Board of Directors

Jo Anna Bradshaw
Board President

Since moving to Southwest Florida in 2007 with her husband, Dr. Wilson G. Bradshaw, Jo Anna Bradshaw has become involved with a number of local organizations aimed at ending hunger and homelessness. She serves as chairwoman of the Harry Chapin Food Bank Board of Directors, board member of the Community Foundation of Collier County and the United Way of Charlotte County, member of the committee for Charlotte County’s Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness, and past member of the Collier County Continuum of Care. 



Bradshaw was co-chair of the food bank’s Inaugural Golf Classic in May 2011, served as co-chair of the 2009 and 2010 WINK News Feeds Families Hunger Walk, and has been involved with student-supported activities including Florida Gulf Coast University’s Committee on Civic Engagement. She was a Steering Committee Member for Lee County’s Ten-Year Plan to End Homelessness, and she chaired the Hunger Task Force of Southwest Florida, both of which have completed their work. She also has served on the boards of Community Cooperative Ministries, Inc., United Way of Lee, Hendry, and Glades Counties, and the advisory board of Guadalupe Center of Immokalee.

Born in Columbus, Ohio, Bradshaw first moved to the east coast of Florida in 1963 and has lived across the United States, including Texas, New York, Georgia, Pennsylvania, and Minnesota. She and her husband have three adult sons and three grandchildren.

P. Keith Scoggins, Jr.
Board Member

Keith Scoggins has been an attorney with the federal Farm Credit System for more than 35 years. He is the retired Senior Vice President and General Counsel of 1^st Farm Credit Services, Normal, Ill. He continues to work as an attorney for Farm Credit on a part-time basis.  Scoggins is a full-time resident of Naples.

Keith is a member of the Illinois Bar Association. Keith has also served on other board of directors, including a captive insurance company, federal credit union, and several homeowners associations.

Alexander "Sandy" Robinson
Board Treasurer and President of Northern Trust Bank

Sandy Robinson, president for the Fort Myers office, joined Northern Trust in 2006. He comes to Northern Trust from Fifth Third Bank in Naples, Fla., where he served as vice president and team leader in the commercial real estate division. He mastered a range of disciplines within the financial arena during his 26-year career with NBD Bank, and in 1993 was selected to serve in a newly created position as senior vice president and chief quality officer.

Robinson received a degree in history from Princeton University, Princeton, N.J., and a masters degree in business administration from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. He serves on the boards of the Boy Scouts of America-Southwest Florida Council, the Harry Chapin Food Bank of Southwest Florida, Habitat for Humanity-Lee County, and the United Way of Lee County. He is a member of the Children's Advocacy Center Capital Committee, Lee Cancer Care Advisory Board, and the Uncommon Friends Foundation Board. He also has been elected to the Southwest Florida Community Foundation Board.

He and his wife, Patty, reside in Bonita Springs.

Noelle Melanson
Board Secretary and Attorney at Melanson Law PA

Noelle Melanson is the founder and sole shareholder of Melanson Law PA. Born in Leominister, Mass., she grew up on Prince Edward Island, Canada, and relocated to Florida in 1991.

After attending the University of Prince Edward Island, she transferred to Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Fla., where she was awarded a bachelor's degree in social science. She received her law degree with honors from Florida State University College of Law in 2003, as well as a certificate in environmental and natural resources aw.

Ms. Melanson is licensed to practice law in all State Courts in Florida and the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida. She is a member of the Florida Bar since 2003, the Southwest Florida Bankruptcy Professionals Association, the Lee County Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Lee County Young Professionals Chamber of Commerce, and the Florida Association of Women Lawyers.

During law school, Melanson studied abroad in Vietnam and traveled throughout Asia. The experience provided a worldwide perspective and appreciation of other legal systems, which she carries with her daily in her practice of law.

She resides in Fort Myers with her dog, Bo.

Aida Barnhart
Board Member and Director of Housing for Hendry County

Aida Barnhart has a passion for fighting hunger and homelessness. She has been housing director for Hendry County since 2007, and previously worked for Bank of America.

Barnhart serves on numerous boards and is deeply involved in the Southwest Florida community. She is the mother of one daughter and resides in LaBelle.

Rabbi Jeremy Barras
Board Member and Temple Beth El

Rabbi Jeremy Barras, a native of Wilkes-Barre, Pa., earned a bachelor of arts degree in international relations with a religious studies minor from Connecticut College, where he also competed on the men's tennis team. He spent one semester of his junior year studying abroad at Tel Aviv University.

Rabbi Barras began his studies at the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (HUC-JIR) in 1998. He subsequently spent one year in Jerusalem and four years in Cincinnati, where he was ordained as a rabbi. He also earned a masters degree in administrative education and Jewish education at Xavier University in conjunction with HUC-JIR.

In 2002, he was awarded the Ferdinand Isserman Prize as the senior rabbinical student who, in the judgment of the faculty of Hebrew Union College, contributed the most toward the development of community relations.

Before being ordained, Rabbi Barras served as a student rabbi for congregations in Grand Forks, N.D., Valparaiso, Ind., and Cincinnati. Since 2002, Rabbi Barras has served as Associate Rabbi at Temple Beth El in Charlotte, N.C. There, Rabbi Barras served as a board member of the National Conference for Community and Justice and the Superintendent's Interfaith Advisory Board of Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, and remains a member of the Youth Committee of the Central Conference of American Rabbis.

Rabbi Barras and his wife, Jodi Gant Barras, live in Fort Myers with daughter Ella Sophia and son Ethan Abraham. In Fort Myers, Rabbi Barras serves as a member of the Lee County Human Services Council and on the Board of the Harry Chapin Food Bank. In his spare time, he enjoys time with his family, playing golf, tennis and fantasy football, reading, studying Talmud and having fun with his puppy, Tango.

John Belisle
Board Member and Vice President of BB&T-Oswald Trippe & Company

John Belisle began his insurance career in 1974 with Aetna Casualty & Surety Company in Providence, R.I., as bond representative in its surety department. After transferring to Aetna’s Tulsa, Okla., branch in late 1974, he worked with independent agents throughout Oklahoma to develop a financial institution and construction-related surety business.

Belisle joined Oswald Trippe and Company, Inc., in 1985 and served as senior vice president and director prior to the company’s acquisition by BB&T. His expertise in specialized risk management supports many of the company’s large commercial accounts.

He graduated from The University of Rhode Island in 1974 with a degree in business administration. In 1985, he received the certified insurance counselor designation from The National Alliance for Insurance Education and Research

Belisle also serves on the board of Alvin A. Dubin Alzheimer’s Resource Center, Inc.

Dr. Martha Russell Bireda, Board Member and  Executive Director of the Blanchard House Museum of African American History and Culture of Southwest Florida

Martha Russell Bireda, Ph.D., a fifth-generation Florida native, is executive director of the Blanchard House Museum of African American History and Culture of Southwest Florida. She is also the author of six books. She has more than 20 years of experience as an equity consultant specializing in issues related to race, gender, cultural diversity, and empowerment. Most of her life's work has been in schools and communities in which poor and/or minority people attended or resided.

Charlotte Rae Nicely
Board Member and Lehigh Community Services

Charlotte Rae Nicely manages day-to-day operations of and services provided by Lehigh Community Services, a non-profit social service agency. She held positions with the Lee County School District, Sprint Telecommunications, and United Telephone Company of Florida.

Nicely received a bachelor's degree in business from Barry University, Miami, and earned a master's degree in vocational education from the University of South Florida.

Karen Pati
Board Member and Category Dev. Manager-Chiquita Brands

Karen Pati is a category development manager for Chiquita Brands, where she recently celebrated 12 years on the Fresh Express line, the world's largest packaged salad brand. Additionally, Pati serves on Chiquita's Corporate Responsibility Steering Committee, with both international oversight and a focus on sustainability efforts in North America.

With more than 15 years of prior supermarket experience at Jewel Food Stores, she brings a food industry perspective to the Harry Chapin Food Bank team.

An active volunteer, Pati chairs the operations and technology committee for the food bank.  Pati is a board member for Human Trafficking Awareness Partnerships and the Zonta Club of Sanibel-Captiva and serves as Area 6 Director for Zonta International.

She earned her BS and MBA degrees from Indiana University. 

Pati and her husband, Dr. Gopal "Indy" Pati, enjoy their life together on Sanibel. When the tide, the water quality and the weather align, you're likely to find them boating, fishing, and enjoying the glory of the local wildlife.

Stephen Popper
Board Member and Vice President/Director, Boise Aise' de Montreal Inc.

Stephen Popper joined Bois Aise’ de Montreal, a wholesale lumber and plywood company, as vice president and director in 1992. In 1994, he relocated to Naples, Florida. At Bois Aise’ he is responsible for international sales and marketing, concentrating on the sourcing of product from China, Brazil, Russia, and Finland.

In 2007, he started a meal-packing program called Kids Against Hunger of Southwest Florida. Since that time, more than 8.7 million meals have been packaged and distributed, distributed mainly by the Harry Chapin Food Bank.

Popper received a bachelor's degree in finance from Babson College in 1984. In addition to the Board of the Harry Chapin Food Bank, he serves on the Board of The Rotary Club of Naples. His wife, Charissa, and their three children are also active volunteers in the fight to end hunger.

Brian N. Schwartz, M.D., Board Member and Director of Medical Affairs at 21st Century Oncology and Managing Partner of Florida Urology Physicians in Fort Myers

Brian N. Schwartz, M.D., is director of medical affairs at 21st Century Oncology, and managing partner of Florida Urology Physicians in Fort Myers. He earned his doctor of medicine from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and has board certification from the American Board of Urology. He is a diplomat of the National Board of Medical Examiners and a member of the American Urological Association.

Dr. Schwartz is on staff of HealthPark Medical Center, Cape Coral Hospital, Gulf Coast Hospital, and Gladiolus Surgery Center. He also is a member of the Lee County Medical Society.

In 2011, he will served his third year as trustee of the Southwest Florida WineFest.

Kristina Rodriguez
Board Member, Director of Community Engagement and Nutrition Services Senior Friendship Centers 

Craig Folk
Board Member, Miller Helms & Folk, PA.