AEC Alum Serves as Director of Leadership Foundation Written by T. Buddy Miller
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ne University of Florida Agricultural Education and Communication alumnus is preserving the legacy of one man by positively impacting students and helping them pursue secondary education. Micah Scanga is the executive director for the Mason G. Smoak Foundation, an organization named for a UF alumnus who died in a plane crash. This foundation provides students with scholarship awards and teaching leadership qualities through its Youth Leadership program, Scanga said. “The foundation wants to partner with the community to impact lives,” he said. “I come to work every day working to expand the number of lives we are able to positively impact.” The foundation provides select graduating students from Avon Park, Lake Placid, Sebring, DeSoto and Hardee high schools with a $4,000 scholarship annually, Scanga said. Karley Freeland, a recipient of the scholarship in 2010 and UF student, said she appreciated the scholarship
and all of Scanga’s effort to make the scholarships more available. “Micah has really made significant strides with the foundation. It was a huge honor to receive the scholarship in Mason G. Smoak’s name,” Freeland said. “He was an outstanding person, and it was very humbling to receive such a prestigious award.” Scanga heard about the executive director position with the Mason G. Smoak Foundation through AEC associate professor Hannah Carter and largely attributes his success at his job to his experience in his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in the AEC department, he said. “[The AEC] department developed my writing, speaking and strategic planning skill sets,” he said. “I use the undergraduate degree in communication and leadership development every day when meeting with and working with board members, committees and supporters of the foundation.” Ed Smoak, vice president of the foundation and brother of the late Mason G. Smoak, said Scanga has
used his experiences to change the Mason G. Smoak Foundation so that many more people know the legacy of his brother. “Micah provides a sense of purpose and intent, strong integrity, ethics and character,” Ed Smoak said. “He has the gift of having a natural leadership ability that rivals people twice his age to have a serious, positive impact in the growth of our foundation.”
PICTURED DIRECTLY ABOVE: Scanga meets Governor Scott through his work with Mason G. Smoak Foundation. TOP RIGHT: Scanga snaps a picture with a Mason G. Smoak 5K participant.
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