Leadership

Meet Our Executive Team

Doug Tuthill has been president of Step Up For Students since August 2008. He is a former high school teacher, college professor, and teacher union president. Doug is married with two adult children. He graduated from the University of Florida, where he was student body president.

Doug TuthillPRESIDENT

Gina Lynch is responsible for leading multiple teams whose primary focus is to serve Step Up For Student’s scholarship families, schools and providers. Gina’s priority is to make sure that the “voice of the customer” is heard and that it is used to drive improvements across the scholarship programs under administration.

Jonathan Beckham guides the discovery of solutions that balance innovation, technical agility and business savvy to support the organization’s mission, goals and values. He is responsible for organizing, driving and creating the framework for successful execution and development of IT innovation and strategy.

Joe Pfountz leads the team that oversees Step Up For Students’ accounting, finance, treasury, risk management and knowledge management functions and ensures the highest level of fiscal accountability and transparency at Step Up For Students and the programs it administers.

Alissa leads the Marketing department, where she oversees a team responsible for promotion, community outreach, content development and student recruitment. Prior to joining Step Up, Alissa spent a decade in key account strategy and development, most recently as a director at Cox Target Media.

Anne White provides leadership support for our human resources, organizational and professional development teams as well as our compliance, risk management and purchasing functions. She has been with Step Up since 2010. Previously, she served as the organization’s Chief Operating Officer, responsible for scholarship operations and employee resources.

Anne Francis began working for Step Up For Students in 2010 and has held multiple roles within the Development Department. In her current role as Vice President, she is responsible for driving and executing strategies to secure philanthropic and tax-credited contributions.

Jill LaRose is the Vice President for Leadership Development. 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.

Carol Thomas leads a team that oversees the process development intended to assist schools and families in establishing and maintaining collaborative partnerships that ensure the academic, social and emotional success of every child; while at the same time, upholding the belief that the ultimate responsibility for the education of the child resides with the parent.

Jillian joined Step Up For Students in 2006 as the communications specialist. During her tenure with Step Up For Students, Jillian has also worked as the marketing and events manager, and joined the development team in 2011 where she currently serves as vice president. Jillian received her bachelor’s degree in public relations with a minor in business from the University of Florida.

Meet Our Executive Team

Gina Lynch

Lesley Searcy

Jonathan Beckham

Joe Pfountz

Alissa Randall

Anne White

Anne Francis

Jill LaRose

Carol Macedonia

JillIan Metz