ABOUT
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
.
Anne
is the Director of the Florida Legislative Research Center & Museum
at the Historic Capitol. As a member of the Florida House of Representatives
from 1982 to 1998, she chaired several committees and served as the
first female Majority Leader and chair of the Rules Committee. In addition,
she served on numerous boards and committees in her hometown of Fort
Lauderdale before relocating to Tallahassee permanently in 1998 where
her community involvement has continued through associations with United
Way (Power of the Purse), Capital Tiger Bay, the boards of Healthy Start
and COCA, and several cultural organizations.
Ken
is a former Senior Policy Analyst with the Office of Program Policy
Analysis and Government Accountability, where he reviewed programs for
effectiveness and efficiency, a former Staff Director of the Florida
House of Representatives' Committee on Workforce and Technical Skills
and a Legislative Analyst with the Committee on Water and Natural Resources.
Ken has also staffed House committees on Community Colleges, Corrections,
Juvenile Justice, and Commerce. Ken is currently a Senior Legislative
Analyst with the Florida Senate Democratic Office. Ken is a blues musician
and was a founding member of the Apalachee Blues Society.
Kay
Stephenson, Treasurer/Secretary
Kay
Stephenson is originally from Allentown, Pennsylvania and is married
with three children and four grandchildren. She is Co-Founder, President
& CEO of Datamaxx Group, Inc., a leading technology company focused
on the law enforcement, criminal justice, public safety and homeland
security marketplace. Datamaxx Group received the 2002 Governor's
Business Leadership Award, the 2002 Tallahassee Technology Business
of the Year Award, and most recently, the Tallahassee Chamber’s Small
Business Giant Award. Kay currently serves as a member of the Board
of Directors of United Way of the Big Bend, the Leon County Economic
Development Council, the FSU Research Foundation and the Council on
Culture & Arts.
Ramon Alexander has a strong track record of public service and is recognized on a local, state, and national level as an advocate for human rights, civil rights, access, and diversity. Tallahassee Community College recognized him in their 6th Annual African American History Calendar, the Tallahassee Chapter of the National Forum for Black Public Administrators recognized him with the Student Leader of the Year Award, and the Florida Federation of Alpha Chapters recognized him as the 2006 State Oratorical Champion. Ramon was also instrumental in organizing the historic March For Justice for Martin Lee Anderson.
Ramon earned a degree in political science and public administration at Florida A&M University where he was also elected as student body president.
Ramon continues his track record of public service, formerly serving as Community & External Affairs Aide to the Mayor of Tallahassee, Florida; now serving as the State Director of the Florida African-American and Caribbean Empowerment Alliance. .
Alfredo
A. Cruz is the former program officer for the John S. and James
L. Knight Foundation, a national foundation based in Miami (Fla.)
and with regional offices throughout the country. There he worked
in the arts and culture program for five years before being promoted
to program officer for various Knight cities including Grand Forks,
(ND), Tallahassee and Bradenton (Fla.), Columbia and Myrtle Beach
(S.C.), and Biloxi (Miss.). During his ten-year career in philanthropy,
he also served on the board of affinity groups such as Hispanics
in Philanthropy and Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy. In
2003, he moved to Tallahassee to better understand this and other
communities in which he worked. He has served on the Tallahassee
Performing Arts Committee and is a steering committee member of
the Whole Child Leon Project, a board member of Capital Area Healthy
Start Coalition and a member of the United Way of the Big Bend's
For Young Leaders Only (FYLO), a group to nurture philanthropy
among young professionals under 40. Alfredo is currently district
assistant for State Representative Michelle Rehwinkle Vasilinda (D-09). He enjoys
volunteering his time in the community while also a student at
Florida State University, where he is pursuing a degree in Public
Administration and Urban and Regional Planning, and is also the
chapter director of Sigma Pi Fraternity. His arts interests are
in musical theater, arts education and he enjoys creating work
with found objects.
Karen Lambert
Karen Lambert graduated from FSU in 1990 with a bachelor’s degree in Business with a minor in Hospitality Administration. She has worked in the hospitality industry in the capacity of reservationist, concierge, banquet/sales liaison, sales administrative assistant, sales manager, director of sales, assistant general manager and general manager progressively in the nineteen years since. She is currently employed as general manager for the Cabot Lodge Thomasville Road in Tallahassee. She maintains a budget in excess of $1.5 million dollars a year and supervises a staff of approximately forty employees. Previous professional designations/affiliations include Tallahassee Area Chamber of Commerce Ambassador; Tallahassee Area Chamber of Commerce Professional Women’s Forum Chair 2003-2004; Tallahassee Society of Association Executives Community Involvement Committee Chair 2003-2004; Tallahassee Society of Association Executives Associate Member of the Year 2004; Society of Government Meeting Professionals Florida Capital Chapter Treasurer 2004-2006; Society of Government Meeting Professionals Florida Capital Chapter Supplier Member of the Year 2005-2006; Tallahassee Area Convention and Visitors’ Bureau Executive Committee/Vice Chair 2005-2006; Tallahassee Area Convention and Visitors’ Bureau Executive Committee/ Chair 2006-2007; Society of Government Meeting Professionals Florida Capital Chapter Supplier Member of the Year 2008-2009.
Johanna Money
Johanna is the President of The Williams Group, a commercial real estate firm in Tallahassee that manages over 550,000 sq ft of commercial and industrial real estate. Born and raised in Tallahassee, she has always had a passion for art. She attended Savannah College of Art and Design and graduated Suma Cum Laude with a BFA in graphic design. She worked for Siriex in New York City as an Art Director and Production Coordinator then worked in product development at Ralph Lauren before moving back to Tallahassee to learn the family business. She is very active in the Tallahassee community and is the former President of the Tallahassee Network of Young Professionals, current Chair of the Enterprise Zone Board of Directors and is on the Greater Tallahassee Leon County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and United Way of the Big Bend.
Longineu
has been hailed by critics internationally as one of the world's finest
trumpet players. He is also a master of recorders, flute, percussion,
sings the blues, and has performed in more than thirty countries all
over the world. Over his 25-year career, Longineu has shared the stage
and recording studio with Cab Calloway, Nat Adderley, Cecil Taylor,
Nancy Wilson, Joe Williams, Herbie Mann, Frank Foster, and many others.
Longineu is also a composer of orchestral and chamber works. His Incantation
and Dance for violin and piano was premiered by the great violinist
Tasmin Little. Longineu has appeared as guest soloist with "pops"
symphony orchestras. He has played with the Palm Beach Pops Orchestra,
the Tallahassee Symphony, the Gainesville Symphony, the Augusta Symphony,
the University of South Carolina Symphony, the Savannah Symphony, and
the St. Johns River City Band. During this past year, he held the leading
role and was the musical director for the Canadian dance musical production
of Forever Swing. He also appears as trumpet soloist on the hit
PBS Great Performances special, Three Mo' Tenors. Longineu is
Associate Professor of Trumpet at Florida A&M University, where
he also obtained his Bachelor of Music degree. He also coaches the trumpet
section of the celebrated Florida A&M Marching 100 Band. Longineu
earned his Master of Music in classical trumpet from the University
of Florida and pursued supplementary jazz studies at the Berklee College
of Music in Boston. He was a guest clinician for the Universidad Autonoma
de Bucaramanga, in Colombia (1999 and 2000), High School of the Arts,
in Bogota, Colombia (2000), and the Conservatoire Nationale de la Region,
in Nantes, France in August 2001.
Susan
Stratton
Susan A. Stratton is the Florida Museum of History Cultural Commerce Manager of gift shops and online store, though she is best known as the founder and organizer of the Downtown Marketplace - a regionally, celebrated weekly community arts festival - as well as the annual "Just One More" Invitational Arts Festival. Her expertise in advertising and merchandising grew from her 18 years experience as a retailer. Susan owned Care Packages, a local gift shop specializing in art, gifts, and gourmet baskets, and was a founding member and president of the Downtown Merchants and Business Association. Dubbed a "downtown diva" and an "idea-a-minute" personality, Susan lives and breathes downtown projects. She was also an elementary and middle school teacher in Broward, Miami-Dade, and Alachua counties and holds a Bachelors of Education. Susan has received the National Council of Jewish Women's Hannah G. Solomon Award, was named a "Woman of Distinction" in the category of business, and won the American Association of University Women Award. In 2004 she was selected by the Tallahassee Democrat as one of the "Top 33 Persons Who Made a Difference" in Tallahassee. Susan is married to Charles Stratton, an attorney with Broad and Cassel. They have three children: Joshua, a practicing attorney in Boston, and twins Sarah, an Instructional Designer/Trainer at the Federal Reserve Bank in St. Louis, and Eric, a Masters of Biomedical Ethics candidate at Boston University.
Ex
Officio Members
Marge
Banocy-Payne, Tallahassee Community College
Marge
Banocy-Payne, Ph.D. currently serves as Dean of Communications and Humanities
at Tallahassee Community College. Prior to her administrative experience,
she served as a full-time faculty member for 15 years at TCC. Additionally,
she taught reading and English for six years in the public school systems
in both Pennsylvania and Florida before beginning her career at the
community college. Dr. Banocy-Payne has served on various educational
and civic state and local committees and organizations including the
Florida Department of Education State Common Course Numbering System
for English, Florida College Level Academic Skills Test, Keystone State
Reading Association, the State Board for Easter Seals of Florida, Florida
Association of Community Colleges, and Women in Communications. Her
presentations and workshops include the International Reading Association,
Florida Reading Association, League for Innovation, and the annual Teaching
and Learning Conference. She earned her Ph.D. in Reading and Language
Arts from Florida State University. Her previous degrees include a B.A.
in English and Sociology-Anthropology, and an M.Ed. in Reading from
Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Dr.
Richard G. Fallon, Tallahassee Cultural Ambassador
Richard
Fallon is Dean Emeritus of The School of Theatre at Florida State University.
He came to Tallahassee in 1956 and has been active in theatre community
ever since. Dr. Fallon is a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor,
a recipient of the Florida Governor's Award for the Arts, the Suzanne
M. Davis Award for service to professional theatre, and was one of ten
national recipients of the Harbison Prize for gifted teaching. He was
elected to the College of Fellows of American Theatre, the National
Theatre Conference, and is one of the founders of the University Resident
Theatre Association. The Florida State University School of Theatre's
Richard G. Fallon Theatre was named in his honor.
Gil Ziffer , Tallahassee City Commission
Valencia
E. Matthews, Florida A&M University
Valencia
E. Matthews, an associate professor of theatre, serves as an assistant
dean for the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida Agricultural and
Mechanical University. She also serves as Director of Theatre and is
the founder and director of the Irene C. Edmonds Youth Theatre, a program
for young people between the ages of 6-16.
Donna
McHugh, Florida State University
Donna
is the Assistant Vice President of Community Relations for Florida State
University. Through FSU's University Relations, Donna was an inaugural
organizer of the Seven Days of Opening Nights Festival and participated
in campus beautification projects, special events management, and visitor
services. She was also Director of Development for WFSU where she also
developed special programming projects. Donna has served as a volunteer
and board member for arts and community organizations in Tallahassee;
Albany, NY; and Washington D.C. Before her career with Florida State
University, Donna was an obstetrical nurse. She and her husband, William
McHugh, have three children of their own and enjoy spoiling their four
grandchildren.
Commissioner
John Dailey, Leon County Commission
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