Board Members

About the Board of Directors

The Heartland Workforce Investment Board, Inc. d/b/a CareerSource Heartland, Board of Directors provide policy and guidance along with the general direction of CareerSource Florida, Inc. the state's chief policy organization for all CareerSource Heartland's activities affecting DeSoto, Hardee, Highlands and Okeechobee counties. The Board is mandated legislatively to have representatives from the following categories: private sector, education, labor, community-based organizations, economic development, veterans, and non-public post-secondary educational institutions.

All CareerSource Heartland Board Members, as well as the organization’s President/Chief Executive Officer, file Financial Disclosure Information Forms with the Florida Commission on Ethics. Verification of filing may be found at http://public.ethics.state.fl.us/search.cfm.

Board Members


Local Elected Officials – the Executive Board

The Honorable Kevin Roberts – Chair / Chief Elected Official
    Highlands County Board of County Commissioners

The Honorable Jerod Gross – Vice Chair
    DeSoto County Board of County Commissioners

The Honorable Kenny Miller
    Hardee County Board of County Commissioners

The Honorable Michael Sumner
    Okeechobee County Board of County Commissioners

Board Officers: 2023-2025


Chair

Raymond Royce, Executive Director
    Highlands County Citrus Growers Association
Officer Term: 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2025
Membership Term: 7/1/2021 – 12/31/2026

Chair-Elect

David Royal, Nutrient Stewardship Director
    The Nature Conservancy, Altamonte Springs
Officer Term: 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2025
Membership Term: 7/01/2021 – 6/30/2028

Secretary/Treasurer

William Allbritton, Highlands Market President
   MIDFLORIDA Credit Union
Officer Term: 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2025
Membership Term: 6/15/2022 – 6/14/2030

Board Members


Leigh Ann Bellamy, District Administrator
    Division of Blind Services
Membership Term: 6/15/2022 – N/A

Andrea Broomfield, Senior HR Business Partner (HRBP)
    HCA Florida Raulerson Hospital
Membership Term: 1/26/2022 – 12/31/2029

Yarima Cuencas, Office of Economic Development Highland County BOCC
The School District of Okeechobee County
Membership Term: 7/1/2024 – 6/30/2025

Mary Dow, President
    Dow Realty, Inc.
Membership Term: 7/1/2021 – 6/30/2025

Stephanie Etter, Dean
School of Continuing and Adult Education, Indian River State College
Membership Term: 6/19/2023 – N/A

Joshua Exendine, Union Treasurer, Executive Board
    Hardee County Professional Firefighters Union, Local 3471
Membership Term: 7/1/2021 – 6/30/2028

Don Garner, Owner/President/CEO
    Suncoast Trucking Academy
Membership Term: 1/24/2024-1/24/2032

Denise Grimsley, President/CEO
    The Development Group
Membership Term: 7/5/2022 – 7/4/2030

Skylar Harrison, Project Director
    The AARP Foundation
Membership Term: 4/27/2022 – 4/26/2030

Fred Hawkins, President
    South Florida State College
Membership Term: 7/3/2023 – 6/30/2031

Lois Hilton, Human Resources Director
    Desoto Memorial Hospital
Membership Term: 7/1/2021 – 6/30/2026

Dawn Hoover, HR Director
Gilbert Family of Companies
Membership Term: 10/25/2023 – 10/25/2031

Yessenia Irizarry, Staffing Manager
    Sunshine Staffing of Highlands County
Membership Term: 7/1/2021 – 6/30/2027

Christen Johnson, Executive Director
    AdventHealth Wauchula
Membership Term: 6/15/2022 – 6/14/2030

Jeff Jones, CEO/General Manager
Jones Supply A.I. Sales & Service Inc.
Membership Term: 10/25/2023 – 10/25/2031

Deborah Mancini, Vice President
    Mancini Foods
Membership Term: 10/25/2023 – 10/25/2031

Lindsey McCain, Human Resource Speciality
Profile Products
Membership Term: 10/25/2023 – 10/25/2031

Wayne Olson, Area Director
    Florida DOE/Vocational Rehabilitation Services
Membership Term: 7/1/2021 – N/A

Gary Ritter, Assist. Director of Govt. & Community Affairs
    Okeechobee City Administrator
Membership Term: 7/1/2021 – N/A

Dylan Tedders, Superintendent of Schools
The School District of Okeechobee County
Membership Term: 7/1/2024 – 6/30/2025

Glenn West, Representing Military Veterans
    Veterans Council of Highlands County
Membership Term: 7/1/2023 – 6/30/2031

Angel Wiggins, Director of Marketing and Operations Manager
    Royal Care of Avon Park
Memberhip Term: 7/1/2021 – 6/30/2029

Amanda Wilson, Community Development Administrator, Circuit 10
    Dept. of Children & Families
Membership Term: 7/1/2021 – N/A

 

  • As defined in Florida’s Reimagining Education and Career Help Act (REACH) and as adopted in CareerSource Heartland’s (CSH) by-laws, “Members of a local workforce development board shall serve staggered terms and may not serve for more than 8 consecutive years, unless such member is a representative of a governmental entity. Service in a term of office which commenced before July 1, 2021, does not count toward the 8-year limitation.” Therefore:

 

–  Start dates for members whose service began prior to July 1, 2021 are indicated as July 1, 2021.

–  End dates for members representing governmental entities are indicated as N/A.

–  Per CSH Board policy, to ensure that each county’s workforce priorities remain a strong focus of the CSH Board, certain economic development and education members rotate annually.

 

“We highly recommend using the CareerSource Heartland for any hiring events.”

 

Teresa Aviles
SEB Administrative Coordinator
GulfCoast Supply & Manufacturing

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Teresa Aviles
Gulf Coast

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“… I appreciate all the help from you (CareerSource Heartland) in a time when there was no hope…CareerSource Heartland drove in and fixed it like a superhero!  Thank you for all the hard work… This job fair hit big – our companies in Texas and Florida have been calls all morning asking me how did I make this happen?!  Even though I would like to take credit, it was all the work of our local career center.   I advised them to reach out to their community CareerSources, it is very much worth it. See you all very soon and thank you!”

Sincerely ,  Myesha Smith, Manager, Florida Pop, LLC, DBA Popeyes Chicken

Myesha Smith (Popeyes)
Popeyes Chicken

Anything I do say about the Career Source Heartland in Okeechobee will be very downplayed to the actual experience we encountered. Not only were they exceptional in helping us achieve our results for talented associates, but they were also well organized and on top of everything. Although I felt like I may be a burden they really went the extra mile to make me feel like part of their family and allowed me and my team to be ourselves and work closely together to make sure we were all very comfortable. Nothing I do or can say about them will ever amount to the wonderful experience I have had and will continue to have moving forward. They are the greatest resource in helping find you qualified candidates. With this being another store opening/market opening for me, this has by far been the easiest in terms of finding a staff. They help reduce the stress one may find when trying to find candidates to interview. I could keep going on how wonderful and great they were but it’s an experience and a great resource every business should try, they won’t regret it!!!!

 

Thank You

Andrew Stephens
TGM Okeechobee FL

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CareerSource Heartland helped me, I know that they can help you…

Roehl