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“If a young man made a mistake and paid for his mistake, he deserves a second chance…" Bob Bailey, Granger Lumber |
President Barack Obama talks about his plan for faith based community programs, including Ready4Work, in Zanesville, OH on July 1, 2008.
Board
Lester Bass
Fourth Judicial Circuit
Lester Bass currently serves as General Magistrate/Hearing Officer and Civil Traffic Hearing Officer in the Fourth Judicial Circuit. He has served in this capacity since January 2003. He handles Dependency cases involving children who have been abused, abandoned, and/or neglected. He is most proud of his work with the Duval County Dependency Drug Court in which he works with parents struggling to defeat their drug addictions and reunite their families, and his work with the Independent Living Court for teens aging out of Foster Care. Magistrate Bass also conducts Baker Act hearings, Marchman Act hearings, and Civil Traffic Violations hearings.
A native of Durham, North Carolina, he is a graduate of Duke University and University of North Carolina School of Law. His past work in public interest law includes: Staff Attorney with Jacksonville Area Legal Aid; Assistant State Attorney with the Office of State Attorney, Fourth Judicial Circuit; and Assistant Public Defender with the Office of the Public Defender, Thirteenth Judicial Circuit. His former private practice includes work with the law offices of Bivens, Jones and Associates; and Murray and Bass, P.A. He has served as District Chairman for Mohawk District—Boy Scouts of America, former Board Member for the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America – Northeast Florida Chapter, and former Member of the Supreme Court Task Force on Treatment-Based Drug Courts. He has also served as former member and chairman of the Civil Service Board, City of Jacksonville. He is active in the Florida Family Law Inn of Court, Florida Association of Drug Court Professionals, National Association of Drug Court Professionals, Leadership Jacksonville (Class of 2009), D.W. Perkins Bar Association, and the Jacksonville Bar Association.
He is happily married to Selena Webster-Bass. They have three wonderful children: Spencer, Trinity, and Micah. He and his family are members and worship at Celebration Church. In his spare time, Magistrate Bass enjoys studying history, politics, and space exploration.
Why I chose to serve on the board of Operation New Hope:
He has served on the Board of Directors of Operation New Hope (ONH) since January 2010. He joined the ONH Board because it gives him the opportunity to further his calling to serve the underprivileged and disenfranchised of the Jacksonville community.
Quinn Bell
Retired from Suddath, CEO
Quinn was the former Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Suddath Companies. Quinn was instrumental in leading Suddath into what is now one of the largest moving and storage enterprises in the nation. Since 1982, the year after Suddath joined the United Van Line system; it has consistently ranked among United’s top three revenue producers.
Quinn’s other passion is the community in which he lives. Quinn chairs charitable foundations—Operation New Hope and Ready 4 Work and the Metro Kids Konnection. He is a past member of the Board of Governors of the Jacksonville Chamber of Commerce; a past Board Member of the Jacksonville Zoo; and a member and past Chairman of the University Club. Other previous civic activities have included the Rotary Club and past Board Member for St. Vincent’s Medical Center.
Kevin T. Gay
President and CEO
Kevin Gay, a native of Jacksonville and a graduate of the University of Florida, is an entrepreneur and community leader with a devout commitment to North Florida. Operating for more than 15 years in the for-profit world as a business and corporate officer, Kevin chose to remove himself in 1999 and focus on creating a new model for community development. The model he envisioned and created is Operation New Hope, a Jacksonville-based CDC bent on restoring blighted urban neighborhoods and its citizens struggling with poverty’s trappings.
For more than 10 years Kevin has acted as the President and CEO for Operation New Hope, and Ready4Work since its inception in 2003. Kevin’s work in Springfield caught the attention of President George W. Bush, and provided an opportunity for Kevin, and ONH, to pilot the Ready4Work program, aimed at assisting ex-offenders with reentering the community—something Kevin had been doing inadvertently for four years.
Kevin’s leadership allowed Operation New Hope and Ready4Work to solidify itself as a bedrock institution in Jacksonville and as a nationally respected CDC. In 2003, Kevin was nominated by the City of Jacksonville for a Neighborhoods USA award, for which he, along with nine others, received the prestigious NUSA Notables Award; previous winners include Willard Scott and Oprah Winfrey. The same year Kevin received the first of three invitations to the White House. And in 2007, President Bill Clinton, in the book “Giving,” cited Kevin for his work with prisoner re-entry.
Kevin’s commitment to the community extends back to 1993 and Reconcile Jacksonville, an initiative born from the desire to blend communities through church and racial integration. Kevin is a founding member of Reconcile Jacksonville.
Kevin has served on more than 15 civic boards including, then President-Elect Obama’s Advisory Council, and currently serves on Florida’s Department of Corrections Prisoner Re-entry Advisory Board.
Mary Goldsmith
McGladrey
Mary is a business development director at McGladrey, a global accounting firm. Her responsibilities include client relations, government and community affairs, and the facilitation of new business opportunities in north Florida. She has nine years of significant legislative experience involving legislative issues, bills, and procedures, the appropriations and budgetary process, advocacy efforts, and professional relationship building. She has worked with various State Legislators in Florida as well as on Capitol Hill. Mary spent the last three years with Atkins, formerly PBS&J, with a focus on business development.
Why I chose to serve on the board of Operation New Hope:
Mary believes in ONH’s mission. She has been active in assisting with reentry efforts since 2006 when she was the Legislative Aide for the late Rep. Don Davis. Rep. Davis was instrumental in securing state funding for Operation New Hope’s Ready4Work program. Upon leaving the Legislative process, Mary felt that it was appropriate to continue her work for ONH by joining its board of directors in the fall of 2008.
Eddie Jones
Retired Episcopal Priest
The Reverend Eddie E. Jones, Jr., is a retired Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Florida, a Clerical Trustee of the Jessie Ball DuPont Fund, and a member of the LISC Jacksonville Board of Directors.
He is a former department head with the U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Prisons and served as Chief Chaplain in the Federal Correctional Institution in Tallahassee for 18 years. Additionally, he is a retired Lieutenant Colonel with the U.S. Army.
The Reverend Jones has served on various boards in Florida including the Farmers and Merchants Bank, Gerry Medical Center, Jefferson County Hospice, PRIDE Enterprises and Capital Rotary Club. A graduate of the University of West Alabama, he received his Master’s of Divinity degree from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
Why I chose to serve on the board of Operation New Hope:
Having a background in both ministry and corrections, the work of Operation New Hope resonates with Eddie. He has a deep afinity for the Jacksonville area and sees his role on the ONH Board as a key piece to continue to enhance its impact in this great city.
Claude Moulton
Moulton Law Group
Claude R. Moulton is a Managing Member of Moulton Bosshardt LLC and Staff Attorney for Waterford Title Insurance Agency, Inc., and Bosshardt Realty Services, Inc. Mr. Moulton has more than forty years of experience in the legal field. He has extensive experience in real property and business law, both as a private practitioner, an attorney in law firms, and as in-house counsel to major business/financial institutions. He specializes in analysis of regulatory issues for, negotiation, documentation, and closing of major commercial and residential real property transactions. He is a member of The Florida Bar, The Jacksonville Bar, and is a Florida Supreme Court Civil Mediator.
In his community, Mr. Moulton has served as President of Springfield Preservation and Revitalization Council (SPAR), Program Chair of Meninak International and is Vice-Chair of Operation New Hope.
Why I chose to serve on the board of Operation New Hope:
Claude and his wife live and work in Springfield and have a vested interest to being a part of its preservation. The amazing work done by Operation New Hope in the Springfield area excited him and he looks forward to his role on the board helping further that effort in the future.
Ted P. Pappas
PBV Architecture
Ted is a Jacksonville native. He attended Clemson University and received a Bachelor of Architecture Degree. He served in U.S. Army as a Captain in the Military Police. He has practiced architecture for over 30 years. Some of his Jacksonville projects include: Epping Forest Yacht Club, Sports Complex of EWC. , Webb Library, Beaches Library, New Brentwood Neighborhood, Mary Singleton Senior Center, restoration of Kirby Smith Junior School, Hogans Creek Senior Tower, UNF Dorms, Computer Science Building and Soccer Stadium and also two La Villa Medical Office Buildings.
Ted was National President of the American Institute of Architects and also Chancellor of The College of Fellows of the AIA. He has served a Chairman of the National Architectectural Accrediting Board and a member of the Board of Regents of the American Architectecural Foundation in Washington. He is currently serving as Trustee of Edward Waters College and a Commission member of the Northwest Jacksonville Economic Development Advisory Board.
Why I chose to serve on the board of Operation New Hope:
I chose to serve on the board of Operation New Hope because I admire it’s mission and want to participate in growing and developing it. I want to give back to the City for all that it has done for me and my family.
