Biography Dr. Lakeisha Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Communication Science and Disorders program at Florida State University and a certified speech-language pathologist. She is also the director of The Village, the community outreach and engagement division of the Florida Center for Reading Research. Her primary research interests include language, literacy, dialect, and executive function development in African American children. Dr. Johnson believes in building and leveraging research-practice partnerships to ensure children from vulnerable and underserved populations obtain strong language and literacy skills. She has a passion for diverse children's books and runs a website, Maya's Book Nook, to help caregivers and educators use these books to promote language and literacy foundations.

Biography Elizabeth Rosario, known to everyone as Ely, is a vibrant, smart and incredible force in her community. She holds a Masters of Business Administration from Colorado State University and a bachelor's degree in Communications with Business from Florida State University. She has worked as a Business Manager at Jackson Properties for 17 years, is a real estate investor with properties in three different cities in Florida, has taught Entrepreneurship at the Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship and was the race director for the Tallahassee Marathon and Half Marathon receiving the Director of the Year award. She is an alumni of Leadership Tallahassee Class 35, currently in Leadership Florida class 39 and Board Member for the Tallahassee Museum. Ely is a mother of 3, author, Ironman Finisher, and a Boston Marathon qualified runner. Ely is a genuine, refreshing, and real woman who is not afraid to walk alone. Her ability to be mindful and aware of the world around her while simultaneously creating her own is admirable. She has shared her thoughts through speaking engagements including the Writer’s Circle at Leadership Florida Annual Meeting, FSU Women In Leadership Conference, Professional Women’s Forum by the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce and Women Wednesday. Her never ending energy and ability to get things done and keep moving forward is truly inspiring. Someone you can’t help but smile when you meet her.

Biography Allie joined Capital City Trust Company in 2017 following 11 years with Capital City Bank Marketing. She previously served as both public relations manager and client experience manager and knows how to offer a memorable experience with Capital City. Now as a Trust Officer, she continues to cultivate strong relationships while providing exceptional client service. Allie holds B.S and M.S. degrees in Recreation, Tourism and Events from Florida State University and is preparing for the CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional (CFP®) designation. She is a member of Leadership Tallahassee Class 37 and former Knight Creative Communities Institute (KCCI) Catalyst. Allie currently serves on the boards Gadsden Arts Center & Museum and Tree House of Tallahassee.

Biography A graduate of Florida State University many moons ago, Melissa has been in the financial services industry for 21 years. She strives to empower her clients to make sensible financial decisions whether a long-term or short-term decision. All financial planning conversations begins with a cash flow analysis and discovery of her clients spending habits. In 2010, Melissa received the Accredited Wealth Advisor designation from the College of Financial Planning. She is dual employed with Capital City Bank Group and Capital City Investments. In December 2021, Melissa married her long-term boyfriend Albert and together they have 5 children.

Biography Christy Chatmon, an instructor in the School of Information at Florida State University, earned a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Georgia, a master's degree in Software Engineering from Florida A&M University, and is currently at Florida State University as a doctoral candidate in Information Science. She has extensive experience mentoring minority students in STEM and has a research background in active learning pedagogy, collaborative learning, and instructional technology. Christy has over 21 years of experience teaching in higher education in the field of Computing sciences. Before joining the faculty at FSU, she spent more than fourteen years teaching and leading numerous IT initiatives in the Department of Computer and Information Sciences at Florida A&M University. Christy is an active member of the College of Communication and Information (CCI) and School of Information's diversity and equity efforts, serving on the college's EDI Steering Committee. Christy has received numerous awards, including the Florida State University Transformation Through Teaching Award (2017), the Florida State University Undergraduate Teaching Award (2018), the College of CCI Undergraduate Teaching Award (2018), the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) Tallahassee's SheLeadsTech Academic Leadership Award (2019), and most recently, the CCI Faculty Leadership Award (2021). She is also a founding member of the SI CoLab Adaptive Leadership Institute's board of directors and its chair (SIE CoLab). She is a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. and a Chamber of Commerce Leadership Tallahassee alumna. Christy is an active volunteer in her community and enjoys singing, gardening, and traveling.

Biography Ranata M. Hughes, a Florida native, works as an Internship Director and Instructor at Florida A&M University’s School of Journalism & Graphic Communication. Prior to joining SJGC’s full-time faculty in 2017, Hughes worked as a public relations practitioner for over 10 years, specializing in the areas of marketing and travel tourism PR, event planning, media relations, strategic communications and nonprofit. Hughes has such passion for the work she does as a PR practitioner, but enjoys working in education just as much, as she loves helping students reach their academic and professional goals. Today, Hughes has former students working at companies such as Edelman, M Booth New York, Amazon and Disney just to name a few. When Hughes is not busy teaching classes or helping a student with professional development, she is planning a career event, collaborating with employers, advising a student chapter or working with a creative project or research, through which she has been recognized on an international level and quoted in more than 250 publications across the globe, including Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch and the Associated Press. Hughes’ professional organizations include membership in the Public Relations Society of America, North Florida Public Relations Society of America and the National Association of Professional Women. As for honor societies, Hughes was inducted into Kappa Tau Alpha (the journalism honor society) and Golden Key International Honour Society. Hughes holds a Bachelor of Science degree in public relations from Florida A&M University and a Master of Science degree in integrated marketing communication from Florida State University.

Biography Gabrielle K. Gabrielli, Ph.D., CGMP Dr. Gabrielle K. Gabrielli is a speaker, coach, author, evaluator, and educator who helps improve leadership, motivation, performance, and learning. She is CEO of Gabrielle Consulting, Inc. where her clients include nonprofits, education, business, and government. She juggles a variety of projects from designing award-winning curriculum to conducting evaluations to teaching human resource topics and coaching executives to achieve higher-level leadership. She is a Maxwell certified coach, speaker, and trainer who founded the Leadership Academy to provide yearlong leadership development curriculum, evaluation, assessments, coaching, and mentoring to professionals. Previously Dr. Gabrielli was associate director of the Center for Teaching Excellence at the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, NY. Her dissertation, “The Effects of Technology-Mediated Instructional Strategies on Motivation, Performance, and Self-Directed Learning,” involved 784 cadets, 20% of the population at the academy. Dr. Gabrielli worked full time to pay her way through college, gaining valuable experience at a young age. Besides being an entrepreneur and journalist, positions held include head of training and development at a state agency, administrator with a K-12 school district, project manager and faculty at Florida State University for a $6.2 million DHS project, and project manager/ instructional technologies administrator for the Justice Distance Learning Consortium, a $10 million DOE grant to bring education to incarcerated youth in Texas, Florida, and New York. She is a self-proclaimed geek who is a webmaster and former computer club president. Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce named Gabrielle Consulting, Inc. 2013 Sole Proprietor of the Year. In 2014, Dr. Gabrielli was selected as one of 25 Women You Need to Know, and she was awarded the Parks & Crump Community Champion of the Year. In 2017, she was awarded a fellowship as a National Science Foundation evaluator with recognition at the 2017 Advanced Technological Education Principal Investigator Conference in Washington, DC. In 2019 she earned President’s Choice Award with Society of Government Meeting Professionals. Dr. Gabrielli was awarded the 2021 Trailblazer award by the Oasis Center for Women and Girls, and the 2021 Active Leisure for Life Award by Florida Disabled Outdoors Association. Dr. Gabrielli holds a B.A. in Communication with an emphasis in journalism from Florida A&M University. She earned her M.A. in Mass Communication, Media Communication, and Marketing Research, and her doctorate in Educational Psychology and Learning Systems- Instructional Systems from Florida State University. Leadership roles include needs assessment chair for CHSP, jobs and mentorships chair for FSU’s Instructional Systems Alumni Council, and chapter marketing chair and vice president of Society of Government Meeting Professionals. She has written many articles on leadership, diversity, jobs, technology, marketing, performance improvement, human resources, and motivation. The textbook Trends and Issues in Instructional Design and Technology (2007, 2011), of which she was an author, received two of the most prestigious awards in the industry. Dr. Gabrielli also runs a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization called Life Worth Leading. She is a SCUBA instructor trainer with certifications to teach people with disabilities. She holds many other certifications including CPR instructor and rescue diver. She volunteered with her therapy dog in the courtroom and with Alzheimer’s and hospital patients, serves as evaluator to allocate funds to nonprofits, and is a graduate and lifetime member of Leadership Tallahassee, former instructor with Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities, reviewer for empirical journals, former American Cancer Society event chair, former media chair of a U.S. Census Bureau committee, current member of SGMP National Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee, member of FSAE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, and organizer of many fundraising events. In 2019, she earned the Bike Saint Award for her help in purchasing bicycles and trikes for people with disabilities. Dr. Gabrielli travels extensively (87 countries), is trilingual, and is involved with aviation, animal rescue (she has fostered and adopted out over 788 pets), and classic cars. Her passion is to bring education and opportunity to people who need it most (people living in poverty, people with disabilities, incarcerated youth, etc.). She promotes stewardship, believes that all people regardless of differences should be treated with dignity and respect and afforded the same opportunities, says that time is the most valuable commodity, and lives by the philosophy that life is a gift to be enjoyed- find your passion and live it!

Biography Jessica Clark, PMP® is the CEO and Chief Creative Strategist of Skye Creative Marketing, a certified woman-owned creative company focused on providing branding and public outreach services to mission-based clients. During her career, Jessica’s work has included branding an opioid safety awareness campaign, developing and marketing a national abuse prevention education in-school curriculum, and creating and marketing multiple outreach products and campaigns for Florida state departments, NGOs, associations, education organizations and start-ups. Jessica is an internationally certified PMP® (Project Management Professional) and nationally-acclaimed producer and creative strategist. Her work has garnered two Emmy® Award nominations, a Gracie Award® from the national Alliance for Women in Media, state and national American Advertising Awards, and various state and national awards for public outreach campaigns, creative design and public relations. Her career also includes being part of the founding team and operates as the Brand Manager of Ology Brewing Co. and Ology Distilling, a craft brewery and distillery in Tallahassee, Florida. She is a WSET Level 2 certified wine professional and uses her niche industry knowledge as a marketing consultant for food and beverage clients around the country. In 2010, Jessica graduated from FSU with a B.S. in Public Relations from the College of Communications when she spent time in the London Study Abroad Program and as a member of the FSU Honors Program. Jessica is involved with her church as a teacher, as well as supports her community through her membership and board positions with the FSU College of Communication & Information Leadership Board and To The Village Square. She is a graduate of Youth Leadership Tallahassee and now speaks at local and state conferences about female leadership and entrepreneurship. Jessica is an avid international traveler, and food photographer and producer.

Biography Brooke graduated with her BS in Communication (FSU '92) and Master's in Middle Grades Education (Mercer University '96). After teaching for seven years in Gwinnett County, Georgia, she and her husband Ben moved to Tallahassee to raise their three small children. In 2005 they started their coffee wholesale distribution company KBS, and Brooke worked behind the scenes in various roles. After the creation of Lucky Goat in 2010, she created their fundraising program and assisted with further outreach in the Tallahassee community. Today her passion is sharing Lucky Goat with educators of Leon County.

Biography Annika Suarez is a proud Florida State alumna with a passion for helping children to communicate. Since graduating from Florida State, she has worked hard to stay on top of new techniques and is continuously working to develop her skill set to provide speech therapy to children. In addition, to being the owner of her practice, she is a member of various speech-language organizations. Annika’s practice, Sunny Speech, specializes in working with infants and young children with feeding/swallowing disorders and language delays. Annika strives to grow her practice to help as many infants and young children in the Tallahassee area as possible.

Biography Denishia Sword is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Notable Impressions, Inc., a non-profit professional development agency. She also serves as the Director of External Affairs for Florida’s Insurance Consumer Advocate where she oversees the consumer outreach initiatives, communications and media relations efforts. Mrs. Sword has more than 16 years of communications, marketing, community outreach and media relations experience. Mrs. Sword previously served as Chief of Education, Advocacy and Research for the Florida Department of Financial Services. She has served as a producer for several television newscasts; an instructor of public speaking at the Florida State University; and has been responsible for media relations for several state agencies. Mrs. Sword has also provided public outreach on behalf of the Florida House of Representatives and has led crisis communications efforts during health-related and natural disasters in Florida. Mrs. Sword is a certified Leadership and Life Coach. Mrs. Sword has received several awards for communications and marketing initiatives, including the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) Award for Excellence in Public Health Communication. Mrs. Sword earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree in communications and marketing from the Florida State University and is married with two children.

Biography Ashley Augustine is a Project Manager who works with public safety organizations to implement technology-based solutions for data interoperability so that multiple sources of intelligence can communicate effectively with one another. Ashley believes that diversity is a key component of any innovative industry. She is a certified Project Manager (PMP), Product Owner (CSPO), ScrumMaster (CSM), Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP), and Risk Management Professional (PMI-RMP). She majored in Information, Communication & Technology and graduated in 2013. Ashley holds a BS in Information Technology from Florida State University.

Biography Wendi Cannon is a graduate of Florida State University with a degree in Information Studies and has 20+ years of experience working in technology. She is currently the IT Director at the Florida State University Credit Union. As IT Director, she supports the almost 30,000 members of the credit union which spans across five counties in the panhandle. Her community involvement includes Big Brothers Big Sisters and Girls on the Run which allows her to focus on her passion for women and girls. Wendi is a graduate of Leadership Tallahassee Class 35 and a member of Women 4 FSU.

Biography Deidre Melton is the Associate Vice President for Audit and Chief Risk Officer for Florida A&M University. Deidre specializes in ‎cybersecurity, governance, risk management, and internal controls. Deidre began her career working in educational and ‎local/state government audits for the State of Florida Auditor General’s Office performing information technology audits. ‎Deidre serves as the Diversity & Inclusive Leadership Committee Chair for the Association of College and University Auditors (ACUA), serves on the SheLeadsTech Council for One in Tech (an ISACA foundation), Audit Committee for Leon County Clerk of Courts, and is the Chair of the Information Technology Audit Group for the State University System of Florida. She ‎earned her B.S. of Management and Master of Business Administration at Florida A&M ‎University. Additionally, Deidre is a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE), Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Inspector General Investigator (CIGI), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Controls (CRISC), and hold a Certification in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA). ‎

Biography Melonie White did not set out for a career in cybersecurity, but discovered her passion while working in the public sector. With a BA from Florida State University, a Juris Doctor from the Florida State University College of Law, and GIAC certification, Melonie is certified in the law of data & security investigations. Combining her passion with her education and experience has given Melonie a strong background in training, legal analysis, and strategic expertise. Melonie offers a refreshing perspective in the cyber security arena, advocating for a more diverse workforce in order to increase the presence of women in high profile technology roles. Understanding that cyber security can be daunting, Melonie lent her expertise by previously serving as president of ISACA's SheLeadsTech, a program that is dedicated to increasing the representation of women in technology leadership. Originally from The Bronx, New York, Melonie enjoys the slower pace of life in Tallahassee with her husband and young son. In her free time, you can find her caring for her menagerie of animals, which includes dogs, cats, and chickens, or hosting her podcast that features independent authors and focuses on her other passions, horror novels and Latinx culture.

Biography Jennifer Garner is a 17-year career marketer with a passion for leading and influencing diverse, cross-functional teams. Jennifer received her bachelor’s degree in Communication, Public Relations from Florida State University, where she was a National Hispanic Merit Scholar and member of the Honors Program, Delta Zeta Sorority and Dance Marathon. She went on to work in public relations and marketing with roles at The Zimmerman Agency, Florida’s Restaurant & Lodging Association and Southern Resorts before returning to school for an MBA at Cornell University. Jennifer was a Cornell Consortium Fellow and active leader in Student Council, Johnson Leadership Fellows, Career Work Groups, the Hispanic American Business Leaders Association and Wine Club. Upon graduating from Cornell, Jennifer joined Kraft Heinz in Foodservice marketing and went on to become the Head of Category Marketing & Insights before a career pivot to the global center of excellence for learning and development as the Head of Functional Academies. In her current role as Director, Capability Transformation at Kraft Heinz, Jennifer is transforming the company’s ways of working and thinking via embedment of critical Capabilities that enable the business to deliver the enterprise strategy. As a first-generation college student, Jennifer is passionate about student mentorship and serves as an Adjunct Professor, guest lecturer and speaker across Florida State, Cornell and talent development initiatives. Jennifer lives in Tallahassee with her husband, Sean and their Cavalier King-Charles Spaniel, Winston. She is a foodie, wine connoisseur, runner, indoor cyclist, amateur photographer and world traveler who has visited 5 continents, 36 countries and 46 states.

Biography Decades of experience have solidified Heidi Otway as an expert in all aspects of media, communications, marketing, and audience engagement. She has led numerous public relations and public affairs initiatives, managed the reputation of top corporations, and developed campaigns targeting diverse stakeholders across Florida. For every client and cause, she relentlessly pursues results that can help them win. Her work has supported clients in Florida’s top industries and sectors. She is accredited by the Universal Accreditation Board for public relations and is a Certified Public Relations Counselor. Many of her award-winning campaigns for organizations and businesses helped their good causes win. Evidence of her strategies, innovative ideas, and creativity can be found across Florida.

Biography Merging energy and enthusiasm to exceed client expectations while balancing family and volunteer activities, Nanette seizes opportunities at every corner. She views challenges as a chance to harness her creative power. With nearly three decades of integrated communications experience and 19 years with The Moore Agency, Nanette brings optimism and unique insight to each client and project. Nanette works with a variety of clients that range from law enforcement to the medical industry; her goal is to improve the world through her work. Her ability to achieve high-impact results can be seen through the more than 35 awards she has received for her campaigns. One such example is her efforts on behalf of the Alliance to Save Florida’s Trauma Care, in which she helped orchestrate an aggressive media relations and grassroots outreach effort to protect funding for Florida’s trauma centers. Thanks in part to the more than 600 stories generated on the topic, she helped to secure more than $50 million a year in recurring funds. Additionally, Nanette manages the communications outreach for the Florida Sheriffs Association. Utilizing social media to align the public perception with the mission of the association, the team’s work has significantly increased visibility with the enhancement of digital and online media. Her diligence on behalf of the organization has led them to become one of the most respected associations in the nation and a trusted source for statewide media outlets. Her work with the recent Amendment 10 effort is another award-winning effort. Working with the Florida Sheriffs Association, she helped align and coordinate Florida’s constitutional officers in a voter education effort. With so many amendments on the ballot, the team worked to combat voter fatigue to brand the amendment as the Protection Amendment, which protected our right to vote, as well as protected families and veterans. Through compelling story telling and substantial earned media and digital advertising, the amendment passed. Nanette has a degree in Communications from Florida State University and during the fall, can be found cheering on her beloved Seminoles. She is one of fewer than 100 public relations professionals in Florida that is Certified in Public Relations and she serves her community as a member of the Bradfordville Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department. Her visionary leadership and daring spirit are hallmarks of how she delivers success.

Biography Communities across the nation are facing complex social and economic problems -- from health care and income inequality to climate change, housing, social justice and others. Linda believes that the solutions to these problems do not rest in any single program, organization or public/private sector. Rather, it takes a commitment from a broad group of important stakeholders dedicated to solving problems through social innovation and entrepreneurship. Her experience in both the for-profit and nonprofit sectors, coupled with her time in the classroom, reaffirms this belief. Social entrepreneurship, banking and finance, and human development have been connecting themes through most of Linda’s career in business, education, nonprofit management and social entrepreneurship. Linda’s background uniquely positions her to mobilize multi-sector stakeholders to co-create coordinated and innovative strategies for addressing complex social and economic issues at the practice, policy and system levels. ​Linda began her career as an elementary school teacher. Her expertise in curriculum and innovative learning methodologies was soon shared beyond the classroom through teacher workshops and conferences. An unexpected and chance encounter led to her journey into banking and finance. After many years of work and mentorship, supported by professional and high-learning education and training, Linda rose through the ranks to leadership positions, culminating in serving as president of a community bank. During her tenure in banking, Linda played a critical role in Tallahassee’s unprecedented growth. She helped launched numerous start-up businesses, led community economic development initiatives and gave financial guidance to hundreds of new residents and businesses. Embracing an “Adaptive Framework” to the field of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship gave Linda a distinct perspective during her tenure as President of Voices for Florida. In this role she led a talented and dedicated team through a new practice model that successfully built a “network-based delivery system” of trauma-competent care and treatment practice models to serve the needs of child sex trafficking victims. Known as The Open Doors Outreach Network, the hallmark of this model is transforming hierarchical decision-making, program development, and improvements to a more horizontal process in consultation with researchers, practitioners, and ongoing feedback from the people being served. Currently, Linda serves as Co-Founder, with colleague Bruce Manciagli, of the SIE CoLab, a dynamic entity focused on realizing the potential of the Adaptive SIE Framework for Systems Change through field-building, high-impact & immersive learning, adaptive leadership development, capacity-building, and accelerating promising ideas and ventures. Over her decades of service and leadership, Linda was recognized by the American Institute of Banking as “Banker of the Year,” was a nominee for the Tallahassee Chamber’s “Small Business Advocate” and “Leadership Pacesetter” awards, and received the “Women Putting Their Stamp on History Award” from Tallahassee Community College. Linda was a gubernatorial appointee and chair of the Florida School Readiness and Early Learning Coalition of the Big Bend. She has also been recognized as the 2007 Florida Champion for Children by the Early Childhood Association and was named to the 2010 Advocate Hall of Fame by the Florida Family Child Care Association. She has served in a board leadership role for many nonprofit organizations, including Girl Scouts, American Heart Association, United Way, Chamber of Commerce, FSU’s College of Education Alumni Board, and the Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare Foundation. She remains an active board member of FSU’s College of Communication and Information.

Biography With an educational background in psychology and sociology, a career in communications and unmatched expertise in business development and strategic partnerships, Audrey knows what it takes to motivate audiences and exceed growth goals. As vice president of client development at Moore, she is a skilled leader and collaborator, overseeing Moore’s business development and internal marketing operations. Audrey has nearly two decades of experience in all facets of marketing communications including developing brand identity and management tactics, creating strategic partnerships and implementing integrated campaigns across three of Moore’s four offices. In her previous role, Audrey led success for many clients including the Max Planck Florida Institute for Neuroscience and Ford Motor Company. She spearheaded a media relations effort for Ford and its local dealers, securing exposure on every local television affiliate and more than 90 percent of newspapers in Florida. The team acquired more than 800 media hits in just two years, resulting in increased purchase consideration and sales. Originally from the Tampa area, Audrey has a degree in sociology with minors in communications and psychology from Florida State University. Her education gives her a unique perspective on human behavior and motivation, which fuels her success in communications. Audrey recently returned to Tallahassee after having worked and managed two of the firm’s satellites – West Palm Beach, where she established a South Florida extension of the firm’s headquarters, giving bookend support to major Florida-based clients; and Denver, where she led the firm’s expansion and growth in the southwestern region. With this experience in different regions of the country, she was perfectly positioned for Moore’s new role of vice president of client development. Since accepting this role, the agency is averaging a win rate of 90% and has met or exceeded agency growth goals every year since 2019. Audrey serves on the Board of Directors for the Oasis Center for Women & Girls and the School of Arts and Sciences Foundation. Previously, Audrey has served on the Board of Directors for the Junior League of Boca Raton and served as Public Relations committee chair for the Youth on Record in Denver, CO. She has also served in leadership roles in various industry organization chapters including the American Advertising Federation and the American Marketing Association. Audrey and her husband have one young daughter and live in Tallahassee, where they enjoy the outdoors and having family music “jam” sessions.

Biography Kim Kelling is the Director of Content & Community Partnerships at WFSU Public Media. She oversees all content development for television, radio and digital platforms as well as on the ground community engagement and education projects. Linking content that WFSU produces as well as the vast resources of PBS and NPR to our community is part of the station’s strategic plan. Kim is on the PBS KIDS Station Advisory Board, Board Member of Tallahassee Community College Foundation Board, Apalachicola Riverkeepers and a member of Leadership Tallahassee Class 28. She is married to ornithologist Todd Engstrom and they have a son who lives in LA.

Biography Elizabeth is an award-winning immigration attorney with various interests. Well known for her pro bono work, she was named the “Go-to lawyer for veterans” by the Philadelphia Enquirer and is a Presidential appointment to the Selective Service System Board. She has appeared on Univision, Fox and Friends, CNN, and in the New York Times. BBC News and MSNBC have both called her “an immigration law expert”. Ricci has taught immigration and written several scholarly articles including an entry in the Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court and for the Harvard G&L Review. Elizabeth studied International Business, worked at the U.S. Trade Center, Mexico and was a Small Business Development volunteer in the Peace Corps in Guatemala before attending law school where she argued on the First Amendment Moot Court Team. She practices law with her husband with whom she has two teenage daughters. Elizabeth enjoys travel, arts, and culture. She has appeared in off-Broadway productions, and serves on several boards including as President of the Holocaust Education Resource Council, on the Tallahassee Hispanic Theatre and DOMI Station boards, and chair of two American Immigration Lawyers Central Florida Chapter committees. Her motto is “the ‘no’ is always out there. Seek the ‘yes’.”

Biography Pull from samanthavance.com