Firefly is Turning 20!

Dear friends,

When I founded Firefly twenty years ago, I was a young mother with a 5-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. I was excited about taking the skills and knowledge I had gained through my many previous jobs and launching my own public relations and marketing firm.

It’s been an amazing journey! Over the past two decades, Firefly has sparked ideas, ignited creativity, and produced glowing results for businesses of all sizes and industries as well as government agencies and some of the most well-respected nonprofit organizations on the Treasure Coast.

Firefly’s role has always been to help our clients tell their stories - to simultaneously make those stories more compelling AND easier to understand. It has been very intellectually and creatively fulfilling to use the art of storytelling to help them achieve success.

I truly believe you can trace many of the challenges we currently face as a society to poor communications, lack of transparency, and/or misinformation. Just as earnestly, I believe in the power of authentic community outreach and education to build bridges and enlighten the public.

Over the years I have been fortunate to work with a terrific team of public relations and marketing professionals, mentors, colleagues, and clients who care deeply about their missions, projects and services and the integrity of their work. As we celebrate 20 years of business, we celebrate all of you who made that success possible and we look forward to more brilliant years of illuminating ideas and glowing results in the years ahead.

Thank you!

With gratitude,

Stacy

Stacy Weller Ranieri

Founder, President, and Chief Illuminator

Melissa Zolla

We are excited to announce Melissa Zolla’s new title - Chief Operating Officer – as a reflection of her broad range of responsibilities at Firefly.

Melissa has been an integral part of Firefly for 13 years, helping to foster its growth into one of the pre-eminent public relations and marketing firms in the region.

With more than 20 years of experience in project, event and client relationship management, Melissa and her creative spark are so critical to the work we do for our clients.

She's been affectionately known as the Jar Tender - a reference to the jar (a.k.a. office) where our fireflies work – keeping operations flowing smoothly. She is also our Creative Director, keeper of the secret sauce for memorable special events, and the Firefly most likely to be volunteering on the front lines of a nonprofit fundraiser.

Regardless of the hat she is wearing, or the many titles bestowed upon her, the clients she works with are diverse - from environmental and marine-related to economic development and agriculture to non-profits who are saving and changing lives throughout the Treasure Coast.

Melissa has been a steadfast and loyal part of the Firefly family and her commitment to achieving success for our clients is to be commended. Please take a moment to congratulate her on her new title!

Tiffany Kincaid

We are overjoyed to welcome into the world Tiffany and Josh Kincaid’s little bundle of joy, Isla Rose, who was born on January 19!

We are missing Tiffany during her maternity leave, but so happy she has this important time to spend with baby Isla.

Click here if you’d like to send Tiffany a message welcoming her new baby. Just don’t expect a reply any time soon! ðŸ˜Š

Jessica Levy

Jessica has lived most of her life in Martin County, but like all of us, she keeps discovering new and fascinating things about our community - its history, how it works, and the challenges we face. 

Jess recently completed the Martin CARES (Citizens Academy and Resource Education Series) Program - a six-week series of sessions that takes people behind the scenes of Martin County government at work. 

While this is a significant time commitment during the work week, we think it’s important that we all learn as much as we can about the place we call home. So we’re thrilled that Jess participated in this valuable government education program and we know her new insights will serve her well as she tends to her many clients.

Click here to congratulate Jessica on her graduation!

Madison Miller

Madison (a.k.a. Mads) is a welcome addition to our team. She’s currently enrolled as a student at IRSC where she is pursuing her marketing degree. She brings her enthusiasm and love of learning a new field to the Firefly jar.

Mads has already earned an A+ for her strong work ethic, positive attitude and gracious treatment of our clients and colleagues. Her focus areas are community outreach, social media, research, photography and other administrative tasks.

Click here to congratulate Mads on joining the jar!

Stacy Weller Ranieri

The Library Foundation of Martin County’s Kiplinger Literacy Luncheon is always a high point of the season.

As a long-time board member and past president of the Library Foundation, Stacy had the honor of serving as emcee for this year's Literacy Luncheon, held on January 23 at Harbour Ridge Country Club. This Year's event recognized Noreen Fisher for her longstanding commitment and volunteer work in support of literacy in our community. Guests then reveled in Knight Kiplinger’s amusing and profound political and economic insights on the past few years during the pandemic and predictions on what’s ahead for America.

To check out the photos from the event and learn more about the Library Foundation of Martin County, click here.

Oh, the Places We Go!

The Fireflies are all abuzz about events that support our beloved nonprofit clients.

The HANDS Clinic of St. Lucie County unveiled its new mobile van, Health on Wheels, on Feb. 16. Check out some recent news coverage about this impactful new service that is bringing free health care to resource-challenged neighborhoods.

House of Hope dazzled and delighted guests at its inaugural Cirque du Soirée gala on Feb. 18 at Willoughby Golf Club in Stuart. It was a spectacle of high-quality artistic entertainment, paired with wonderful food, a lively auction and a great way to support House of Hope's work to empower Martin County residents to overcome hunger and hardship.

Click here to like their Facebook page and be on the lookout for event photos.

The Martin County NAACP’s Freedom Fund Gala on March 11 at Marriott Hutchinson Island Beach Resort marks a welcome return to this event after a three-year interruption due to COVID. A fundraiser to benefit the many activities of the NAACP in our community, the gala always draws a sold-out crowd ready to enjoy great food and dance to a fabulous band. Call Gloretta Hall at 772-324-8182 for tickets and visit the NAACP website for more info.

The Council on Aging of Martin County will hold its 7th Annual Sage Awards Dinner on March 22 at Piper’s Landing Yacht and Country Club in Palm City. The event is a celebration of the wisdom and worth of seniors and honors individuals in our community who embody the best of our senior years. We’re looking forward to meeting this year’s award winners.

Impact100 Martin has been making a tremendous impact in our community for the past five years with its transformative grants of $100,000 each to local nonprofits.

On March 29, Impact100 members will meet the finalists and select the winners for this year's Grant Awards Celebration.

Click here to become an Impact100 member and feel the excitement of having a stake in the outcome.

Gear up for the annual Great American Cleanup (GAC)! Each spring, from March 20 to June 20, volunteers throughout Martin County come together as part of the largest community improvement event in the nation.

 For the GAC in Martin County, Keep Martin Beautiful encourages everyone to green up and clean up, especially in neighborhoods most in need of some extra care and attention. Places such as Banner Lake, Pettway, New Monrovia, Golden Gate, East Stuart, Rio and Booker Park.

To coordinate a cleanup event or to become a sponsor or volunteer, contact Keep Martin Beautiful at 772-781-1222 or info@keepmartinbeautiful.org.

Martin County Healthy Start Coalition is hosting Hometown Hollywood Gala on April 15 at The Elliot Museum. Healthy Start is the new home of Madison’s Miracles, a program that provides support and resources to grieving parents who have experienced stillbirth, pregnancy or infant loss. This black-tie evening of dinner and dancing honors Madison's Miracles and raises funds to support this worthy program.

The Gift that Keeps on Giving!

There are still 10 more months of beautiful photography to enjoy in this stunning Florida Ranches Calendar. Firefly has been producing this classic wall calendar for 18 years, capturing the breathtaking beauty of Florida’s working cattle ranches through photographs from award-winning National Geographic photojournalist Carlton Ward, Jr. 

There are only 20 calendars left, so be sure to get your copy of the 2023 Florida Ranches Calendar here.