Martha Are
Martha Are serves as the CEO of the Central Florida Commission on Homelessness and the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida, which facilitates homeless services planning and coordination across Osceola, Orange and Seminole Counties.
Martha has worked with people experiencing homelessness her entire career and has more than 35 years of experience ranging from front line work to program management, community organizing, statewide advocacy and staffing a North Carolina governor's council. She also served as Housing and Homeless Unit Manager for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services from 2011 to 2015.
In 2023, she was named a Central Floridian of the Year finalist by the Orlando Sentinel.
From her webpage at HSNCF:
“When someone becomes homeless, it’s usually the final trauma in a series of traumas — major illness, domestic violence, sudden job loss, the end of a marriage, or the death of a partner, parent or child. It means the person has exhausted their savings, their support network, their personal resources — and often their own emotional and spiritual reserves. It’s depressing and terrifying.
“Since becoming the CEO of the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida in 2015, I have had one main goal – to get those individuals and families back into housing as fast as possible so that they can rebuild their lives.”
Meghan Stokes
Editor in Chief, Oviedo Community News - Megan oversees editorial content, policy and staff. She attends meetings, writes copy, sends out the e-newsletter, and curates conversations on social media. She also works to create partnerships that can strengthen the bond between community and newsroom.
Megan has served as a community journalist for more than 15 years, including as associate editor for the East Orlando Sun and a reporter for the Seminole Voice, the Winter Park-Maitland Observer and Orlando Magazine. She served as treasurer for the Florida Press Club for seven years and has won awards from the Florida Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists. Megan holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism (now called the Reed College of Media) at West Virginia University.
Megan also loves yoga, running and playing board games with her family.
Zeynep Portway
Zeynep Portway is a passionate advocate for housing solutions and workforce development for individuals experiencing homelessness. As executive director of the Samaritan Resource Center (SRC) in East Orlando since 2020, she leads efforts to provide essential services, connect people to housing and create pathways to long-term stability. Under her leadership, SRC has expanded its impact, helping individuals move from crisis to self-sufficiency through housing assistance, case management and employment support.
Zeynep has been instrumental in forging partnerships between service providers, businesses, and local leaders to address the root causes of homelessness. She played a key role in launching Project HomeStart, an innovative program that integrates
bridge housing with workforce training, allowing participants to focus on skill-building while securing stable housing.
She holds a degree in political economy from Columbia University, bringing a strong analytical and policy-driven perspective to her work in social services. In addition to her role at SRC, Zeynep volunteers as the Florida region director of training for Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), where she helps strengthen relationships between employers and military service members to support their successful transition into the civilian workforce.
Her dedication to community-driven solutions earned her recognition as one of the 10 People Who Make Orlando a Better Place by the Orlando Sentinel.
Beyond her work, Zeynep is a devoted wife, proud mother of a son and the caretaker of several beloved fur babies. Her passion for helping others extends beyond her career, shaping both her personal and professional life.
Mark Brewer
Mark Brewer is president and CEO of Central Florida Foundation. He joined the foundation in 2000 and has earned respect for building community partnerships that meet issues head-on and produce measurable results. He has worked with hundreds of individuals, families, and corporations to establish philanthropy plans, endowments, funding strategies and planned gifts. More than 150 regional nonprofit boards have enlisted Mark’s assistance through the foundation with strategic and scenario planning initiatives that included the use of endowed investments to sustain their organizations.
He is a well-known national speaker on the independent sector, philanthropy’s role in America, venture philanthropy strategies, and the independent sector’s public policy role. In his leadership role at the Central Florida Foundation, Mark frequently advises private and corporate foundation grant makers across the region and plays a public policy advisory role on strategy and advisory boards around the state of Florida.
Mark began his career in the media as a reporter, anchor and journalist. His background includes more than a decade as a management consultant in the private and independent sectors, leading merger and acquisition strategies for cross-sector initiatives. Later, as a licensed investment professional, he assisted clients with estate and planned giving strategies. Mark holds a bachelor’s degree in business, a master’s
degree in public administration with a specialty in Nonprofit Management and is a Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy ®. His graduate studies include work in policy and law at Walden University.
Mark has played a leadership role in national and community initiatives. His service focuses on organizations that grow philanthropy or play strategic grant-making and public policy roles. At the national level, Mark has chaired strategy initiatives and think tanks. At the state level, Mark is a past chair of the Florida Philanthropic Network, a statewide association of grant makers working to strengthen philanthropy through research, education, and public policy, and is a past chair of the Community Foundations of Florida, the statewide association of community foundations.
Mark was named one of Orlando Business Journal’s CEOs of the year for 2021 and identified as one of Orlando Business Journal’s 2021 Power Players. The program identifies 50 Central Florida business leaders who are helping grow and innovate the way business is done throughout Metro Orlando.