Meet Terri
Terri Balliet is a nationally recognized nonprofit leader with a 25-year career improving outcomes for children, families, and vulnerable populations across Florida.
A longtime resident of St. Petersburg, Terri currently serves as CEO of the Children’s Network of Hillsborough County, where she leads a $120 million agency with more than 300 employees focused on child welfare services and human trafficking response across the region.
Previously, she served as COO of Gulf Coast Jewish Family and Community Services, where she oversaw more than 20 programs spanning child welfare, mental health, elder care, and refugee services across 37 counties.
Terri is also the co-creator of St. Petersburg’s Community Assistance and Life Liaison (CALL) Program, a nationally celebrated initiative that deploys social workers, instead of law enforcement, to respond to non-violent 911 calls involving homelessness, substance abuse, or mental health. Since its launch, CALL has responded to over 18,000 calls and become a model replicated across the country.
With deep local roots and decades of leadership experience, Terri has been recognized by the Tampa Bay Lightning Foundation as a Community Hero, named a Business Woman of the Year by the Tampa Bay Business Journal, and served as Chair of the Florida Coalition for Children. She is widely respected for bringing diverse stakeholders together to create lasting, effective solutions, especially around housing, behavioral health, and public safety.
Terri is running for St. Petersburg City Council to deliver bold, compassionate leadership focused on clean, safe neighborhoods, affordable housing, real solutions to homelessness and mental health, and smart investments in the infrastructure that keeps our communities thriving.
She lives in St. Pete with her husband, is the proud mother of three children, and recently became a grandmother.
