Episode S2:18: Lizbeth Benacquisto
Lizbeth Benacquisto, Executive Vice President, Hope Healthcare
“We are all here to assist each other in reaching our full potential.”
Lizbeth Benacquisto is the Executive Vice President of Hope Healthcare. Hope Healthcare is a not-for-profit health care organization dedicated to providing care and comfort to more than 4,000 people a day as they fulfill their life’s journey.
With a distinguished career in public service that spans two decades, Benacquisto was elected to the Florida Senate to represent Southwest Florida in 2010 and was subsequently reelected in 2012, 2014 and 2016. She served as the Majority Leader from 2012 to 2014 and the Deputy Majority Leader from 2011 to 2012. She served as the Rules Committee Chairman for four years until her retirement in 2020. Previously, she served as Councilwoman for the Village of Wellington, Florida, from 2002 to 2010.
Lizbeth Benacquisto has been a Florida resident for more than 43 years. Her son Austin graduated from Washington and Lee University and while working in Atlanta is pursuing a Masters Degree at Wake Forest University. Her daughter Gabriella recently graduated from Florida State University and will begin work on her Masters Degree there as well. She has three stepsons with husband Craig Hansen: Jackson who attends Florida State University, Connor who graduated from Georgia Tech and now works in Atlanta, and Brock who is a senior in high school.
Her accomplishments in community service and public policy have been honored by organizations in Florida and across the nation. Recent honors include being named the Person of the Year from Gulfshore Life Magazine, Boys and Girls Club of Lee County Children’s Advocate of the Year, PACE Center for Girls’ Senator of the Year, Southwest Florida Library Champion, Estero Chamber Person of the Year as well as awards from the Southwest Florida Police Chiefs and pro-business statewide organizations.