Board of Directors
JTA Board of Directors
The Jacksonville Transportation Authority's governing body is comprised of seven members. Three members are appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Florida Senate, three members are appointed by Jacksonville's Mayor and confirmed by the City Council, and the seventh member is the District Two Secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Members serve a four-year term with the exception of the FDOT Secretary who serves the length of his/her employment in that position and can be re-appointed for an additional four years. The board members of the JTA are not entitled to compensation but are reimbursed for travel and other expenses actually incurred in their duties as provided by law.
Debbie Buckland
Chair
Debbie Buckland is currently chair of the Jacksonville Transportation Authority and serves on the board of WJCT Public Media and Baptist Beaches Medical Center. Debbie has a 40+ year career in banking and finance. She is currently area manager for Tennessee based Pinnacle Financial Partners in North Florida, following a long tenure with Truist in Virginia and Florida.
She is past chair of JAX Chamber, Downtown Vision, Inc. and the American Cancer Society. She is a member of the Truist Jacksonville Advisory Board, Wolfson Children's Hospital Women's Board, Jacksonville Women's Network, and Women's Giving Alliance.
Buckland was inducted into the First Coast Business Hall of Fame in 2019 and is a recent recipient of the DTJax Downtown Achievement Award. She was a founding member of the Jacksonville Women's Business Center and the steering committee of JAX Chamber's Elevate Women initiative.
In 2022, she was honored as Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser by Association of Fundraising Professionals for her work with United Way of Northeast Florida.
A 2009 graduate of Leadership Jacksonville, Buckland has been named a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts, Woman of Influence by the Jacksonville Business Journal and honored by the Mayor's Commission on the Status of Women as one of Jacksonville's Women Making a Difference.
Buckland is a 1979 graduate of Emory & Henry College in Emory, Virginia, with a B.A. in Business & Economics and Philosophy. She and her husband Jamie live in Atlantic Beach.
G. Ray Driver, Jr.
Vice-Chair
G. Ray Driver, Jr. has been practicing law for over 20 years and is a founding partner of Driver, McAfee, Hawthorne & Diebenow. He represents clients in business acquisitions, dispositions and mergers, and provides ongoing counseling regarding business formation, corporate governance, contract law and ancillary legal issues. Driver was added to the Florida Super Lawyer list in 2011 and his experience has led him to be recognized as Jacksonville Business Journal’s Ultimate Attorney. He was also named Lawyer of Year in 2019.
A graduate of Leadership Jacksonville, Driver is the current Chair of JAXUSA Partnership and the Chair-Elect for the JAX Chamber Board of Directors and Trustees. He also has chaired the Jacksonville Bar Association, served on its Board of Governors and served as the president and treasurer of the Young Lawyers Section.
Driver received both his Juris Doctorate and master’s degree in accounting from the University of Florida in 1994.
He was appointed to the JTA Board by Governor Ron DeSantis in 2019.
Aundra Wallace
Secretary
Aundra Wallace is president of the JAXUSA Partnership, the private, nonprofit regional economic development arm of JAX Chamber overseeing efforts of the seven counties of Northeast Florida. He directs a staff of 14 in the areas of business development, international investment, workforce development, research and marketing. JAXUSA’s mission is to be a catalyst for economic growth and maximize the region’s unique resources to aggressively recruit jobs and capital investment. Mayor Lenny Curry appointed him in February 2022.
Prior to joining JAXUSA Partnership in October 2018, Mr. Wallace served as CEO of the City of Jacksonville’s Downtown Investment Authority (DIA). In this role, he spearheaded a diversified portfolio of infrastructure improvement projects, led economic development initiatives, invested in real estate development projects, managed the Downtown Development Design Review Board and oversaw the City’s Public Parking Division.
He holds a Master of Public Administration from Clark Atlanta University and a Bachelor of Science in Political Science from Georgia Southern University. He is a Certified Housing Development Finance Professional and a Certified Economic Development Finance Professional.
Patricia Gillum Sams
Treasurer
Patricia Gillum Sams was formerly manager of the Emerging Workforce Strategic department at JEA. She managed projects and programs that promoted employee engagement and branded the JEA as an employer of choice in the community.
Additionally, she is President & CEO of The Legacy Group L-A-M, LLC. Sams also serves as Founder/CEO of The Legacy League, Inc., a leadership development program designed to mentor and empower young professional women of color to positively impact their communities.
Sams has served on numerous boards and has held countless leadership roles in organizations such as Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Jack & Jill of America, Inc., and the Jacksonville Chapter of The Links, Inc. She was also in the Leadership Jacksonville Class of 2021 and earned her Bachelor of Science in Communications with an emphasis on Broadcast from Florida State University.
Ari Jolly
Immediate Past Chair
Ari Jolly is a Senior Assistant General Counsel at Florida Blue and provides corporate development as well as board governance support related to the various Florida Blue subsidiary and joint venture companies. Prior to joining Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida in 1993, Jolly was an officer in the United States Navy from 1983 - 1990 and the recipient of a Navy Achievement Medal (1987).
Jolly is a member of the Florida Bar and the Jacksonville Bar Association, served as the Chairman of the Board of the Greater Jacksonville Area USO, serves on the Fleet Landing Board and previously served as the Chairman of the Veterans Network at Florida Blue, where she spoke on the topics of women veterans and the multicultural U.S. Armed Forces. In addition, Jolly is the corporate secretary to the Boards of Florida Health Care Plan, Inc., Navigy Holdings, Inc., GuideWell-Sanitas, LLC, Florida Blue Medicine, Inc., GuideWell Core Solutions, Inc., and GuideWell, Inc. and has supported several Florida Blue conferences on the topic of board governance best practices.
Jolly graduated from Jacksonville University and the Florida State University College of Law. She is also an honors graduate from the Naval Legal Justice School, Newport, Rhode Island.
Jolly was appointed to the JTA Board in 2015 by Governor Rick Scott and reappointed in 2019 by Governor Ron DeSantis.
Megan Hayward
Board Member
Megan Hayward joins the JTA Board of Directors after being appointed by Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan and approved by the Jacksonville City Council in October 2023.
Megan's entrepreneurial spirit and passion for innovation sparked her desire to transform the outdated processes of temporary staffing. She launched her own staffing agency at the age of 24, then driven by the belief that the industry was ready for a revolution. She created a software platform to allow for a modern approach to an antiquated industry.
Undeterred by the challenges of founding and running a business, Megan's commitment to her vision led her to not only succeed with her own agency but also to contribute to the establishment of another staffing company.
Megan and her husband are part of the ownership group for the Jacksonville Icemen, the Community First Igloo, the Savannah Ghost Pirates, and the Allen Americans.
Megan is also a member of the Women's Center of Jacksonville board and a member of the DuBlasé Foundation board.
Greg Evans, P.E.
Ex-Officio Board Member & FDOT District Two Secretary
Greg Evans was appointed as the Florida Department of Transportation District Two Secretary on February 6, 2012. Mr. Evans is responsible for the day-to-day administrative, planning, production and operations activities for District Two, which encompasses 18 counties, covers nearly 12,000 square miles in North Central Florida, and maintains 8,200 lane miles of roadway and over 1,200 bridges. The area is also served by two deep-water ports and three major rail lines.
Evans has over 21 years of experience in the management and operations of public infrastructure. He is an alumnus of Southern Institute of Technology, with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering Technology.
Evans joined the Board in 2012 as an Ex-Officio Member representing the Florida Department of Transportation, District Two.
Rahman K. Johnson, Ph.D.
Council Liaison
Rahman K. Ross-Johnson was elected in 2023 to represent District 14 on the Jacksonville City Council. He was a professor of journalism and communications at Edward Waters University, where he was honored as Professor of the Year.
Dr. Johnson was born and raised in Jacksonville. He graduated with honors from Jean Ribault High School, holds degrees from Edward Waters University and Seton Hall University, and holds a Ph.D. in Urban Higher Education from Jackson State University.
Media and entertainment have always been at the forefront of Dr. Johnson’s career. He is an actor with hundreds of stage and film credits and has worked as a radio and television personality and news anchor for stations nationwide.
Since childhood, Dr. Johnson’s family made sure that community engagement and public service were a part of daily life. He has served on the Jacksonville Civil Rights Task Force, the Downtown Development Authority LaVilla Gateway Project Steering Committee, Mimi and Lee Adams Environmental Board, the Thurgood Marshall Achievers Society Board, the Guardian Schools Board, and the Sickle Cell Disease Association Board.
Currently, Dr. Johnson is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., SAG/AFTRA, The Urban League, the National Association of Black Journalists, the American Association of University Professors, and The United Nations Association of the United States. He also served as a Stakeholder for the Jacksonville Insight Process under Mayor Ed Austin and was an organizer of the Jacksonville Community Council Forum for the Future.
Dr. Johnson has appeared in media worldwide. He was featured in EBONY Magazine as an outstanding young leader, quoted in USA Today and the London Times, hosted and produced an award-winning daily show on Nickelodeon, and was named one of 10 to watch during the decade by The Florida Times-Union newspaper. He has received countless awards for journalism, teaching, and acting during his more than 30-year career.
Dr. Johnson currently serves on the Land Use and Zoning and Rules Committees. He is also on the Jacksonville Public Library Board of Trustees and the council liaison to the Joint Planning Committee and the Safety & Crime Reduction Commission.
After the death of his mother, Dr. Johnson curated and published a collection of poems. His book Living, Loving, Letting Go was named book of the year by the American Library Association. He continues to perform and lecture, spreading a message of self-actualization and cultural understanding.