Tallahassee, Fla. — Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of John Rood, Adria Starkey and Slater Bayliss to the Florida Prepaid College Board.

John Rood
Rood, of St. Augustine, is Chairman of The Vestcor Companies and the former United States Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. He has served on numerous boards including the Board of Governors of the State University System of Florida, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Jacksonville Port Authority, the Flagler College Board of Trustees, the Florida Council of 100, the Board of Directors of Fidelity National Bank and the Board of Directors of Black Knight, Inc. Rood earned his bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Montana.

Adria Starkey
Starkey, of Naples, is the Collier County President of FineMark National Bank and Trust. Previously, she was Chief Operating Officer of The Sanibel Captiva Trust Company. Starkey has volunteered her time with the Healthcare Network of Southwest Florida, Naples Children and Education Foundation, Gulfshore Playhouse and the Florida Gulf Coast University College of Business Advisory Board. She earned her bachelor’s degree in business finance from the University of Florida.

Slater Bayliss
Bayliss, of Tallahassee, is a Partner at The Advocacy Group at Cardenas Partners. He has served on numerous boards including as Chair of TreeHouse, Chair of The Florida Sports Charitable Foundation, Maverick PAC and The Florida Coalition for Capital. Bayliss earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa and his master’s degree from Florida State University.

These appointments are subject to confirmation by the Florida Senate.

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