Coleen DeGroff, a New Jersey born Baby Boomer, has lived in six states, including New Jersey, California, Oregon, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and now Florida, with her husband and two children. She earned a B.S. in Business Management from Seton Hall University and an MBA in Marketing from California State University, Los Angeles, before spending 15 years as a full time real estate agent in Gainesville. Alongside real estate, she built a career as a freelance writer, including work as a humor columnist and contributor to publications such as The Oregonian and the Christian Science Monitor, and she authored the Alachua County Black Book, documenting the lives of enslaved people held in the county before the Civil War. She has also been active in civic and community life, serving on the Haile Plantation HOA Exploratory Committee and volunteering with organizations including the Pace Center for Girls and Historic Haile Homestead.

Dr. Jacob U'Mofe Gordon is Professor Emeritus and Founding Chair of the Department of African Studies at the University of Kansas, and holds the Kwame Nkrumah Endowed Chair at the University of Ghana. He earned his B.A. from Bethune-Cookman College, M.A. from Howard University, and Ph.D. from Michigan State University, all in History. He is the author or co-author of more than 35 books on Africa and the African Diaspora, including African Studies for the 21st Century and Double Heritage: A Memoir. A recipient of numerous professional honors, he remains active as a Research Mentor at the University of Florida. He is married to Dr. Barbara McDade Gordon, and they have six adult children and three grandchildren.

Karen A. Kirkman was born in 1954 in Syracuse, New York, and earned a B.A. in Chinese Language and Culture from Eckerd College, where she met her husband, Mike. The couple moved to Gainesville in 1977 when Mike was hired to teach and coach at Eastside High School, and Karen went on to spend 28 years in the University of Florida's College of Engineering, retiring in 2012 as Director of Finance and Personnel. Since 2001 she has been a driving force behind the Historic Haile Homestead, serving as its President and Historian, co-authoring a book on its history, and leading major preservation projects, while also researching descendants of the enslaved on Alachua County's plantations. Her historical work extends to the Alachua County Community Remembrance Project, cemetery preservation, and over 16,000 pages of transcribed county records, earning her Gainesville's first-ever Preservation Champion Award in 2022. She has served on the Alachua County Historical Commission since 2006, including as Chair from 2020 to 2023, and lives in Gainesville with her husband, Mike.

Kaitlyn Hof-Mahoney, born in Denver, Colorado in 1993, moved to Stuart, Florida as a young child and considers herself a third-generation Floridian, later graduating from Jensen Beach High School and earning a B.A. in history summa cum laude from Auburn University in 2015. A visit to the Titanic exhibition in Atlanta sparked her interest in museum work, leading her to complete a Museum Studies graduate program at the University of Florida in 2017, with internships at the City of Westminster Archives Centre in London and the Kentucky Historical Society. During and after graduate school, she worked extensively at the Matheson History Museum, eventually serving as Curator of Collections beginning in 2018 and curating numerous exhibitions, including one on the desegregation of Alachua County schools. In November 2024 she became a Research Administrator for the Florida Museum of Natural History, assisting faculty with external funding. She has served on the Alachua County Historical Commission since September 2021, notably compiling records identifying county commissioners from the 1860s through 1910.

Vailma Roca Fernandez was born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 1974, and comes from a family with a history of civic and independence leadership on both sides. She holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Santo Domingo and a bachelor's degree in Education Sciences from the University of Florida, and is currently completing a master's degree in Mass Communication at UF. Her career includes over 20 years in international law and commerce, along with work in business administration, immigration document translation, and, most recently, risk management and family services for Alachua County Public Schools. She has volunteered as a literacy teacher and historical tour guide in the Dominican Republic and France, and is an advocate for ESE students, including her daughter, who has autism. She was appointed to the Alachua County Historical Commission in 2025, where she supports efforts such as a preservation grant program and a community oral history project.

Ashley Wood is a sixth-generation Floridian, born to Frederick William Wood, Sr. and Jane Grey Yongue Wood, and the great-grandson of Evinston's founder, with family roots in agriculture and a deep commitment to preserving history, the environment, and community values. He built a distinguished 40-year career at the University of Florida's IFAS Communications, earning honors including the USDA Superior Service Award and the UF IFAS Distinguished Service Medal. He serves on the Alachua County Historical Commission and holds leadership roles with the Kiwanis Club, including vice president and treasurer of the Old Florida Heritage Highway, Inc., which promotes tourism and preserves the region's cultural heritage. His community involvement also extends to the Micanopy Historical Society and environmental organizations such as the Sierra Club and Nature Conservancy. Through these varied roles, Ashley continues his family's legacy of genealogy, historic building restoration, and environmental conservation.

Trey Asner has been involved in historic preservation in St. Johns County since his teenage years, including the relocation and rehabilitation of the Granada house and work on architectural surveys for the National Register. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from the University of North Florida and a Master of Science in Historic Preservation from the University of Florida. In 2022, he managed St. Johns County's historic preservation office, where he led efforts to save the Martin Luther King House, a site significant to the local Civil Rights Movement, coordinating its relocation to a park. He continues to volunteer on preservation initiatives, including the effort to designate the St. Johns County jail, tied to Dr. King and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as a local landmark. Trey currently serves as Chair of the Alachua County Historical Commission.

**EXPERTISE: **

Don L. Davis, born in 1950 in Louisville, Georgia, grew up in Brunswick and Savannah before his family settled in Gainesville, where he attended high school. He earned a B.A. in finance and management through Santa Fe Community College and the University of Florida, then built a long career in business, including fourteen years at Sears and thirty-one years in banking, retiring as Gainesville President of Capital City Bank in 2016. Since retiring, he has become a dedicated local historian, serving as Historian for the town of Newberry, a founder of Friends of Dudley Farm, and a contributor of numerous feature articles to The Chronicle. He has held leadership roles with the Matheson Museum, Gainesville Area Rowing, and several civic clubs, and he and his wife, Sandy, split their time between Gainesville and Jacksonville Beach to be near their daughter and granddaughter. He now brings this lifelong interest in local history to his new role, effective May 2026.