SCOPE Staff
Executive Director
Lance Arney first joined SCOPE in 2016 as a research and community engagement consultant; in 2017 he became executive director. Lance comes to us from the University of South Florida, where he earned a Ph.D. in applied anthropology and was associate director of USF’s Office of Community Engagement and Partnerships. He has 20 years of experience with nonprofit organizations and community engagement, and has taught courses on nonprofit leadership and management, schools and society, community development, urban anthropology, and cross-cultural diversity. He has conducted ethnographic research in the urban United States and Brazil, exploring how community engagement can address social problems, improve quality of life, and foster positive change in high-poverty neighborhoods.
Contact Lance: [email protected]
Community Engaged Researcher
Juliana Musheyev began working at SCOPE in 2015 after graduating from New College of Florida with a B.A. in Sociology. In a world full of assumptions and distortions, she is grateful to be able to examine the realities of people’s lives through social science. She believes that communities cannot arrive at adequate solutions without fully understanding the root causes of the problems they face. Along with working on the community level at SCOPE, Juliana is passionate about national and international environmental, racial, and economic justice issues. She was the co-host of a bi-monthly radio show on WSLR 96.5 about Middle Eastern politics and society, sits on the board of the Peace Education and Action Center, and is a community organizer and activist.
Contact Juliana: [email protected]
Community Engaged Researcher
Leah Duncan has been working at SCOPE since graduating from the New College of Florida with a B.A. in Anthropology and Psychology in 2015. Leah is passionate about participatory research that advances social justice. She is particularly committed to racial justice and health equity movements, and is currently managing a data collaborative to address health disparities in Sarasota’s Newtown community.
Contact Leah: [email protected]
Community Liaison
Leroy Butler joined SCOPE in 2017 after working as a parent and community outreach manager for United Way and as a middle school teacher at Sarasota County Schools. Leroy earned a B.A. in anthropology and sociology from Lafayette College (Easton, PA), which he attended on an academic scholarship after graduating from Booker High School. He also serves as an ex-officio member of the board of trustees for HIPPY USA (Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters) and is an alumnus of the HIPPY program, in which he was enrolled as a preschool child. Leroy is a native of Sarasota and grew up in Newtown, where he continues to serve his community as a youth mentor for Brotherhood of Men and as a community liaison for SCOPE.
Contact Leroy: [email protected]
Community Engagment Coordinator
Mary joined SCOPE in 2009 as an AmeriCorps VISTA completing three years of service with SCOPE Community Neighborhood Initiative, her training included ABCD (Asset Based Community Development) it involved assessing the resources, skills, gifts and talents of the community. Mary joined SCOPE in 2012 for an ABCD workshop The Power of Community, and then returned to SCOPE in 2014. Mary is a native of Sarasota, born and raised in Newtown, Vice President of Amaryllis Park Neighborhood Association. “If the problem is in the neighborhood, so is the solution, there is nobody we do not need”. Mary attended Hillsborough Community College.
Contact Mary: [email protected]