Tampa’s philanthropic spirit runs deep. But if one of our city’s most high-profile couples stands apart for the way serving the local community has become ingrained not only in their work but in their personal partnership too, it’s Chad Chronister and Nikki DeBartolo.
On any given week, the duo—he’s the Hillsborough County Sheriff and she’s the Executive Vice President of one of Tampa’s most influential philanthropic organizations, the DeBartolo Family Foundation—find themselves attending as many as seven philanthropic and community events benefiting the causes they champion.
Depending on the time of year, those gatherings might range from a Tampa General Hospital Foundation dinner or Boys and Girls Clubs of Tampa Bay meeting to the St. Jude’s gala or a fishing or golf tournament—all to support the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and DeBartolo Family Foundation’s many local causes.
“We don’t like to be apart,” said Nikki DeBartolo over a recent lunch the couple snuck in at The Stovall House. “So even when there are events, we consider those as date nights too, because half the time that’s when we can manage to get a date night in.”
Neither were born or raised in Tampa.
Originally from Ohio, she arrived here in 2000 from San Francisco with her family while Chronister came to Florida from Pennsylvania in 1988. But when their lives intersected—they first met when he was working in a security role for her family and later married in 2010—the groundwork was laid to become a force for good together in the community.
Chronister says serving Tampa and feeling part of the community came easy for him since day one.
“I think the minute that I put on my uniform and went out for my first shift, I felt like, okay, I’m a part of this community. This will be my role,” he says.
Chronister has worked for the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s office since 1992 and earlier this year won reelection for sheriff with no opposition.
For DeBartolo, it was after her divorce from her first husband and her decision to remain in Tampa to raise their son, Asher (now 21 and a University of Tampa student), in partnership with Chronister that Tampa truly began to feel like home.
Ever since Chronister was elected sheriff in 2016, the couple’s ties in the community and their friendships here have only grown deeper.
When the couple considers the most important causes to champion, it always comes down to the greatest needs in Tampa.
“I like the fact that there are so many philanthropic causes right here at home and that we live in a community where everyone wants to lend a helping hand,” says Chronister. “The need will always outweigh the resources, but I love how this community comes together and takes care of one another–that’s what makes Tampa special.”
Through the charitable arm of the sheriff’s office and the DeBartolo Family Foundation, the couple has been able to focus their efforts on community and local grassroots organizations that make a direct impact on the individuals and families living here.
Those far-reaching causes range from support for domestic violence, sexual assault, substance abuse and medical emergency survivors through organizations like The Spring of Tampa Bay and The Crisis Center of Tampa Bay to helping fund organizations like Home Runs for Hospice, Metropolitan Ministries, Pace Center for Girls and Starting Right, Now, which targets youth homelessness. This support extends to the individual level, too, from scholarships for local students to providing Teacher Back to School Grants. Most recently, through a hospice program, the couple met a local university student who had lost her mother and was hoping to pursue a graduate degree in counseling, inspired by the help she had received. They offered to fund her continuing education.
When considering the most important causes to champion, it always comes down to the greatest needs in Tampa.
This fall, that need has most urgently been in the wake of two historic hurricanes in our community over the course of just two weeks–Helene, followed by Milton–that left a devastating impact throughout Tampa Bay and the greater Gulf Coast. In addition to rescue and recovery efforts following the storms, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced teamHCSO Cares, an outreach initiative aimed at providing essential items for residents impacted by Hurricane Milton.
When the couple has downtime, they work out together and take their three boxers for walks around the neighborhood (they’re currently living in a rental house in South Tampa while they build a new home).
“People might be surprised, but it’s the simple things. Time is the most valuable commodity,” Chronister says.
Sometimes they join friends for dinner at a favorite local restaurant or entertain at home. But the couple is just as happy ordering pumpkin pancakes from First Watch for a lazy Sunday morning together.
When they can leave their responsibilities in the Bay area for longer, vacation homes in Georgia and Key West beckon for respite.
“We’ll go fishing, grill up fish tacos together and watch the sunset,” he says. “Seven years later with me being the sheriff, we’re doing a better job of work life balance.”
Chronister still loves his job today as much as 33 years ago when he first put on the uniform.
“I love taking care of the 4,000 employees and giving them what they need, and watching the impact they make in the community,” he says.
And while retirement is still a ways off for the pair, they say they don’t have plans beyond hopefully spending time on a farm somewhere with their dogs—but that Tampa will always be home base.
“At the end of the day, it’s just nice to enjoy being here together,” DeBartolo says.
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