Board of Directors
The Communities Connected for Kids Board of Directors is a fiduciary governing board composed of private individuals representing each of the four counties we serve.
Melanie Wiles
Board Chairman
Ms. Wiles is the Director of Parish Development at St. Anastasia. She has also served on the Treasure Coast Opioids Taskforce Education Committee and the Economic Development Council. She has been involved with youth development for more than 10 years and has an extensive background in marketing and resource development.
Angie Bailey
Dr. Bailey is an Associate Professor and instructor at Indian River State College, where she facilitates classroom and online training for staff and students in academic settings. She teaches a variety of undergrad and graduate business and management courses and has experience as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) redeveloper for online courses. Dr. Bailey trains other management level employees and conducts training in diverse cultural environments. She also provides students with proper support in academic tutoring sessions.
Kristy Conway
Ms. Conway is an advocate for SafeSpace, Inc.. and the community outreach coordinator for the Children’s Advocacy Center. She recently completed her master's degree in family studies.
Kathryn Hensley
Ms. Hensley is a longtime Port St. Lucie resident who served as an elected official on the St. Lucie County School Board until 2020. She also has served as Chair of the Children’s Services Council of St. Lucie County and has been a board member for several other organizations, including the St. Lucie County League of Women Voters, New Horizons of the Treasure Coast and the HANDS Clinic. She was an educator at Indian River Community College for nearly a decade and was an educator in Oregon and Iowa before moving to Florida in 1983.
Vanessa Farnes
Ms. Farnes brings more than 20 years of experience in the banking industry on the Treasure Coast. She serves as a board member for both the St. Lucie County United Way and Sarah's Kitchen, an inter-faith food kitchen run out of multiple churches throughout St. Lucie County. The causes most important to her include children, civil rights, human rights and social services.
Leslie Kroeger
Ms. Kroeger is a partner in the law firm of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC, specializing in products liability, class action, wrongful death, managed-care abuse law and environmental toxic tort. She is a past president of the Florida Justice Association and co-chair of Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll’s Complex Tort Litigation practice group. She has served as an assistant public defender for Brevard and Seminole counties and as an assistant state attorney in Miami-Dade County.
Pat McCoy
Ms. McCoy is the assistant superintendent for instructional services for the Okeechobee County Schools and a former board member for United for Families, the Lead Agency that preceded Communities Connected for Kids. She and her husband, Doug, adopted their four children from the local foster-care system and is very interested in helping to recruit new foster homes in Okeechobee County.
Michelle Miller
Michelle Miller is one of five constitutional officers directly elected by the citizens of St. Lucie County, and she began her stint as Clerk of Court in 2021. She is a Florida native who served in the US Army as an air traffic controller. She is also a small business owner, having begun her own insurance company in 2002. Prior to 2013, she served on the Board of Directors for United for Families, the organization that preceded CCKids.
Steven Simon
Mr. Simon is an attorney with Rosenthal, Levy, Simon & Sosa Injury Law Firm. His law practice has been apart of the St. Lucie County for over 17 years. Steve brings extensive knowledge of the court system and insurance issues and is personally familiar with the foster-care system. He has served on several Boards and is rooted in the community.
Mark Young
Mark Young and his wife, Terri, were foster parents for nine years years and have adopted six children. He is the pastor of Surfside Church, in Fort Pierce, and serves as the volunteer chaplain for the St. Lucie County jail. Mark is also the president of the St. Lucie County Foster Parent Association.
