversation and keep it going long after the evening ends.

Younger and older adults sharing a discussion around tables with books and notebooks.
A woman reading from notes at a clear lectern on a darkened stage.

Our
Mission

The Winter Park Institute engages global thought leaders in meaningful conversation that impacts our world.

Rows of empty wooden seats lining an aisle in an auditorium.

Our
Purpose

The Institute creates opportunities to explore new ideas that improve our lives and our communities.

Overview

Our history

Explore ProgramsSupport the Institute
The Rollins College entrance arch framed by trees and hanging Spanish moss.

1930

Rollins College held its first Colloquy on Liberal Education and Social Responsibility, starting a tradition of bringing people together to consider the role of education in public life.

Aerial view of a Central Florida nonprofit campus featuring a white chapel, a large green lawn with a flagpole, and a lake in the background.

1997

Rollins convened its second Colloquy on Liberal Education and Social Responsibility, continuing that conversation for a new generation.

A man in a suit and patterned tie smiling at the camera for a Central Florida nonprofit.

2007

The third Colloquy led Rollins College, under then President Lewis Duncan, to found the Winter Park Institute.

A smiling man in a navy blue blazer and tan trousers standing in front of a Central Florida nonprofit building with an arched entryway.

2007

Support from Rollins trustee Allan E. Keen and the Charles Hosmer Morse and Elizabeth Morse Genius Foundations helped the Institute grow and made the historic Osceola Lodge its headquarters.

A collage of four Winter Park Institute guest speakers, including Maya Angelou, Paul McCartney, and Jane Goodall.

Early years

Under first Executive Director Dr. Gail Sinclair, the Institute brought to Winter Park, Maya Angelou, Dr. Jane Goodall, Ken Burns, Oliver Stone, Itzhak Perlman, Gloria Steinem, and Paul McCartney, and grew a loyal audience of curious minds from across Central Florida.

A smiling middle-aged man and Central Florida nonprofit leader wearing a light blue button-down shirt and a patterned blazer, with glasses resting on top of his head.

Early years

Billy Collins spoke at the Institute and also served as its Senior Distinguished Fellow.

Winter Park Magazine cover featuring an oil painting of a narrow canal surrounded by lush trees, with article titles about a Central Florida nonprofit listed at the bottom.

2020

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rollins entrusted the Institute to Winter Park Publishing Company, which kept it going with virtual programming.

A smiling man with a beard, wearing a blue shirt and a striped blazer, sits on a stone wall in a garden at a Central Florida nonprofit.

2021

The Winter Park Institute became an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit under the leadership of Randy Robertson.

A smiling woman from a Central Florida nonprofit holds an open copy of the book 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die by James Mustich.

2022

Leadership of the Institute passed to Lauren Zimmerman.

Lawrence Lyman, Board Chair of the Winter Park Institute and Chief Strategy Officer at Bio K-9

Today

Board Chairman Lawrence Lyman, the Board of Directors, and Executive Director Lindsay Kist lead the Institute as it brings global thought leaders into meaningful conversations.

Winter Park Institute Leadership

Board Leadership

Lawrence Lyman, Board Chair of the Winter Park Institute and Chief Strategy Officer at Bio K-9

Lawrence Lyman

Board Chair | Chief Strategy Officer at Bio K-9

Linda Warren, Vice Chair of the Winter Park Institute and Former Executive Vice President of Marketing and Brand Management for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts

Linda Warren

Vice Chair | Former Executive Vice President of Marketing and Brand Management for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts


Megan Rose - Winter Park Institute Treasurer and Vice President of Global Strategy and Transformation at Marriott Vacations Worldwide

Megan Rose

Treasurer | Vice President of Global Strategy and Transformation at Marriott Vacations Worldwide


Stephanie Carmany - Winter Park Institute Secretary and Partner at Carmany Ventures; Founder of the David and Stephanie Carmany Foundation; Co-Founder of Pages for the Ages

Stephanie Carmany

Secretary | Partner at Carmany Ventures; Founder of the David and Stephanie Carmany Foundation | Co-Founder of Pages for the Ages

Tony Jenkins, Past Chair of the Winter Park Institute.

Tony Jenkins

Past Chair | Market President for Northeast Florida at Florida Blue


Board of trustees

Michelle Alban

Founder of Lima Charlie Communications

Megan Almasi

Senior Director, Community Relations at Orlando Health

Aleksandra Cuprys

Chief Executive Officer of Latino Media Network

Ericka Dunlap

CEO and Principal Consultant of Crown Communication Group

Tom Dyer

Programming Committee Chair | Senior Partner at Dyer & Blaisdell, PL

Mark Freid

Chief Executive Officer of Think Integrated

Heather Harris-Keliiheleua

Senior Director of Human Resources, Talent & Culture at Huron Consulting Group

Mark Allen Hayes

President of Stockworth Group

Gerald Hector

Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at Morehouse School of Medicine

Stephanie Hill

Marketing & Communications Committee | Chair
Entrepreneur and Community Leader

Caleb Liptak

Senior Manager of Communications at the Central Florida Expressway Authority

Dr. E. Ann McGee

President Emerita of Seminole State College

Daniel F. McIntosh

Shareholder at Lowndes

Dawn Ofodile

Community Relations and Corporate Social Responsibility

Cynthia Wood

Governance Committee Chair
| Former Vice President for Institutional Advancement at Rollins College

Team

Lindsay Kist, Executive Director of the Winter Park Institute.

Lindsay Kist

Executive Director

Erin Andress, a woman with shoulder-length brown hair and tortoiseshell glasses smiles at the camera, wearing a dark green blouse.

Erin Andress

Program Director, Pages for the Ages

With gratitude to our partners: