Board of Directors

Lutz Preparatory School, Inc. is operated by a Board of Directors made up of community members with diverse and strategic expertise.

Due to Florida’s very broad public records law, most written communications to or from Lutz Preparatory School Board Members regarding school business are public records, available to the public and media upon request. Therefore, any e-mail communication may be subject to public disclosure.  To leave a voicemail message for the Board, please call the school at 813-428-7100, option #3.

Joyce Wieland

Chairperson

Member since April 2016


Dominic Kouffman

Co-Chairperson

Member since August 2020


Natalie Callahan

Treasurer

Member since July 2022


Vinita Gaudi

Secretary

Member since August 2018


Kelly Andrews

Director

Member since August 2018


Casey Gonzmart, Jr.

Director

Member since July 2022


Rick Narkiewicz

Director

Member since June 2012


Jenna Paladino

Director

Member since May 2019


Felipe Ramirez

Director

Member since May 2019


Get to know our Board of Directors

Click the bios below to learn more.

Joyce Wieland - Chair

Joyce Wieland
Chairperson
Member since  April 2016
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Mrs. Wieland is a native Tampa resident who earned a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Tampa and a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Nova University.

She used her academic training extensively during her 36 years with the Hillsborough County Public School system. She started her career as an elementary classroom teacher and progressed through the career development ladder to be an Assistant Principal and Principal, and then was promoted to District Administration in the seventh largest school district in the US.

Her first assignment at the District level was as General Director for Exceptional Student Education and then she moved on to be General Director for Student Planning, Placement and Support Programs. She had many opportunities to work with a variety of professionals both in education and through community partnerships.

Mrs. Wieland has served on local and state advisory committees which dealt with student academic performance and community needs. She has served as a board member for both educational and non-profit organizations.

She is an active member in local service leagues and educational organizations that provide resources to students with disabilities, elderly services, and educational scholarships.

She currently resides in Lutz and is an Educational Leadership Consultant.

Dominic Kouffman - Co-Chair

Dominic Kouffman
Vice Chairperson
Member since August 2020
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Mr. Kouffman is a partner in the Tampa office of the law firm of Holland & Knight, LLP.  He focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation, fiduciary dispute resolution, financial services litigation, professional negligence defense, and healthcare litigation. He is an accomplished litigator and trial lawyer practicing in both federal and state courts in Florida and other jurisdictions. His broad range of experience includes representing clients in disputes involving breach of fiduciary duty and breach of trust, commercial credit default and receivership, legal malpractice, breach of contract, federal tax credits, fraud, business torts, unfair trade practices, aircraft purchases and sales, and construction law.  Mr. Kouffman also routinely advises institutional and individual fiduciaries during the administration of trusts and estates.

Mr. Kouffman is very active in the community and in his firm’s pro bono efforts, including the launch of the Mickey Rooney Elder Financial Abuse Pro Bono Project in the Tampa office, representing individuals victimized by mortgage fraud, advocating for children’s legal rights, and reuniting families under the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction international treaty. He participates in a number of bar-related organizations and is a long-time member of the Board of Directors for Voices for Children of Tampa Bay, an organization dedicated to supporting and advocating for children in the dependency system in Hillsborough County, Florida.

After earning his B.A., magna cum laude, from Georgetown University, Mr. Kouffman worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, assisting with federal investigations and enforcement actions in Washington, D.C.  Mr. Kouffman obtained his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was a senior editor for the Journal of Law and Politics.

Natalie Callahan - Treasurer

Natalie Callahan
Treasurer
Member since July 2022
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Bio coming soon!

Vinita Gaudi - Secretary

Vinita Gaudi
Secretary
Member since August 2018

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Mrs. Gaudi earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Emory University, where she majored in Economics with concentration in Marketing and Finance.  She has fostered a successful career in sales, consulting, and relationship management in the banking and employee benefits industries. Her ability to establish key partner alliances and develop new client relationships has earned her numerous accolades in industry. Perennially recognized as a top-producing corporate executive at Coventry Health Care, now owned by Aetna, Mrs. Gaudi qualified for President’s Council, the highest achievement in sales excellence.  She was nationally recognized as the top sales executive for dental plan options, during their inaugural offering, at Coventry Health Care.

Mrs. Gaudi has invested a great deal in her community as well, having served as a Board Member of a national nonprofit organization for over 10 years.  In this role, she not only increased overall membership, but also brought together young leaders, including journalists, media representatives, and online activists to promote the organization’s message through practical application and meaningful continuity. Furthermore, she created the Youth Leadership Division, whose purpose was to increase youth participation and engagement. Due to her community service, Mrs. Gaudi has been recognized with the Power 30 Under 30 Award and the Woodrow Wilson Community Service Award, the latter given to her by the esteemed Princeton Club of Georgia.

Mrs. Gaudi enjoys the performing arts and is a former international pageant winner. She has also worked as a special events anchor for local news stations and briefly as a print journalist for an online publication.  She currently resides in Wesley Chapel with her husband, a physician serving our veterans at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital, and their three young children.

Kelly Andrews

Kelly Andrews
Director
Member since August 2018
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Mrs. Andrews has represented the Moffitt Cancer Center for over fourteen years, joining Moffitt Cancer Center in July 2016 as Associate General Counsel. Most recently, Mrs. Andrews was a partner in the Healthcare Law Practice Group at the law firm of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP in Tampa, Florida also focusing on business law with a concentration in corporate matters and litigation.  She began her legal career in Tampa as an Associate at de la Parte & Gilbert, PA under Moffitt’s current Executive Vice President/General Counsel, David de la Parte. Mrs. Andrews was also a founding member of Miles for Moffitt which was recently ,adopted as one of Moffitt Foundation’s signature events.

In 2010, Mrs. Andrews was elected to the Board of Directors of the Young Lawyers Division of the Hillsborough County Bar Association and was re-elected in 2012. She also served as the HCBA’s Law Week Chair from 2008-2014, through which she organized outreach programs for Hillsborough County students, and Program Chair from 2012-2013. Mrs. Andrews was recognized as the HCBA’s Outstanding Young Lawyer of 2012.  Mrs. Andrews is a member of Leadership Tampa Class of 2015 and Tampa Connection Class of 2006. Prior to joining Moffitt, she was also a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization from 2013-2016. Mrs. Andrews has been recognized in Super Lawyers Magazine’s from 2009-2016 as a Florida Rising Star. In March of 2017, she was announced as a finalist for Tampa Bay Business Journal’s Top Corporate Counsel. In June of 2018, she was recognized among Florida Trend Magazine’s 2018 Legal Elite.

Mrs. Andrews received her Bachelor of Health Science in Occupational Therapy from the University of Florida in 2000.  She went on to receive her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the University of Florida Levin College of Law in 2003.  Mrs. Andrews is a member of The Florida Bar and the United States Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit. She also holds memberships with the American Health Lawyers Association, Hillsborough County Bar Association, and American Bar Association.

Mrs. Andrews is married with two children Charlotte and CJ.

Casey Gonzmart, Jr

Casey Gonzmart, Jr
Director
Member since July 2022
Email
Bio coming soon!

Rick Narkiewicz

Rick Narkiewicz
Director
Member since June 2012

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Rick Narkiewicz is the senior managing director of the Tampa office of Newmark Knight Frank. He brings to his position over two decades of experience in all aspects of brokerage services, as both a representative of users and tenants and an advisor to landlords. Throughout his career, Mr. Narkiewicz has been consistently ranked as one of the most successful brokers in the Tampa Bay area and one of the top 25 producers in Florida.  Prior to NGKF, Mr. Narkiewicz served for nearly 18 years as a first vice president with CBRE, where he focused exclusively on the sale and leasing of distribution centers, manufacturing facilities and income-producing buildings located in the greater Tampa area. Mr. Narkiewicz also served as a member of CBRE’s Private Capital Group, selling investment properties priced between $2 million and $20 million throughout the West Central and Southwest Florida regions.  His professional achievements include NAIOP Deal of the Year, multiple CBRE Top 5 awards, and multiple 40 Under 40 awards.

An active member of his community, Mr. Narkiewicz serves on various non-profit boards. Additionally, he is a competition-quality barbeque chef participating in fundraising events on behalf of Nark & Sons BBQ Company, which donates all of its annual proceeds to local charities.  Mr. Narkiewicz earned a Bachelor of Science degree in finance from the University of Central Florida. He is also a former U.S. Army specialist, having served a four-year term from 1992 to 1996.  Mr. Narkiewicz has two children who attend Lutz Preparatory.

Jenna Paladino

Jenna Paladino
Director
Member since May 2019

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Mrs. Paladino is the owner of Paladino Public Affairs, LLC. Prior to starting her own firm, she served as the director of communications and public affairs for Chapters Health System, headquartered in Tampa, FL. Chapters Health is the largest non-profit hospice provider in the state of Florida. In the role, she served as the company spokesperson and lobbyist while managing the internal and external communications.

Recognized for her dedication to the hospice community, she was asked to serve on the Public Policy Committees for both the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and Florida Hospice and Palliative Care Association, which she still actively participates.

Mrs. Paladino also gained ten years of experience as a chief southeast regional lobbyist and director of public policy for the National MS Society. She created the first grass-roots and grass tops program with a cohesive agenda and communication plan for all levels to support. While the Affordable Care Act (ACA) debate was underway, she rallied the MS volunteers and engaged them in AARP’s “Divided We Fail”, national campaign to support the passage of the ACA.

She has experience as a legislative aide, campaign consultant, in-house lobbyist, non-profit lobbyist and adjunct professor.  Her policy expertise includes: disabilities, end-of-life, certificate of need, home health, medical marijuana, pharmacy benefit manager, durable medical equipment, Medicare, Medicaid, CMS and non-profit healthcare.

Mrs. Paladino holds a Master of Science in Public Policy and Political Communication and Bachelors of Science in Political Science and English from The Florida State University in Tallahassee, FL.

Felipe Ramirez

Felipe Ramirez
Director
Member since May 2019

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Mr. Ramirez received his Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from the University of South Florida in 2006 and a MBA from the University of Tampa in 2011. Mr. Ramirez is Senior Vice President and Senior Relationship Manager for Bank of America in Commercial Banking. He has over 18 years of finance and banking experience, the last eight at Bank of America. Felipe has been recognized as a top banker nationally by earning a spot in the exclusive Pinnacle club, Million dollar club, Southeast executive council, Tampa bay Talent council at Bank of America as well as other local awards including a nominee for the 40 under 40.

Mr. Ramirez is a graduate of Leadership Tampa Bay class 2018. He currently serves on the board for Leadership Tampa Bay where he co-chairs the foundation and Chairman of The Power of Access, The University of Tampa Alumni Advisory board and a member of the Rotary of Tampa. Mr. Ramirez served as the EVP for Prospanica formerly NSHMBA for the Tampa Chapter.  He is married to Maria and has a son Nicholas who attends Lutz Pre-Prep and a daughter who is 2 years old. He plays tennis and enjoys spending time with his family.

Parent Representative


Florida State Statute 1002.33 requires the charter school’s governing board must appoint a representative to facilitate parental involvement, provide access to information, assist parents and others with questions and concerns, and resolve disputes regarding Lutz Preparatory Schools, Inc.  Mrs. Rachel Lunsford is Lutz Preparatory’s Representative.  She can be reached at 813-428-7100 x 154 or via email by clicking HERE.