Management Team Bios

DeeDee Davis, Board Chairperson, is a fifth generation Floridian. She is a graduate of Auburn University and received her Master’s Degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Her successful teaching career resulted in her being named Florida’s Teacher of the Year. Following a year as Florida’s Ambassador for Education, she was elected to the Florida House of Representatives. She began a career in commercial real estate in 2004 when she joined the firm of NAI Halford.

DeeDee is extremely active in community affairs. She is past president of the Gulf Coast Economics Club, past president of the Professional Women’s Opera Board and current President of the Aragon Group, which oversees a neo traditional development. She chairs the Council on Aging Board of Directors and also the Pensacola Districting Commission which was appointed by the Pensacola City Council to prepare a plan for dividing the City into districts for the election of council Members. She is also a free lance writer and columnist for the Pensacola News Journal.

John B. Clark, M.S., President/CEO of Council on Aging of West Florida, has led the agency since 1974. As President/CEO, he is responsible for the overall operation of the agency. Clark is a 1967 graduate of St. Michael’s College in Vermont and has a master’s degree in Counseling from Troy State University in Alabama. After graduation, he served five years on active duty as an officer in the United States Air Force.

Clark is currently active in numerous local and state organizations, including serving on the Campaign Cabinet of United Way of Escambia County; Past President of the Florida Council on Aging, Inc.; Treasurer of the Florida Association of Aging Services Providers, Inc.; Vice President of the Florida Community Care for the Elderly Coalition; member of the Pensacola Rotary Club; and Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Panhandle Tiger Bay Club, a local non-partisan political club.

Laura Garrett, M.B.A., Executive Vice President, has been with the agency since 2002. Garrett is responsible for grant writing and the fiscal stability of the agency including preparation of agency budgets and supervision of the accounting department. She received her Bachelor of Science Degree from Bellhaven College in Jackson, Mississippi and graduated with a master's degree in Business Administration from the University of West Florida. As a graduate student, she was employed with the University of West Florida Small Business Development Center.

Garrett has served as a United Way Loaned Executive and a member of the LeaP Curriculum Committee in 2008 and 2009. Garrett is a member of the LeaP Class of 2007.

Rosa Sakalarios, PHR, Vice President/Human Resources, began with the Council on Aging of West Florida in 1984. Sakalarios has worked in numerous departments within the agency including the adult day care and community services programs. Prior to promotion as Human Resources Manager, she held the position of Executive Assistant. Sakalarios earned her professional designation as a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) in 1997 and is a member of both the national and local Society for Human Resource Management and served on the local Board of Directors in 2004. Sakalarios is a three-time Loaned Executive for United Way of Escambia County.
 

Jeff Nall, APR, CPRC, Vice President/Marketing Communications, joined Council on Aging of West Florida in 2004. He is responsible for media relations and the development and implementation of all integrated marketing communications initiatives, including serving as Editor-in-Chief of Coming of Age Magazine. A graduate of the University of Arkansas, Nall earned a Bachelor of ScienceDegree in Business Administration with an emphasis in Marketing. He is Accredited in Public Relations (APR) and a Certified Public Relations Counselor (CPRC) with over 20 years of marketing and public relations experience in the corporate and not-for-profit sectors. Nall serves on the board of directors of Pensacola Five Flags Rotary and is president-elect of the Florida Public Relations Association.

Kenny Holt, B.A., Vice President/Social and Community Services started with Council on Aging of West Florida in 2001 in the social services department, serving in various positions including Consumer Services Coordinator, Case Manager, Lead Case Manager, Social Services Supervisor and Social Services Director. In 2002, he was selected as the Case Manager of the Year by the Florida Association of Aging Services Providers (FASP) and was the Social Services Director when the department was collectively selected as the 2006 FASP Case Manager of the Year. Holt's responsibilities include administration of meal programs and case management, as well as staff supervision.

Holt earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College of Missouri in 1993 while on active duty with the U.S. Navy. He has served as a Loaned Executive for United Way of Escambia County and member of Escambia Long Term Recovery Committee, Be Ready Alliance Coordinating in Emergencies (BRACE), Escambia Case Management Task Force, Escambia and Santa Rosa County Interagency Coalition and the Compassionate Care at the End of Life Coalition.