Board of Directors

Joy began her professional life as a real estate broker in Detroit. In 1976, she moved to Florida and, together with her husband Mike, opened and operated eight extremely successful restaurants in the Central Florida area. In 1992, she began her teaching career and, in the past 12 years, has taught thousands of children to swim. Four years ago she built and opened her own facility, SouthWest Aquatics, in Gotha. Realizing there was a need to teach all children to swim; in 2003 Joy founded The Gift of Swimming, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing scholarships for underprivileged and special needs children. Joy lives in Orlando with her husband and three children.

2/21/09 term renewal date

Josseline Garriga
Chairperson, Gift of Swimming

Josseline a B.S. Degree in Mathematics from the Catholic University of Puerto Rico. She began her career working in computer programming for an insurance company and then moved into developing application for Lockheed Martin Corporation. She has over 10 years of experience in system design, development and operational support. She also has 17 years experience managing an operating staff of professional engineers and a vast portfolio of applications. Josseline’s career has included extensive work in both hardware and software arenas, encompassing a number of management positions with growing responsibility. She is the Chairperson of The Gift of Swimming.

5/16/09 term renewal date

Dr. Gregory Gordon
President, Gift of Swimming

Dr. Gordon is a member of Pediatric Associates of Orlando. He has been a physician in Orlando for seven years. He graduated from the University of Florida and completed his residency in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. Gordon is the President of The Gift of Swimming. He resides in Windermere with his wife and six children.

5/16/09 term renewal date

Michael McGinty II
Vice President, Gift of Swimming

Mike studied and majored in finance at the University of Florida and received a Bachelors of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) from the Warrington College of Business Administration. Currently, he is working as the First mate of the Yankee Fleet living in the Florida Keys. Mike enjoys wakeboarding, swimming and free diving.

2/21/09 term renewal date

Dr. Elyse Saltalamachia
Fundraiser, The Gift of Swimming

Dr. Elyse is a Doctor of Chiropractics. She owns and operates the Lakota Medical/Day Spa at Ashley Park in Orlando. She received her B.A & B.S. degrees from Rutgers University, NY in 1982. She earned her doctrine at New York Chiropractic College in 1985. Her practice began 20 years ago in West Chester County, NY. Her community involvement includes the Medical Wellness Spa, Jr. Service League, Health Central Foundation, Boys & Girls Club of NY and NY YMCA. She resides in Windermere with her husband, Anthony and daughter, Gianna.

8/3/10 term renewal date

Lisa Green-Sales
Event Director, The Gift of Swimming

Lisa received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Psychology from the University of Central Florida (Orlando, Florida) with extensive studies in Sociology. She became active in her community as a young child in Vero Beach, Florida soon after re-locating with her family from Bitburg, Germany. Volunteering is a continued practice from childhood.

She strongly believes in dedicating her skills and passion for others' well-being via advocacy with the knowledge of making an impact as much as possible to the underserved and forgotten segment of our society. She wishes to provide a strong and effective voice for children and adults who cannot speak for themselves. She has and continues to advocate for individuals who are socio-economically disadvantaged, disabled, victims of domestic violence, juveniles, and homeless individuals via empowerment.

Lisa's background include:

*Licensed Free-Lance Photographer

*Licensed Foster Parent/Advocate via the State of Florida-Department of Children & Families for nine (9) years

*Homeless Case Management and Domestic Violence Victim Advocate (Women's Residential & Counseling Center)

*Vocational Planning Counselor (Goodwill Industries of Central Florida)

Volunteer/Advocacy Includes: Southwest Aquatics-Gift of Swimming , Orange County Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), Orange County Public Schools ADDitions Volunteer, Orange County Head Start, Non-Profit Event Photographer, and other non-profit organizations.

More than a decade, she realized that by utilizing photojournalism while advocating it provided photo documentation that many non-profit organizations desperately needed for: grants, fundraising events, increasing public awareness, and creating educational awareness. She now strongly believes that by informing the public via photos, it has assisted in bringing the significance of the event or cause to people's attention. She now takes photographs for utilization both internally and to raise awareness while prompting people to take action.

Lisa never thought of volunteering and advocacy as a one-time experience. It has always been a lifetime activity. She always places her greatest importance on her commitments to her family and the community. She has lived in Orlando since 1987 and resides in East Orlando with her husband and their four children.

John Mercurio
Assisting Treasurer, Gift of Swimming

A proud native of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, John has lived in Florida for the last five years. Since graduating from LaSalle University in 1989, John has worked in various Accounting positions in the fields of Advertising, Commercial Real Estate and at present, Organized Labor in the Central Florida area.

Jack’s background includes 18 years in local law enforcement where his primary interests were centered in the area of crime prevention, serving as law enforcement liaison to the resort industry. Later, he was Security and Human Resources manager for the Orlando Marriott Hotel, where risk management and incident avoidance were key focus areas. Other responsibilities included workplace injury investigation, employee/guest safety issues as well as asset protection. His interests are scuba diving, motorcycle riding and photography.

11/19/07 term renewal date

Kandi Wiens Hernandez

Kandi began her professional career at a mid-size law firm, where she managed the Accounts Receivables and Accounts Payables for more than 6 years. During this time, she received a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Montana State University. She then earned her Master’s degree in Human Resources from The University of Oregon, and joined the healthcare consulting firm of Stockamp & Associates, Inc. in 1996. She has helped some of the nation’s most prestigious healthcare organizations increase operational effectiveness and improve financial performance by implementing work redesign strategies and key performance metrics. Her work has also focused on executive staff development and change management processes. Previously she was a Training Manager at Stockamp, and was responsible for the design and delivery of various management education programs. Kandi lives with her husband and three sons in Windermere.

Andrea provides communications and marketing strategies to high-technology enterprises. Combining her marketing and public relations expertise with a high level of technical understanding, Lawrence works with clients to pursue and acquire new business through integrated strategic communications and marketing program concept development and implementation. In addition, she provides expert leadership of proposals and oral briefings; executive communications coaching and speechwriting; and organizational and stakeholder communications. Her 30 years experience included 10 years of senior executive service to Lockheed Martin Corporation where she developed and led the execution of the integrated communications strategy for significant corporate business segments.

Her 30 years experience included 10 years of senior executive service to Lockheed Martin Corporation where she developed and led the execution of the integrated communications strategy for significant corporate business

Lawrence obtained a BA degree in Applied Behavioral Science from National-Louis University and has completed graduate coursework at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida. She is active in professional and community activities including having served on the Boards of Directors of the Chamber of Commerce of Southern New Jersey; the National Defense Industrial Association Delaware Valley chapter (Philadelphia); and the United Way of Burlington County, New Jersey, and the Prince William United Way (Metropolitan Washington, D.C.). Earlier, she served as vice president of the board of directors of the Community Health Centers Inc., in Orlando, Florida. She is currently serving on the board of directors of The Gift of Swimming in Central Florida.

Dr. DiMauro attended Ohio State University and received his Undergrad degree in B.S. Psych in 1984. He received his Doctor of Dental Surgery in 1988. He completed his Pediatric Residency 1988-1990 at the University Hospitals of Cleveland. Known as “Dr. Mike” in Orlando, he has been a Pediatric dentist for 16 years. He resides in Sand Lake Point with his wife of 13 years and their 5 children…all alumni of Joy’s PediaSwim program.
Community involvement includes: 14 years with the Central Florida YMCA, Partner in Education, Orange County Public Schools (Windy Ridge), School Advisory Board St. John Vianney Catholic School, Member Greater Orlando Dental Society and various state and national affiliations. He has little leisure time but enjoys working in his yard and garden.
2/18/09 term renewable