Board of Directors
Chair
Sam Inman, President & CEO, Community First Credit Union
SAM INMAN
President and CEO, Community First Credit Union
Samuel “Sam” Inman is president and CEO of Community First Credit Union of Florida. He has been with the credit union since 1990 and has held various positions starting as an assistant accounting manager to becoming the institution’s first internal auditor to VP of Finance and then CFO in 1997. He was named president and CEO in 2024. Inman has played an instrumental role in growing Community First’s assets from $156 million to now more than $2.8 billion.
Among his successes, Inman led a 2016 planning process that established a goal to become a $2 billion credit union by 2020, a goal that was achieved and surpassed. He is also credited with building the organization’s risk management function, aggressively expanding the ATM and branch network, and growing the retail investment services program to over 5,000 clients and $400 million in assets under management.
In his CFO role Inman has been responsible for ensuring the healthy financial condition and viability of the credit union, while developing and implementing long-term strategies, policies and operating objectives. He also served as the credit union’s chief risk officer, responsible for assessing and mitigating risk, especially related to technology and cyber-attacks.
As a senior member of the executive team, Inman oversaw several departments including finance, accounting, investment and insurance, as well as credit card operations. He also served as chairman of the asset liability management committee, which is responsible for the overall financial condition of the credit union, new product development, loan and deposit pricing, monitoring risk to capital, and developing marketing strategies for current or new select employee groups.
Inman has also been responsible for guiding innovation and planning for the future. He led the credit union’s Branch Transformation Project, the most comprehensive branch redesign and renovation in the organization’s history. It seeks to align branch design with the way people bank today.
Inman has more than 35 years of experience in the finance industry, including four years at Coastline Federal Credit Union in Jacksonville prior to joining Community First. He has served on the board of the Credit Union Executive Society’s Florida Chapter and is a member of the Credit Union Economic Group.
A Jacksonville native, Inman earned his MBA from Brenau University in Gainesville and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of North Florida (UNF). He is a graduate of the Leadership Jacksonville Class of 2002. Sam and his wife Karen have been married for more than 30 years.
Inman is active in the Northeast Florida community and is passionate about supporting public education and schoolteachers. He serves as chair of the board of the Nonprofit Center of Northeast Florida, is on the board of the UNF Foundation and is on the Board of Trustees of WJCT Public Media. Inman is past chairman of its Dean’s Education Advisory Council of UNF. Inman has served on various other nonprofit committees and board including the TEACH Symposium for Northeast Florida educators, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Northeast Florida, Learn to Read, Inc. and the University of North Florida (UNF) Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In 2014, Inman was named an “Ultimate CEO” by the Jacksonville Business Journal.
Community First Credit Union has grown to serve more than 175,000 members with more than $2.8 billion in assets, making it one of Florida’s largest credit unions. Community First was founded Downtown in 1935 and remains Downtown Jacksonville’s longest continually operating financial institution. It has two HQ locations in LaVilla.
Community First Credit Union of Florida is a state-chartered credit union based in Jacksonville serving anyone who lives or works on the First Coast. Community First is one of the largest credit unions in Florida with $2.8 billion in assets and serving 175,000 members. Community First has 22 locations and more than 450 employees. A not-for-profit, Community First is a full-service financial institution offering banking, loans, mortgages and investments for consumers and businesses across the First Coast. Visit www.communityfirst.com.
Vice Chair
Tammi McGriff, Sr. Customer Solutions Manager, CSX Transportation
TAMMI MCGRIFF
Sr. Manager, Customer Solutions, CSX Transportation
Tammi McGriff is a Sr. Customer Solutions Manager with CSX Corporation, one of the nation’s leading transportation suppliers for rail and intermodal business based in Jacksonville, Florida. Mrs. McGriff began her career with CSX in 2011 as a Premier Customer Service Specialist and has been promoted into different roles with increasing responsibilities including her current one. Prior to joining the CSX team, she worked for Convergys Corporation from 1998-2009 in roles including Project Management and Data Network Technology Services.
As a Jacksonville, Florida native, Mrs. McGriff is a dedicated volunteer within the Jacksonville community. Volunteering with 904WARD since 2019 as a Race Cards Conversation facilitator, and on the Race Cards Conversations committee. In addition to volunteering with United Way partners, she served on the United Way’s Women United Executive Committee as Chair from 2018-2020. She often participates in CSX Pride in Service events to support local military families in Jacksonville; and with Pace Center for Girls Jacksonville.
Mrs. McGriff currently serves on the board of directors for 904WARD. She earned her Bachelor of Science and Master of Business Administration from the University of Phoenix. She has also completed a professional certificate in Equitable Community Change from Cornell University. She is on schedule to complete a Master of Science in Cybersecurity from Excelsior College December 2022.
Paul Stallings, Vice President, IT Infrastructure Services, Florida Blue
PAUL STALLINGS
Vice President, IT Infrastructure Services, Florida Blue
Paul Stallings serves as Florida Blue’s Vice President of IT Infrastructure Services. In this role, Stallings provides capabilities that increase company-wide agility to quickly respond to business changes and customer needs. He is accountable for the enterprise’s collection of hardware, software, network resources and services required for the existence, operation and management of the organizations IT environment. His responsibilities include maintaining policies, standards, and processes in addition to the delivery of solutions and services to employees, partners and customers.
Since joining the company in 2001, Stallings has focused on providing technology capabilities that increase its agility to quickly respond to business changes and customer needs across the enterprise. Prior to his current role, Stallings served as Director of IT Operations where he played a strategic role in ensuring the organization was fully prepared to handle high call volumes with a potential enrollment of one million new members for the health plan.
Stallings has more than 25 years of experience in information technology and has been published for the effectiveness of his teams’ work in several industry leading magazines including Network World, Computer World, Info World and the Jacksonville Business Journal.
Stallings has served on the board of Leadership Jacksonville and served as Chairman of the Board for Beaver Street Enterprises. Stallings came up through the financial industry and holds a Series 7 stockbrokers license from the New York Institute of Finance.
Secretary
Robert Jackson, Director of Engineering Transportation, The Haskell Company
ROBERT JACKSON
Director of Engineering, The Haskell Company
Robert Jackson leads the Transportation and Civil Infrastructure Division, dedicated to providing quality engineering and consultant services for the Florida Market. He joined Haskell in March of 2019 with over 20 years of experience in transportation-related design. His accomplishments include the successful delivery of large award-winning projects in Northeast Florida.
Robert holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Florida. He is also a licensed professional engineer in Florida and Georgia.
Robert has served in numerous leadership positions in engineering organizations, such as president of the Florida Section of American Society of Civil Engineers and the Jacksonville Chapter of the Florida Engineering Society. He volunteers with numerous collegiate engineering programs, including the University of Florida and the University of North Florida and with youth programs such as Mentoring Families and Kids, Inc.
He is an active board member of ACE Mentoring Program. He was the president of both the Florida Section American Society of Civil Engineers(2018-2019) and Northeast Florida Engineering Society (2016-2017) and the Chair for Northeast Florida Engineer’s Week in 2011-2012.
Tyler Morris, Executive Director, Center for Independent Living
TYLER MORRIS
Executive Director, Center for Independent Living
Morris completed his undergraduate and graduate work at the University of North Florida. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Special Education - Deaf Studies and a Master's degree in Business Administration. He began working with people with disabilities in 1996, at the Caribbean Christian Center for the Deaf. Morris' passion is rooted in studying, understanding and building nonprofits to better serve the community.
In 2018, Morris was appointed by Governor Scott to the Florida Independent Living Council, where he serves as the State's Network of Centers Representative. Morris is a current board member of the Florida Association of Centers for Independent Living and member of the University of North Florida's Exceptional Student Education Committee. Morris served the City of Jacksonville as Chairperson of the Mayor's Disability Council, under both Peyton and Brown administrations. He has been recognized as Jacksonville's 30 under 30, received the Jacksonville Jaguars' EverBank Builds Community Champion Award and the University of North Florida's Young Alumni Champion Award. Morris lives in the historic Riverside.
Kathleen Shaw, Executive Vice President, The Terry Family Foundation
Kathleen Shaw
Kathleen Shaw
Executive Vice President, The Terry Family Foundation
Kathleen Shaw has more than 35 years of experience in the Northeast Florida philanthropic and nonprofit sector. Kathleen currently serves as Executive Vice President for the the Terry Family Foundation, one of our region’s largest private family foundations. Prior to joining the Terry Family Foundation in 2024, Kathleen was the Senior Vice President, Programs & Initiatives, at The Community Foundation for Northeast Florida, the region’s largest grantmaker. In more than 20 years at The Community Foundation, Kathleen managed, designed and led strategic grantmaking initiatives, and oversaw more than 400 grants annually, representing $40M+ of investments in 2023.
Prior to her career in philanthropy, Kathleen served for 15 years in leadership positions at two local direct service nonprofit organizations and is passionately committed to supporting the sector and important services they provide our community. As a native of Jacksonville, Florida, she is knowledgeable about the issues impacting our region and deeply committed to supporting the work of the nonprofit sector. She has served on a variety of nonprofit advisory boards, committees and community collaborations over her career. She also helps to advance the field of philanthropy through teaching, presenting and assisting other philanthropic partners with their work both locally, regionally and nationally. She was selected as a 2008 Hull Fellow by Philanthropy Southeast, and is a graduate of the Leadership Jacksonville Class of 2018.
Katheleen’s most recent community involvement includes: Local Initiatives Support Corporation/Jacksonville Advisory Board; First Coast Relief Fund Advisory Board; Lift Jax Steering Committee and United Way of Northeast Florida’s Affordable Housing Taskforce
Kathleen holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Florida State University and a Master of Education degree from University of North Florida.
Eddie Sarnowski, Partner, Holland and Knight
Eddie Sarnowksi
Partner, Holland & Knight
Eddie Sarnowski is a partner in Holland & Knight's Jacksonville office and a member of the firm's Corporate, M&A and Securities Group. His practice focuses on corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions and divestitures. Mr. Sarnowski also represents angel, venture capital and other private investment funds in fund formation matters and investments in seed, early stage and later stage startup companies. He has been involved in many M&A deals and private offerings of debt and equity securities, some of which are highlighted below.
Mr. Sarnowski also advises public companies listed on the NYSE, NASDAQ and OTCQX exchanges on reporting, corporate governance, regulatory, compliance and executive compensation matters. He has served as a panelist speaking about securities law issues ranging from crafting executive compensation clawback policies, to complying with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) Conflict Minerals Rule, to understanding benefits available to Emerging Growth Companies under the Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act.
Additionally, Mr. Sarnowski assists with pro bono matters involving corporate and real estate issues, including representing active-duty military personnel in civil legal disputes through the American Bar Association's Military Pro Bono Project. Mr. Sarnowski also actively participates in the firm's annual 9/11 Day of Service, for which he previously served as the Jacksonville office's Local Initiative Co-Coordinator. He is also the Pro Bono and Community Service Partner for the Jacksonville office of Holland & Knight. In this role, he coordinates pro bono opportunities for the firm's Jacksonville attorneys, as well as chairs a committee of attorneys and staff that oversees a pool of funds for distribution to community organizations assisting at-risk children.
Mr. Sarnowski was previously a Florida Supreme Court judicial intern for the Honorable Barbara J. Pariente.
Dr. Audrieanna Burgin, Director, UNFs Diversity in Business Program
Dr. Audrieanna Burgin
Senior Research Scientist at WGU labs
Dr. Audrieanna Burgin is a Senior Research Scientist at WGU labs, a research organization whose mission is to accelerate the pace of innovation in education and increase pathways to learning. At WGU Labs, Dr. Burgin leads equity audits and efficacy research of educational institutions. She is the founding director of the University of North Florida's Diversity in Business program, a community of support for students of color within the Coggin College of Business. Dr.Burgin earned her Ph.D. in Economics from Florida State University, completing her Topics in Educational Attainment & Labor Outcomes dissertation. Her research explores the intersections of labor, race, and education. Dr. Burgin proudly serves as the Founding Chairman of the board of directors for Becoming Collegiate Academy, Florida's first HBCU-inspired charter school.
Lawsikia J. Hodges, Lead Council - Jacksonville Governmental Affairs Practice Group , Smith, Gambrell & Russell LLP
Lawsikia J. Hodges
Lawsikia J. Hodges is the lead counsel of Smith, Gambrell & Russell LLP’s Jacksonville Governmental Affairs practice group. Prior to joining Smith, Gambrell & Russell LLP, Ms. Hodges was the Deputy General Counsel of the Office of General Counsel, City of Jacksonville. Ms. Hodges provides government operations and transactional counsel to public and private clients on real estate and public finance transactions, government procurement, federal and local grants, economic development and incentives, open meetings, public records, and ethics laws. Ms. Hodges is a Florida Bar Board Certified City, County & Local Government Lawyer, an AV Preeminent® Martindale-Hubbell® Peer Review Rated™ attorney and was recognized by her peers as a top government attorney in Florida Trend’s Legal Elite. Ms. Hodges is the Chair of the Florida Bar City, County, and Local Government Certification Committee and a Leadership Jacksonville graduate. She also serves on the nonprofit boards of WJCT, Inc., the Museum of Contemporary Arts Jacksonville, Inc. (MOCA), and Young Catholic Professionals (Jacksonville Chapter).
Jennifer Ryan, CEO, Volunteers in Medicine
Jennifer Ryan
CEO, Volunteers in Medicine
Jennifer Ryan is the CEO of Volunteers in Medicine, a nonprofit clinic that provides free healthcare for the working uninsured. Jennifer is a fifth generation North Floridian with a proven reputation in building and sustaining community partnerships with experience in health care at the national, county and hospital levels. She is recognized for being innovative, collaborative, creative, outgoing, team oriented, adaptable, and professional with expertise in: fundraising, public health, marketing, digital and social media, program evaluation, community health, data analysis, and nonprofit management. Prior to her work at Volunteers in Medicine Jennifer was the Executive Director of the Ponte Vedra YMCA a branch of the First Coast YMCA where she directed strategic planning efforts, fundraising campaigns, and built and strengthened relationships for community development and collaboration. Prior to that, she held positions with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Duval County Health Department, Brooks Rehabilitation and Northeast Florida Healthy Start Coalition. Jennifer graduated with a Bachelor of Science from Mercer University and received a Masters in Public Health from Emory University. In 2022 Jennifer successfully completed Harvard Business School’s Strategic Perspectives on Nonprofit Management. Jennifer is a member of the Ponte Vedra Beach Rotary, Jacksonville Women’s Network and the Women’s Giving Alliance. Jennifer is currently on the boards of Family Foundations and Florida Association of Free and Charitable Clinics. In 2022 Jennifer was named one of Jacksonville Business Journal’s Women of Influence and received the TIAA Bank/Jacksonville Jaguars Community Champion Award. Jennifer is a Leadership Jacksonville 2012 alumni and received a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in the Workplace Certificate from the University of South Florida.
Dane Bennett, Vice President of Government Relations, Baptist Health
Dane Bennett
Dane Bennett joined Baptist Health in 2022 and was recently promoted to Vice President of Government Relations. In this role, Bennett is responsible for leading local, state and federal affairs for the health system. He has successfully advocated for enhanced Medicaid reimbursement for Wolfson Children’s Hospital; appropriations for a new pediatric behavioral health unit and the Bower Lyman Center for Medically Complex Children; extending Baptist Medical Center Nassau’s rural hospital designation; instituting a Collaborative Care Model for Behavioral Health in Florida’s Medicaid program, and many other initiatives.
Prior to joining Baptist Health, Bennett was the director of Governmental Affairs for the Florida Home Builders Association where he represented more than 8,000 builder and associate members before the Florida Legislature and Executive Branch. He began his career as a legislative aide to Senator Lizbeth Benacquisto.
Bennett served as a Captain in the United States Marine Corps as part of the 4th Assault Amphibian Battalion. Bennett’s time in the Marine Corps included leading a unit deployment to the Indo-Pacific in support of the 4th Marine Regiment.
Bennett was named to Influence Magazine’s Rising Stars’ class of 2022, a graduate of Leadership Jacksonville’s class of 2024, and is a member of class 8 of the Hightower Emerging Leaders Fellowship program. He serves on the Jax Chamber Government Affairs Committee, the Chairman’s Club of the TaxSlayer Gator Bowl, and the Healthy First Coast political committee. A two-time Seminole, Bennett received his Master of Public Administration and Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Florida State University.”
Katie Bakewell, Data Science Solutions Architect, NLP Logix
Katie Bakewell
Katie Bakewell is a tenacious data scientist who serves as a Data Science Solutions Architect at NLP Logix, where she has been a pivotal member since joining as the second employee in 2013. Katie has led key projects supporting organizations including the Kids Hope Alliance and the Florida Poison Information Center Networks. She possesses extensive expertise across multiple industries, including human resources, financial services, and healthcare. Her accomplishments include the successful implementation of numerous machine learning projects in these fields.
In addition to her professional work, Katie is deeply committed to education and community service. She co-founded the NLP Logix Data Science Boot Camp that has been running for 10 years, teaching data science to over 50 rising high school seniors in Duval County. She also volunteers as guardian ad litem, serves on the Community First Community Advisory Council, and has served as a sherpa for Florida Data Science for Social Good since its inception.
She is a founding member of AI Connect, an innovative organization where big data enthusiasts come together to explore unexpected findings and uncover hidden patterns. Her passion for data and machine learning is matched by her commitment to fostering a collaborative environment. In an ever-expanding field like AI, she believes in the power of diverse skill sets and open discussions. AI Connect offers a platform for members to share knowledge, ranging from business use cases to technical deep dives, ensuring continuous learning and growth for all involved.
Katie holds a Master's degree in Mathematics and dual Bachelor's degrees in Math and Statistics from the University of North Florida. She and her husband, Sagara, live in Jacksonville, where they love to spend time on the beach, enjoy local restaurants, and enthusiastically support local sports teams (Lets go Jags, Icemen, Shrimp, and Sharks!).