Meet Our Leadership

Doug Tuthill has been president of Step Up For Students 2008. He is a former high school teacher, college professor, software executive, management consultant, newspaper executive, and teacher union president. Doug has degrees from the University of Florida.

Jill LaRose is the Chief Culture Officer. She is responsible for helping SUFS leaders operationalize our two core cultural values–everyone is an asset, and every event is an improvement opportunity–by promoting stronger cognitive and emotional management skills across the organization.

Jill is a certified Life Coach and for ten years was the founder and president of the Angel Society, a nonprofit, child welfare organization that provided shelter and support for girls who were wards of the state. Jill has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and a master’s degree in education.

Joe Pfountz leads Step Up For Students’ financial and scholarship operations and its fundraising, human resource, purchasing, compliance and risk management functions and ensures the highest level of fiscal accountability and transparency at Step Up For Students and the programs it administers.

Prior to joining Step Up For Students, Joe spent 29 years in various leadership roles including Chairman of the Board, Managing Director, Chief Financial Officer and Director of Finance for not-for-profit and for-profit enterprises in the healthcare and manufacturing sectors. Joe began his career in the assurance group of KPMG as an auditor of manufacturing, healthcare, construction and banking companies. Joe received his bachelor’s degree from Christian Brothers College in Memphis, TN.

For over 20 years, Lesley has provided transformational, executive leadership to large scale nonprofits. At Step Up for Students, Lesley leads the teams that oversee programs, policy, marketing, communications, and customer service. Her experience in aligning boards, donors, employees, and communities to a mission has helped to build strong, outcome-based nonprofits. Additionally, her entrepreneurial vision has helped create social enterprises and diverse funding streams for multiple organizations. Lesley is a veteran in public affairs developing critical relationships with media and elected officials leading to successful policy results. Lesley earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Alabama and a Master of Arts in Public and Private Management from Birmingham Southern College. She is also a John Maxwell certified speaker, trainer, and coach.

As our Chief Information Officer, Shafayet leads Information Technology, Data Strategies, Information Security, as well as digitally-transformative technologies across various platforms and solutions offered by Step Up For Students.

Shafayet brings multi-industry experience successfully implementing technologies for the past 25 years across Banking, Healthcare, and Insurance industries.

Shafayet’s expertise includes SaaS and Cloud-native product innovations, technology rationalization, data and systems architecture, secure digital and cloud transformations, as well as managing/leading global in-house, contracted, and third-party partner teams.

Alexis Laroe is the Assistant Director of Legislative Affairs. In her role, Alexis builds relationships with key stakeholders in Tallahassee and monitors all potential legislation. Alexis graduated from the University of Tampa with her bachelor’s degree in Political Science. She then went on to receive her Masters in American Politics from Florida State University.

Amanda Lopez is the Director of Operational Communications at Step Up For Students. She is responsible for overseeing communications sent from all departments to our families and schools including strategies to increase efficiencies among the various communication channels.

Amanda joined Step Up For Students in June of 2004 as the receptionist which, at the time, served as our Customer Service center. Over the years she has held many positions at Step Up including Application Processor, Parent Advocate, Senior School Advocate, Director of Community Outreach and Director of Advancement. Amanda earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of South Florida.

Amy Graham serves as the Vice President of Policy and Public Affairs and manages SUFS’ policy, legislative affairs, advocacy, and strategic communications teams.  She has over 17 years of experience with education policy, school choice options, and the scholarship programs in Florida. A graduate of the Florida State University College of Law, Amy began her career working as a legislative analyst for the Florida Senate and then as an education policy analyst focused on school choice programs for the Office of Independent Education and Parental Choice at the Florida Department of Education before joining Step Up For Students in 2010. She also is an alumnus of Illinois Wesleyan University.

Andrea Thoermer is the Senior Director of People Strategy and Organizational Development (PSOD). In support of the organization’s core values, she is overseas a team of people responsible for all human resources functions: talent management, employee experience, compensation, benefits, training and development, organizational communication, compliance, and workplace safety. Andrea joined Step Up For Students in 2013 after serving as an educator for 7 years. She received her PhD from the University of Florida and has her SHRM-SCP, Diversity and Inclusion and Predictive Index certifications. Additionally, she is certified to teach “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and “Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change”.

Asha Deshpande serves as the Senior Director of Enterprise Data Operations and Strategy (EDOS) at Step Up For Students. Asha manages and oversees Enterprise Data and Business Intelligence, as well as leading the Enterprise Data Modernization & Governance teams. Additionally, Asha functionally heads both the Data QA and Data Architecture teams. Asha joined Step Up For Students in December 2022.

Bringing more than 20 years of experience in the fields of Data Science, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Business Intelligence, Data Strategy, and Analytics, Asha has a diverse background spanning four industries: Credit Bureau, Marketing Database, E-commerce, and Education.

Asha holds a double master’s degree, having completed an M.S. (Master of Science) in Survey Research and Methodology & Statistics from the University of Nebraska Lincoln (UNL). Additionally, Asha has earned an M.B.A. (Master of Business Administration) from Karnatak University in India.

To further enhance her skills, Asha has completed a Nanodegree program in Programming for Data Science from Udacity. Asha recently graduated from the Inspiring Leadership program to inspire teams toward achieving strategic goals.

Outside of her professional pursuits, Asha is actively involved in volunteer work and finds joy in playing Badminton and Ping Pong during her free time.

As the Assistant Director of IT operations & Infrastructure, Carl maintains the IT Operations strategic roadmap, ensuring that information technology capabilities continually support the overall goals and objectives of the organization while enhancing mission-critical operations of the IT department.
Carl is a passionate leader with over 18 years of progressive leadership experience implementing and building IT infrastructure in on-premises data centers and in cloud computing. Overseeing organizations information security and delivering strategic security best practices to help enhance organizations overall cyber security footprint.
Carl has experience in a wide range of enterprise organizations, including those in the finance, insurance, and healthcare sectors.

Craig Gonsalves joined Step Up For Students in 2014 and now oversees the Technology Solutions group, who are responsible for implementing IT projects and technology solutions. Craig has worked at Step Up For Students as a Senior Project Manager, Project Portfolio Manager, and Senior Director of Project Management.

Craig has over 28 years of experience in the Information Technology industry, and prior to joining Step Up For Students in 2014, he worked in the Digital Marketing, Insurance, and Lottery industries within the areas of Software Quality Assurance, Software Test Automation, Business Analysis and Project Management.

Gina B. Caicedo is Sr. Director for Leadership Development and Coaching. She oversees our engagement platform to assess and evolve employee happiness and organizational culture. She is responsible for helping SUFS employees embody our two core cultural values–everyone is an asset, and every event is an improvement opportunity–by promoting stronger cognitive and emotional management skills across the organization. Gina holds a Master’s degree in Management and Team Management and a Diploma in expertise in Coaching and NLP. Gina received a bachelor’s degree in Social Communications and has a coaching certificate in Social and Emotional Intelligence. Gina is also author of the books: Quantum Empathy the pathway to Creating Deep Happiness and Success, and The Fourth Brain a Different Way of living, Beyond Emotional Intelligence.

Jaclyn Kilpatrick is the Assistant Director of External Relations. She is responsible for overseeing branding, social media and events. Jaclyn joined Step Up in 2016. Her experience in nonprofit sector spans more than twenty years with a focus on board development, fundraising, marketing and public relations for education, performing arts, and health and human service organizations. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Florida Southern College. She has Social Media Marketing Certificate from Cornell University, a Diversity and Inclusion Certificate from The University of South Florida, and is certified in Non-Profit Board Governance by the Nonprofit Leadership Center.

Jessie Carpenter is the Chief of Staff at Step Up for Students for the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, centralized as well to support senior leadership and execute at the enterprise-level. As Chief of Staff, Jessie leads business optimization, strategic development, aligned operational excellence, and departmental process and project management. Jessie brings more than 20 years of C-suite experience as a strategic partner and change agent in both public and non-profit organizations. Jessie joins us from the aerospace & defense industry where she served as Chief of Staff and Sr. Executive in business and subsidiary relationship management. Jessie is passionate about aligned business optimization and is committed to continued operational excellence ensuring that our employees and customers interface with excellence.

With combined passions for education and marketing, Jillian Metz leads the external relations team in its public relations, communications, branding, social media and philanthropic fundraising initatives that support the organization’s mission of empowering parents to pursue and engage in the most appropriate learning options for their children.

Jillian joined Step Up For Students in 2006 and has her bachelor’s degree in public relations with a minor in business from the University of Florida.

Kat Zvolynska is the Assistant Director, Enterprise Data and Business Intelligence and leads teams of BI Developers, Database Administrators, and Data Production Support. She is responsible for overseeing the planning, development, and implementation of business intelligence initiatives as well as providing guidance on the use of analytical techniques, data visualization, and reporting tools to facilitate data-driven decision-making across different business functions of our organization. Kat joined Step Up For Students in 2018 as a Database Administrator and was first responsible for monitoring, managing, and administrating SUFS's SQL servers and providing support to IT and non-IT users with their data and database needs.

Kat has over 15 years of experience in the Information Technology field, and prior to joining Step Up For Students has worked in Banking and Insurance industries within the areas of Software Quality Assurance, Database Administration, and SQL Development.

Ken Barrett serves as the Senior Manager of IT Change Management. He leads IT Change Management helping the IT department successfully deploy technical products and services using ITIL Change Management. He joined Step Up For Students in May of 2023.

Ken has over 20 years in IT management focused on IT Service Management (ITSM). He has used his ITIL certifications in multiple environments such as a Fortune 50 company in Banking, Manufacturing, Retail, and local Florida government positions. His attention to detail and focused alignment has enabled him to install new or greatly improve ITSM structures and processes. He coaches and encourages colleagues to join him in following the best practices possible in Change Management, Problem Management, Incident Management, and any technical process using highly successful methods and applications.

Ken enjoys spending time with his family, inside or outside. He and his lovely wife and high school sweetheart spend weekends outside doing landscaping, gardening, walking their dog, or just enjoying the outdoors! His energetic and recently graduated son lives nearby and is getting married in the fall! If you can’t find him at home, just look inside his workshop. He is most likely working on a woodworking project or restoring an old tool.

Kurt Hammond joined Step Up in 2018 to lead the growth of the online commerce site MyScholarShop. He has the pleasure of meeting with new potential suppliers on a regular basis to evaluate their offerings and determine those that are the best fit for the families that we support. He also works to ensure those suppliers are following the guidelines of the eCommerce site and our ESA programs with activities such as catalog maintenance, purchase orders, fulfillment, and invoicing. Kurt serves as the key point of contact for purchasing and contracting activities across Step Up, driving negotiations for strategic vendor agreements, working with outside counsel as needed. Prior to joining Step Up, Kurt spent more than 10 years with a Fortune 50 global logistics company as an International Account Manager responsible for global sales and business growth. He most recently worked for a national healthcare company, managing its Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) and specialized in strategic sourcing while negotiating national agreements for hundreds of hospitals across the US. Kurt has a bachelor’s in business administration as well as an MBA from Webster University.

LaNier Echols currently serves as the Sr. Director of Customer Experience in which her team is working with the various departments to create amazing experiences with every interaction for our customers. As a lifelong educator and a champion for quality educational options, LaNier has dedicated almost two decades to serving in various roles in the educational field. Most recently, Ms. Echols spent her time leading centers in North Florida working with families of unique abilities students to provide reading and comprehension support. As a proud graduate of Florida State University, Ms. Echols received her Bachelor's Degree in Social Science Education. Upon graduation, she joined Teach for America (TFA), where she was honored to serve in the Indianapolis Public School system and earn her Master's Degree from Marian University. Ms. Echols is a catalyst for change and is excited to continue this work to ensure that every child has access to an excellent education.

Lauren May is Director of Advocacy at Step Up for Students. Lauren is a collaborative educational advocate with a proven track record of improving educational and operational performance through vision, staff leadership and development, and by building community partnerships and family connections. As a proud graduate of the University of Florida, she received her Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education and Master of Education in Early Childhood Education. She then completed another Master of Education in Educational Leadership from St. Leo University. A former teacher, early childhood director and principal, she was honored with University of Florida’s “Outstanding Young Alumni” award in 2018. She lives in Jacksonville, FL with her husband and two children. The family enjoys spending time outside, playing sports, and watching Gator games. As a believer that parents are the first and best educators of their children, Lauren loves working with families across the state and beyond to ensure they are able to find and make use of the best educational options for their children.

Megan, who joined the organization in 2012, currently serves as the Development Director, overseeing the tax credit fundraising team. Prior to joining Step Up, Megan spent eight years at a large medical staffing firm, where she specialized in talent acquisition and relationship management.

Megan holds a Business Management degree and a minor in Sociology from Eckerd College. During her time at Eckerd, she had the opportunity to participate in two study abroad programs in Padua, Italy, and London, England. These immersive experiences, coupled with her extensive travels across Africa, Asia, and various Western European countries, highlight Megan's deep passion for diverse cultures. These encounters have broadened her perspectives and fostered a profound appreciation for our global community. Moreover, they have equipped her with a unique understanding of social dynamics, enabling her to approach fundraising with a distinctive and insightful approach.

Mickey Strope has been with Step Up For Students since 2015 and serves as Senior Director, Business Analytics.
Mickey has held various positions during his 25 year career to include Director of Investor Relations and Strategic Planning with AFC enterprises, Director of Financial Analysis with Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, and other financial roles with Acquity Brands, InterContinental Hotels and Step Up For Students. Mickey has an MBA in Finance from the University of Tennessee.

Nicole leads a team of program, product, and project professionals to drive the successful identification and delivery of technical business solutions across the organization in support of scholarship operations.

Prior to joining Step Up For Students, Nicole spent more than a decade in leading-edge technical solutions in the legal and financial industries. She received her bachelor’s degree in International Studies from Capital University in Columbus, Ohio, and her Masters in both Business Administration and Project Management from Florida Institute of Technology. Nicole holds multiple certifications in product, process improvement, and agile methodology.

Paul Soost is a dynamic Marketing professional with experience in strategy, acquisition, advertising, brand management, creative development, special events, public relations and project management. Paul joined Step Up For Students in 2015 and is Director of Marketing.  Prior to Step Up For Students, Paul worked for Disney Parks & Resorts, Disney Cruise Line, Children's Home Society of Florida and Massey Services. Paul is a graduate of Illinois State University with bachelor’s degrees in Public Relations and Recreation & Park Administration.

Paula Nelson has been with Step Up For Students since 2015 and serves as Senior Director of the Student Learning and Partner Success (SLPS) department.  Paula and Lauren Barlis co-lead SLPS, a team of educators who support school improvement by connecting schools and families to high quality educational resources and prioritizing relationships with families and schools.

Paula holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Specific Learning Disabilities K-12 from the University of South Florida, a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University, and an Educational Specialist Degree in Teaching, Learning and Assessment from the University of Florida.  She spent 32 years in Pinellas County Schools as an SLD Teacher, Varying Exceptionalities Specialist, Assistant Principal, High School Principal, and Supervisor for the Gulfcoast Florida Diagnostic & Learning Resources Systems (FDLRS) for the FLDOE. One highlight during her tenure in Pinellas County, was the opportunity to join a team of educators and leaders to open a middle school that would lead the district in Total Quality Management (TQM) based on the work of W. Edward Deming.  Paula served as a school-based writer for the Florida Governors Sterling Award for Quality, aligned to the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award. Paula also served as an Adjunct Professor at National Louis University in the Teaching, Learning and Assessment Graduate program.

Ronda Dry has been with Step Up For Students since 2017 and serves as the Senior Director of the Customer Experience (CX) department.  The CX department strives to create amazing experiences with every interaction for both external and internal customers. Ronda has an Ed.D. in Organizational Leadership from Southeastern University and has been working in the field of education since 2004. Her dissertation research focused on the principals’ perceptions of the importance of teacher certification in rural Christian schools. Her career in education was based in private school as a classroom teacher, assistant principal, and principal before joining Step Up For Students

Scott Kent is Director of Media and Strategic Communications. He handles media requests for information and comment, and helps craft Step Up’s messaging. Before joining Step Up in 2018, he spent 30 years working in newspapers, the first five as a sports writer and editor and the final 25 as an editorial writer and opinion page editor. Scott graduated from the University of Missouri with a Bachelor of Journalism degree.

Shannon Mitchell currently serves as the Senior Director, Scholarship Programs at Step Up For Students. As the Senior Director, Scholarship Programs, Shannon oversees program management, cross-functional collaboration, and partner relationships. Through her experience in project management, internal communications, and change management, Shannon cultivates an environment where program and departmental teams collaborate frequently, exchange information efficiently, and navigate shared projects effectively. Prior to Step Up For Students, Shannon worked at a nonprofit organization where she led cross-functional teams through the implementation of digital and change/transformation projects. Shannon is also a former middle school teacher, college instructor, and trainer.

Shannon is a proud two-time graduate of Florida State University—a bachelor’s degree in English education and English: creative writing (double major) and a master’s degree in communications with an emphasis on diffusion of innovation. Shannon is a certified project manager (PMP) and PROSCI change management practitioner. Shannon earned graduate certificates in project management and information management/leadership from Florida State University.

As our Chief Architect, Shiraz heads up our Enterprise Standards and System Architecture unit and is responsible through the architects in the division to help SUFS attain its stabilization, modernization, and growth objectives.
Shiraz brings over 25 years of IT and Architecture experience to SUFS having worked in Public Safety and Justice, Public Health, Revenue Management, Sports Management and Ecommerce. The main driver in most of these engagements has been modernizing existing businesses or supporting new businesses by creating the appropriate IT framework to support these businesses.
Shiraz’s expertise includes Cloud Adoption, Cloud Native Application Development, System Integration and creating architectural frameworks and standards. To achieve these goals, he has built and empowered teams to meet the respective vision as laid out by the business teams. This has also involved overseeing large IT procurements to attain the modernization goals.

A passionate advocate of education, leadership, and institutional advancement, Sterling leads our efforts aimed at obtaining private support that accelerate Step Up For Students' ability to serve families and their children with educational opportunities that will positively impact their lives. During his career, he has served as a development professional for three different billion-dollar capital campaigns in support of students pursuing education. With experiences in principal giving, major gifts, annual giving, board and volunteer management, advocacy, and non-profit management, he brings a wealth of experience to our advancement and development efforts.

Before joining Step Up, Sterling worked for the University of Florida on their successful multi-billion-dollar campaign, Go Greater, one of the largest campaigns at a public university and the largest in the history of the state of Florida, where contributions totaled more than $4.5 billion. He also served as the Director of Development for UnidosUS in Washington, D.C., the largest nonprofit Hispanic/Latino civil rights organization in the United States. His career has been focused on supporting public higher education, having also worked for both Penn State University and Florida State University, where he started his career in development and alumni relations. A decorated veteran of the armed forces, Sterling served in the United States Marine Corps as a part of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit and received several awards, including the Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and two Humanitarian Service medals.

Originally from New York City and a native Spanish speaker, Sterling’s personal experiences navigating the K-12 school system in his hometown in addition to the years he spent obtaining his degrees as a non-traditional college student have had a positive influence on his life and have made him a champion for educational access for all. He joined the team in 2022 and is a graduate of the University of Hartford and Florida State University.

Susan Dugan is the Vice President of Finance and has been with Step Up For Students since 2013. She leads all financial functions of the organization and its affiliates. She is responsible for the organization’s assets and the programs Step Up For Students administers.

Prior to joining Step Up For Students, Susan’s career has predominantly been in the non-profit arena as well as working in the public accounting sector auditing non-profits, manufacturing, construction, and banking companies. Susan received her bachelor’s degree from Jacksonville University.

Tim is a passionate leader with expert software project management and quality assurance (QA) skills. He brings a diverse background in product development, writing, and design, as well as knowledge of operations, production support, and release management. He has led global QA and service delivery teams for FinTech and led video game development teams and publishers to award-winning titles.
Tim graduated Magna Cum Laude from Sonoma State University with a master’s degree in business administration. He is a Project Management Professional (PMP) and a PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP).
A fun fact about Tim is that he was awarded a patent as an inventor for systems developed at FinTech. In his free time, he enjoys playing the guitar.