Meet our Amazing Board Members
Donna Wagner
Board Chair
Donna Wagner is so excited to work with Fostering Connections! As an adoptive mother and Registered Nurse for thirty years she knows the impact strong community connections and support can have.
Donna moved to St. Augustine from New York ten years ago and has worked in various positions for Flagler Health + over those ten years. She is currently the Vice President of Education Services and Patient Experience for Flagler Health +.
Donna received her Associates Degree in Nursing from Farmingdale State College of NY, and both her Bachelors and Masters Degree’s in Nursing from St. Joseph’s College.
Currently, Donna is involved in many advisory boards for schools of nursing in St. Johns and Duval Counties as well as being on the St. Johns County School District Advisory Board for the Healthcare Academies. She enjoyed being a Board Member for the GAL 7 for two years which also worked with children in the foster system.
In her free time, Donna enjoys paddle boarding, boating, Zumba, and spending time with her friends and family. She is passionate about education and providing opportunity for anyone who wants it.
Kimberly Sole
Director
Kim is incredibly passionate about advocating for youth education, thus is thrilled to be able to contribute to the incredible mission and vision of Fostering Connections!
Kim has over 20 years of diverse banking industry experience serving in various roles including financial center manager, retail sales manager, professional banker and commercial relationship manager covering the Northeast Florida market. She currently serves as Senior Vice President and Jacksonville Market Leader at The Claxton Bank
(TCB).
Kim has a Bachelor of Science degree in applied economics from Virginia Polytechnic and State University (Virginia Tech). Over the years, she has served on multiple nonprofit boards and has been an active volunteer leading financial literacy programs for youth in our community.
She resides in St. Johns County with her husband and two high school aged children. In her free time, Kim enjoys spending time with her family and friends, playing with her two labrador retrievers, cheering for her son’s football team and watching her daughter ride horseback. ​​
Amanda Bunk
Sizemore
Treasurer
Amanda graduated from Jacksonville University with a Bachelor of Accounting Degree in 2004. She earned her Master of Accountancy from The University of North Florida in December 2010 and her Master of Business Administration in 2021 from Southern New Hampshire University. She became a Certified Public Accountant and is licensed within the State of Florida since 2013.
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Amanda started her public accounting career in high school, working during school holidays. She now has over fifteen years of full-time experience working at Jacksonville based firms, taking on responsibilities of bookkeeping, payroll, corporate and individual tax returns.
Amanda is a current member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants.
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Amanda is a member of Alpha Epsilon Phi and served as its Treasurer while attending Jacksonville University. Amanda has also volunteered in several positions within her church, including spending eighteen months serving a mission in Denver, Colorado.
Amanda is a proud Navy wife and currently serves as the ombudsman for the USS Maryland (738) Gold Crew.
Brandon Speeg
Director
Born in rural Southeastern Ohio, Brandon Speeg developed a deep love for nature early in life. This passion guided his academic journey, leading him to earn a B.S. in biology from Bowling Green State University and an M.S. in biology from Wright State University.
Brandon's career began at the Wilds, a conservation facility in Ohio, where he developed the first behavioral inventory of an endangered antelope species, which he later applied to a field study in China.
In 2008, he joined White Oak Conservation in Florida as the antelope section leader and later spearheaded the creation of White Oak’s foundational education department in 2012.
Currently, as Senior Director at White Oak Conservation, Brandon oversees the organization's conservation, education, and animal programs. His leadership extends across various strategic initiatives, including partnerships, operations, and programs. Brandon has supported conservation efforts worldwide, including in Southeast Asia, Africa, and the Middle East.
He also serves on several boards and advisory councils, including the Conservation Centers for Species Survival Advisory Board and the Emerging Wildlife Conservation Leaders Advisory Council.
Brandon and his wife, Mindy, are covenant members of The Church of 1122 and share a passion for supporting adoptive and foster families. They reside in Jacksonville with their three children.
Melissa Reynolds
Director
Melissa was born in New York and relocated as a teen to Florida with her single mother to be with her grandmother. Her grandmother’s trauma and experience in foster care in the 1930’s was a big motivator for her wanting to be involved with Fostering Connections.
Currently, Melissa is the Senior Business Development Consultant for Arcadia Consulting and the owner of Solutions Sales Training.
Prior to joining Arcadia Consulting and starting her own company, Melissa spent most of her career in Telecommunications/Wireless on the National Level. She worked her way up from a Wireless Sales Consultant to a
National Sales Trainer. After a decade and a half of working in Wireless, she spent several years in Merchandising where she managed an amazing team of account managers for a Marketing & Branding Company in the Entertainment/Music Industry.
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Although she cannot have any children of her own, she has helped raised children within her own family, and loves giving back to the youth in the community.
Melissa is a coffee aficionado, Disney obsessed, and a car enthusiast. On her days off she enjoys spending time with her family, mountain biking, car shows, and park hopping with her husband Phil.
Rob Thomas
Finance Chair
Rob was born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee as the youngest of 6 kids. Sports, particularly football and baseball, consumed much of his time growing up. Although his father passed away when Rob was a kid, his mom worked hard to provide everything he needed. After high school, he attended the University of Memphis where he obtained a degree in Finance and was active in campus leadership. While he will always have a place in his heart for Tennessee, Rob and his family have called north Florida home since 2013.
Rob is a Financial Advisor for Edward Jones in Saint Augustine. He enjoys helping his clients plan for retirement, invest, and create wealth management strategies. Rob is passionate about financial planning and considers it an honor to assist his clients in securing their financial future.
He and his wife, Christine, have six adult children, three sons-in-law, two grandchildren, and two very beloved (and spoiled) dogs.
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However, the story of his family centers around March 12, 2005 when a sibling group of four beautiful kids sauntered into his house as foster children, escorted by a social worker, and joined Rob, his wife, and two other children. Their lives would never be the same as the family was eventually made complete through the adoption of these four wonderful kids.
During the fostering process, Rob and Christine were honored to be named West Tennessee Foster Parents of the Year. In the past, Rob has also served on the board of other charitable organizations, spent time in various mentoring roles, and supported St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Nemours Children's Health and the Alzheimer’s Association.
In his spare time, Rob enjoys sports, historical documentaries, live music, and enjoying the Florida sunshine!
Dykisha
Potter
Director
Dykisha Potter began her career in education as a City Year AmeriCorps member when she moved to Jacksonville in 2015. Since then she has worked in education in both the public school system and the non-profit sector. She is currently a Site Coordinator with Communities in Schools of Jacksonville where she works with high school students supporting college and career readiness.
Dykisha is active in her community, volunteering and serving in leadership roles with the Junior League of Jacksonville and the Jacksonville Urban League Young Professionals. She is also the co-founder of the ampED National Fellowship, a nonprofit which works to amplify the voices of young Black educators in the education policy realm.
Dykisha is passionate about addressing inequities in education and other social determinants of health and will be graduating with her Master in Public Policy degree from Jacksonville University in April 2024. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Miami and an MA in Teaching from University of North Florida.
Dykisha was born and raised in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands and enjoys traveling home to see her family any chance she gets. In her free time she loves dancing, traveling, reading, doing puzzles (jigsaw and logic), and trying new foods. She is excited to be a part of the Fostering Connections family and impact the lives of deserving children and families.
Cydney
Bulger
Director
Cydney Bulger is a proud Florida resident, and started her career as an attorney for the State of Florida, prosecuting cases of child abuse and neglect. During her tenure there, she worked closely with foster families and children, learning about the unique issues they face. This sparked a desire to work with these families and assist them in navigating a difficult system so that they would be better served and have greater opportunities to thrive.
In 2015 Cydney entered private law practice alongside her husband Dustin Bulger, and together they built a firm to provide aggressive representation and compassionate service to clients facing some of life's hardest challenges in family law and injury cases.
Cydney has served on the Executive Board of the American Family Law Inns of Court and Florida Bar Family Law Rules Committee, is a faculty member of the National Business Institute as well as an active member of the Jacksonville Justice Association and Florida Justice Association, and now serves on the Fostering Connections Board.
Cydney believes that all children deserve access to education, enrichment and opportunities to pursue the best in life, regardless of the obstacles that life places in their way.
Adrena Forrest
Development Chair
Adrena grew up in Jacksonville, Florida where her passion for serving others started at a young age. Her church gave her many opportunities to serve while growing up through organizations such as DLC, Rise Against Hunger, Christmas Angels, Feeding NE FL, and Better Together. After her graduation from Atlantic Coast High School in 2018, Adrena earned her Associate in Arts in December of 2019. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Adrena enrolled in the Covid-19 vaccine trials as a participant in hopes of helping her community return to a sense of normalcy.
Post Covid-19, she began working at Habitat for Humanity of Jacksonville (HabiJax) and has since been promoted to the role of Community Partnerships Specialist. In this role, Adrena implements community partnerships and fund development to
reach relational and financial goals for HabiJax. In 2023, she joined the Leadership Jacksonville NextGen class of 2023 and became a new member of the Junior League of Jacksonville. Currently, Adrena also serves as an Emergency Foster for the Jacksonville Humane Society and is taking classes part-time to earn her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration.
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In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family (especially her two younger siblings), attending therapy, seeing the sunrise on the beach, reading lifestyle books, and going out to dinner with friends. Adrena is passionate about building relationships, advocating for people in the local community, and setting an example for younger generations. She is excited to serve in her first board position as the Development Chair for the Fostering Connections Board.
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