(Appointed by School Board Member Lori Hershey)

During high school, Paul enlisted in the US Navy where he served for six years. Following boot camp and avionics technical training, he was assigned to VA-82, an A-7 squadron stationed at Cecil Field. He finished his military career working as a supervisor with VA-174, the training command for the A-7 squadrons. 

After military service, Paul obtained his bachelor's degree in business with an emphasis in accounting from FCCJ (now FSCJ) and the University of North Florida. He had a 35+ year career in the credit union industry working for several local credit unions within the finance and technology areas. He was President of two credit unions. 

During his career, he served on the credit union education committee that worked with FSCJ to provide credit union education to local staff. He also served on the local CU league board and served on the board of the Northwest Jacksonville Community Development Corporation. 

Paul is married and has two adult children and one grandchild. He served on the School Advisory Committee when his children attended public schools. Paul currently serves on a local credit union board and sits on committees for technology and strategic planning.

(Appointed by School Board Member Cindy Pearson)

Steve Apple retired from Florida Blue after twenty-six years, having spent much of his career in the planning, budgeting, and forecasting areas. Prior to Florida Blue, Steve worked with several local CPA firms concentrating on small business accounting.

During his career at Florida Blue, Steve was a senior finance director responsible for facilitating the development of the annual financial plan, including the administrative expense budget. He provided monthly reporting of budget variances to the organization, led the development and reporting of annual scorecard indicators and supported senior management with regular Board meetings. While at Florida Blue, he was active with the United Way of Northeast Florida.  

Steven holds a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting from Florida State University and is currently licensed in Florida as a Certified Public Accountant. Steve, his wife Nancy and three grown children all attended Duval County Public Schools.

(Appointed by School Board Member Charlotte Joyce)

Dan Edelman is a principal with Heritage Capital Group.  Dan’s primary focus is advising clients on mergers and acquisition transactions as well as strategic planning. 

Dan has more than 40 years of public accounting experience, all in the Jacksonville area.  He was one of the founders of Presser, Lahnen & Edelman, one of the area’s largest independent accounting firms, prior to its partners joining with Dixon Hughes Goodman, LLP ("DHG") in June 2009.  Prior to joining DHG, he had been the firm’s managing partner, and, after joining DHG he was DHG’s Florida managing partner. Dan is a partner emeritus at DHG, having retired in May 2020. His accounting practice was focused on general business consulting, complex tax planning, and the resolution of complex business problems. 

In addition to being a CPA, Dan is certified in business valuations and financial forensics.  He has been involved in over 300 business valuation and litigation matters as well as over 100 merger and acquisition transactions.  He has also served on the board of directors of two publicly traded companies, one of which went through significant rapid growth, including acquisitions. 

Dan is currently on the Board of Directors of the University of Florida Health Proton Therapy Institute and KIPP Jacksonville Schools. Previously, he has served as the chairman of the board of directors of Hope Haven Children’s & Family Clinic and The Jacksonville Public Library Board Foundation. He also previously served on the Executive Committee of the Jacksonville Civic Council and the boards of the University of North Florida Foundation, the Baptist Hospital Foundation, and the Cummer Museum.

(Appointed by School Board Member Dr. Kelly Coker)

Mindy is an independent consultant working with JP Latz Advisors.  JP Latz Advisors serve as independent CFOs and advisors providing financial expertise and strategic business solutions for both for profit and not-for-profit clients.  

Mindy joined JP Latz Advisors after working for 14 years at Coastal Construction Products, one of the largest independent specialty distributors of caulking and sealants, waterproofing, concrete repair and fire protection products in the US with 17 stocking locations from Miami to Chicago.  For the past seven years, Mindy has served as the Director of Finance at Coastal Construction Products.  In this role, Mindy collaborated with senior management and private equity partners on annual forecasts and budgets, and implemented strategic business initiatives and monthly financial reporting to the Board of Directors.  Mindy utilized business intelligence software to monitor company performance and customer profitability.  Prior to serving as Director of Finance, Mindy served in a senior Human Resources role where she managed payroll, policies and procedures, recruitment and employee relations.  During her 14 years at Coastal Construction Products, Mindy was part of the core team that completed two separate ERP implementations. 

Mindy began her career as an investment banker, working for 13 years in Nashville, TN with J.C. Bradford & Company and McDonald Investments.  Mindy was primarily responsible for the origination, structuring and execution of multi-million-dollar transactions including public and private equity and debt offerings, mergers, acquisitions, exclusive sale assignments, leveraged recapitalizations and buyouts for both public and private companies. 

Mindy is the current Treasurer of the Board of UCOM (United Community Outreach Mission).  UCOM’s mission is to stabilize families in crises by providing food security for the hungry and empowering the community to meet neighbors’ needs.   Mindy also volunteered for 11 years with Duval County Public Schools in positions such as Chairman of the School Advisory Committee and co-founder and President of the Stanton High School Sports Booster Club.    Mindy and her husband of 30 years are the parents of two children who graduated from the Duval County Public Schools.  One of their children is pursuing a career in the business sector and the other is in graduate school pursuing a Masters’ Degree in environmental science. 

Mindy is a graduate of Vanderbilt University with a degree in Mathematics and a minor in Business Administration.

(Appointed by School Board Member April Carney)

Mark Sizemore is the principal with Sizemore & Associates, CPA’s PLLC.  Mark’s primary focus is helping businesses improve profitability and business owners retain more of their profits through tax planning and tax mitigation strategies. 

Mark has worked for more than 30 years as a financial leader with public, private, and non-profit organizations.  His experiences shape his unique ability to diagnose and solve the problems organizations face.  His ability to see the bigger picture and to develop appropriate strategies enable his clients to achieve and exceed their goals. 

Mark graduated from the University of Florida and the University of North Florida with bachelor’s degrees.  He also has a Master of Accountancy with a concentration in Taxation from the University of North Florida.  Mark is a licensed Florida Certified Public Accountant.

(Appointed by School Board Member Darryl Willie)

Monique Thompson is the President and Principal Consultant of Custom Strategic Solutions, LLC (CSS). She is a highly qualified and results-driven audit and compliance leader with a proven track record of implementing innovative processes. Her leadership allows organizations to implement process improvements and approaches, developing staff, project managing, monitoring internal controls, and safeguarding companies from potential fraud, waste, and abuse. Monique’s experience spans across developing and implementing internal/external audit functions, legal, risk management, ethics, accounting, finance, and compliance departments. With this background, in 2021, Monique set out to share her experiences and expertise with companies of all sizes to support any audit and compliance efforts.

Currently as the President of CSS, Monique is responsible for leading program management, project execution and planning initiatives to secure outsourcing contracts in the global marketplace. She interfaces directly with business owners, senior management, and C-level executives to strategize and devise custom, holistic and effective measures for long-lasting success.

In addition to her experience, she holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics, with a minor in Computer Science from Grambling State University in Louisiana and a Master of Science Degree in Accountancy from the University of Phoenix. She is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and maintains her membership with the Information Systems Audit and Control Association and the Institute of Internal Auditors. In the last year Monique has graduated from the American Public Transportation Association’s Emerging Leader Program and is a member of the Duval County Public School Audit Advisory Committee.

Monique grew up in San Diego, California and has lived in Louisiana, Texas and now Florida. In her free time, Monique enjoys spending time with her husband and three (3) children, volunteering, tutoring, and mentoring high school and college students.

(Appointed by School Board Member Warren Jones)

LaSonja Williams is a Certified Public Accountant with over 25 years in Accounting, Auditing and Financial Management. She specializes in creating financial statements for companies and helping individuals understand what the financial numbers mean. She believes that all numbers tell a story, and that understanding the story is the key to better performance for companies and individuals. Her experience includes preparation of GAAP financial statements, SEC audits and compilation, preparation and review of monthly and quarterly financial/cash flow statements, general ledger analysis and research, preparation of monthly journal entries, account reconciliation, resolution of technical accounting issues, and accounting systems automation.

LaSonja began her career as an auditor at Arthur Anderson & Company in Washington D.C. As a senior auditor, she supervised comprehensive audits of banks and other financial services industries. She moved from Public Accounting to the private sector, working to streamline accounting processes at companies such as GTE Spacenet, Bank Boston, and Everbank.

Currently, she is the Corporate Accounting and Financial Reporting Manager for the Jacksonville Transportation Authority, where she analyzes and researches issues from both accounting and auditing perspectives and ensures adherence to both GASB (Governmental Accounting Standards Board) and FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) guidelines. During the 7 years she has
been with the authority, she has successfully provided guidance and collaboration with JTA’s external auditors for 7 successful audit seasons with no audit findings.

She is also an Accounting Professor at Edward Waters College, where she teaches both Financial and Managerial Accounting, and Personal Financial Planning. In addition, she provides tax and accounting guidance through her company, LD Williams & Associates. When she is not working, she enjoys spending time with her family, and volunteering for organizations such as her
church and her sorority.

LaSonja received her bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Florida A&M University, (summa cum laude), and her Master of Business Administration from Louisiana State University, Shreveport. She is a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

Dr. Kelly Coker is a committed educator in the Jacksonville community who continually works to use her knowledge and resources to make our schools better for children. She was elected as the District 1 School Board Member in August of 2020 and proudly serves her constituency in the Arlington, Regency, and Oceanway communities. 

Dr. Coker began her career as a middle school teacher with the Duval County Public Schools. Over the next 27 years, she went on to serve as a Principal of two middle schools, Executive Director of Middle Schools, Region Superintendent of K-12 Schools, Region Chief of High Schools, and, most recently, Assistant Superintendent. During her career, she expanded school choice options for all children, oversaw a 29-million-dollar budget, and led multiple divisions across the school district. Working with parents, local business leaders, and school principals, she was able to establish new workforce development programs, expand dual enrollment options, and achieve record high district graduation rates. 

Dr. Coker is a 4th generation Jacksonville native who has lived in School Board District 1 her entire life. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Florida, a master’s degree from Jacksonville University, and a doctoral degree from the University of North Florida. Dr. Coker currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, where she is chair of the Education Committee. She is also on the Leadership Team for Leadership Jax and serves as a Co-Chairperson for their Education Day Program. In her continued commitment to education, she serves on the Adult Literacy Alliance Board and is also a member of the Jacksonville Women’s Network.   She and her husband of 30 years continue to live in the neighborhood where she grew up. They are the proud parents of a daughter who is a graduate of Duval County Public Schools and The University of Virginia, who is now attending The University of Virginia School of Law.