Spotlight On: Wilma Williams, CEO/Executive Director, Tampa-Hillsborough Action Plan, Inc. (THAP)

Key points:

• • THAP is integrating healthcare, entrepreneurship, housing, and workforce development to expand economic opportunity.
• • The organization is strengthening partnerships to support underserved communities.
• • Its long-term goal is building scalable pathways to economic mobility and community resilience.

July 2026 — In an interview with Invest:, Wilma Williams, CEO and Executive Director of Tampa-Hillsborough Action Plan, Inc. (THAP), discussed how the organization is evolving into a multi-entity community development ecosystem focused on creating pathways to economic mobility through healthcare access, entrepreneurship, education innovation, housing stability, and community investment. Through THAP and its affiliated entities, the organization is building an integrated framework that aligns people, programs, partnerships, and capital to address the social and economic factors that influence long-term prosperity.

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Operating with a particular emphasis on Qualified Census Tracts (QCTs) and other underserved communities, THAP is advancing place-based strategies that connect residents and small businesses to opportunities that improve health outcomes, increase household stability, support business growth, and strengthen community resilience. As the organization expands its impact throughout the Tampa Bay region and beyond, THAP is positioning itself as a scalable model for community-driven economic development and inclusive growth across Florida.

What external changes in recent years have most significantly impacted THAP, and in what ways?

Since my appointment as Executive Director on September 28, 2023, and subsequent promotion to Chief Executive Officer in October 2025, the single most impactful external event affecting our organization has been Hurricane Milton. When the storm impacted the Tampa Bay region on October 9, 2024, THAP was already engaged in a strategic transformation focused on modernizing operations, diversifying revenue streams, and strengthening long-term sustainability as a community economic development organization. Hurricane Milton accelerated that transformation and challenged us to rethink how a 38-year-old organization remains relevant, resilient, and impactful in a rapidly changing environment.

Before the storm, our five-acre campus served as a small business incubator and venue for community events. After significant flooding and operational disruption, we had to assess not only our physical infrastructure, which is still in need of repairs and upgrades, but also the sustainability and scalability of our business model for community impact.

That experience reinforced an important reality: the challenges facing underserved communities cannot be solved through isolated programs. Residents living in QCTs and other historically disinvested communities experience healthcare access, housing stability, education, workforce development, transportation, and economic opportunity as interconnected issues. To create lasting change, organizations must address those challenges through coordinated, place-based strategies.

While Hurricane Milton created significant challenges, it also accelerated strategic decisions that have strengthened our organization’s administrative infrastructure.  Today, our focus extends beyond service delivery to building systems that create measurable, long-term outcomes for individuals, families, businesses, and communities throughout Tampa, Hillsborough County, surrounding counties, and ultimately across Florida.

How is THAP creating pathways for economic mobility and entrepreneurship?

Economic mobility and entrepreneurship are central to THAP’s mission of helping individuals, families, and communities achieve long-term stability and prosperity. Through the 5508 Community Exchange, the 5508 Entrepreneurs Hub, THAP Group, LLC, and other affiliated entities, we are building an integrated ecosystem that connects entrepreneurship, workforce development, education, healthcare, and housing to create opportunities for sustainable economic growth, particularly within QCTs and other underserved communities.

The 5508 Entrepreneurs Hub supports entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey, from exploring a business idea to launching, stabilizing, and scaling a business. Through entrepreneurship cohorts, accelerator programs, business workshops, mentoring, coworking opportunities, virtual office services, networking events, and capital readiness initiatives, we provide the tools, knowledge, and connections entrepreneurs need to build sustainable businesses. We are also supporting workforce transition efforts by helping individuals leverage transferable skills and experience to pursue entrepreneurship and new economic opportunities.

In addition, through Coastal Bay Properties’ Affordable Housing Resident Engagement Initiative, we partner with affordable housing management companies to provide personal and professional development opportunities for middle school youth, high school students, and adult residents. By combining entrepreneurship, workforce readiness, financial literacy, leadership development, and life skills programming, THAP is creating pathways that help individuals increase income, build assets, strengthen financial stability, and ultimately achieve greater economic mobility and generational wealth.

How does the healthcare component fit into the overall THAP ecosystem?

Healthcare is a foundational pillar of the THAP ecosystem because health and economic mobility are deeply interconnected. Through Synergy Health Centers, Inc., which has served the community for more than 30 years, we provide prevention, care, wellness, and community impact programs that help underserved individuals access the services and support they need to live healthier and more productive lives.

Our work includes HIV prevention and testing, Rx medication assistance, healthcare navigation, linkage to care, treatment adherence support, wellness services, and community outreach. As a HRSA 340B Covered Entity, we leverage strategic partnerships with healthcare providers, pharmacies, wholesalers, and third-party administrators to expand access to affordable medications and healthcare services while creating opportunities to reinvest resources into community health initiatives.

What makes our approach unique is that we view healthcare as both a health outcome and an economic development strategy. A person’s ability to maintain good health directly impacts their ability to work, pursue education, start a business, maintain stable housing, and achieve financial stability. By integrating healthcare access with entrepreneurship, workforce development, housing stability, resident engagement, and community development initiatives, we are addressing the social determinants of health while creating pathways to long-term economic mobility and stronger, more resilient communities.

What role does collaboration play in THAP’s model?

Our model is built on intentional collaboration with healthcare providers, affordable housing owners and management companies, pharmacies, workforce development organizations, educational institutions, community-based nonprofits, entrepreneurs, government agencies, financial institutions, and private-sector leaders. By bringing diverse partners together, we can create more comprehensive solutions that address the interconnected needs of individuals, families, businesses, and communities, particularly within QCTs and other historically underserved areas.

Once fully repaired and upgraded, THAP wants our main campus to be more than a physical space. We want it to serve as a community collaboration hub where entrepreneurs, residents, nonprofits, healthcare providers, educators, employers, and community leaders can connect, learn, innovate, and grow together. Through this collaborative ecosystem, we are creating pathways to healthcare access, entrepreneurship, workforce advancement, education, community engagement, and economic opportunity while strengthening the collective capacity of our region to drive sustainable and inclusive growth.

What are the biggest challenges facing the communities you serve?

The greatest challenge facing many of the communities we serve is that barriers to opportunity rarely exist in isolation. Therefore, an important challenge is rebuilding trust and strengthening community connections. Many residents have experienced generations of systemic barriers that have limited access to opportunity and created skepticism toward institutions. As a result, effective community development requires more than delivering programs or services. It requires building authentic relationships, creating culturally responsive pathways to opportunity, and developing coordinated solutions that empower individuals, families, entrepreneurs, and communities to thrive. We believe the most sustainable solutions are those that address both immediate needs and the long-term drivers of economic mobility and community well-being.

Individuals and families often face a combination of challenges related to healthcare access, affordable housing, workforce participation, transportation, education, financial literacy, and access to capital. When these barriers intersect, they can significantly limit economic mobility and make it difficult for people to achieve long-term stability and prosperity. At the same time, rising housing costs, healthcare affordability concerns, workforce transitions, and persistent health disparities continue to place additional pressure on households, particularly within QCTs and other historically underserved communities.

Where do you see the greatest opportunities for impact moving forward?

As we look ahead, we see significant opportunities to expand our entrepreneurship and workforce development initiatives through the 5508 Entrepreneurs Hub’s Business Incubator and Accelerator programs, strengthen healthcare access and wellness outcomes through Synergy Health Centers, and advance affordable housing and resident engagement strategies through Coastal Bay Properties. Within healthcare, we are particularly focused on expanding prevention initiatives, increasing community education and outreach, and growing access to prevention and hygiene kits that support healthier lifestyles and reduce barriers to care. We are especially committed to serving individuals and families living in QCTs and other underserved communities by connecting them to the resources, relationship education, and opportunities needed to achieve long-term stability, healthier families, a stronger workforce and thriving community.

We also see an opportunity to redefine how community health organizations engage the people we serve. At Synergy Health Centers, we are intentionally moving away from labels that can create stigma and instead embracing a more inclusive community-centered approach. We refer to our donors, volunteers, community partners, and program participants as Health Collaborators because we believe improving health outcomes is a shared responsibility that requires collective action.

Our vision is to create a scalable community development ecosystem where individuals can access healthcare, entrepreneurship support, workforce training, education, mentorship, homeownership, and economic opportunities through a connected network of services and partnerships. We believe that success is not measured by the number of programs we operate. It is measured by THAP’s ability to help people build assets, increase income, strengthen communities, and create generational wealth so that individuals, families, businesses, and neighborhoods can truly rise and thrive together.  This was the original plan of our Founder Mr. James A. Hammond, and it remains the goal today and in our future.

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